Are Orcs Immortal?

[doug*platypus]

I just had to (uncharacteristically) add something a little off topic.

He did his best work when he allowed the languages and the stories to develop naturally.

Excellent call, littleman - although of course just an opinion, it's one that I strongly believe in. Tolkien's created world was so real, so founded in fact-like fiction rather than just make-believe, that it could be allowed to grow organically. This would also mean that it would be possible to faithfully create in-depth stories about some of his world's inhabitants, like Arvedui or Helm.

Your quote can also help express my opinion in one of the facets of the Orc Debate. JRRT had already decided that Orcs were corrupted Elves. Already fairly developed, this might have fitted in better than any subsequent theory he may have come up with. Admittedly I haven't read any of the later HOME books, but I think that Christopher Tolkien was much more qualified than any of us to put The Silmarillion together. Perhaps the theory of origins of Orcs as Elves was the latest or the most developed one. Just an idea.