So the etymology of orc is a bit complicated. Originally it appears in Beowulf as orcneas, meaning "demon-corpse." Tolkien used it as inspiration for his orcs, and C.S. Lewis anglicized it to orkny/orknies. As I've mentioned in prior posts, they're named after Orcus, the Greco-Roman demon of oaths. Although the "oath" part has long since been forgotten, both in the depictions of orcs themselves and the depiction of Orcus in fantasy fiction.
Some authors and bloggers have used this etymology as a springboard for reimagining orcs as demon corpses created by Orcus. Both because of its perceived novelty, and because it avoids bizarre moral questions like "what do we do with the baby orcs?" Perhaps these orknies are created by necromancers from spawning pools, perhaps summoned by devil's forgemasters in corpse shells, perhaps they are transformed from demikind through foul applications of alchemy... the possibilities are endless.
Links
- https://flintlocksandwitchery.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-orc-renaissance.html
- http://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/2020/04/blood-for-bacon-another-ecology-of-orc.html
- https://daegames.blogspot.com/2018/05/dungeons-delvers-where-do-baby-gnolls.html
- https://daegames.blogspot.com/2021/05/inherently-evil-races-arent-bad-game.html
- http://archonsmarchon.blogspot.com/2020/04/orcneas.html
- https://dailyadventureprompts.tumblr.com/post/637422331142307840/monsters-reimagined-orcus-the-dead-god-patron
- https://ingmaralbizu.com/about-orcs-and-our-fascination-with-barbarism/