Orc-women

It's true you don't read about any Orc-women in Middle-earth. And this in turn has helped the misconception that there were no Orc-women, and that Orcs just spring out of mud pits in the ground!

That was not Tolkien's intention, as is here presented.

In a letter to a Mrs. Munby, in 1962, Tolkien wrote:

"There must have been orc-women. But in stories that seldom if ever see the Orcs except as soldiers of armies in the service of the evil lords we naturally would not learn much about their lives. Not much was known."

This may mean that their women were rarely seen, as with Dwarf-women, or that they sometimes joined battle but were not identified, since they were either fighting or dead (art by Michał Sałata).

The Orcs as known from the Third Age were, in summary, created out of corrupted Elves and Men:

"...Orks had a mixed origin. Most of them plainly (and biologically) were corruptions of Elves (and probably later also of Men). (...) the Orcs were bred from some kind of Men ..."

~ HoME 10; Myths Transformed; IX + X (art by LordHannu)

Therefore Orcs reproduced just as do Elves and humans [who together are referred to as 'the Children of Ilúvatar']:

"Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilúvatar;"

~ Silmarillion; III; III (photo of nebelmotte by Moritz Jendral).

We have one example of parentage. In the Battle of the Five Armies the Orc leader was Bolg, the son of Azog (art by Matt Stewart). Dwarf lord Dain had slain Azog 142 years prior* and Gandalf warned his friends (TH; The Clouds Burst):

"`The Goblins are upon you! Bolg of the North is coming. O Dain! whose father you slew in Moria.'"

* on the topic of Orc life-spans, see https://imgur.com/gallery/lAEU8rF

For more elaborations on a 'New Ring' and the What If-scenario: https://imgur.com/gallery/KmhIr7D

In case you enjoyed this and would like to read further Tolkien lore posts about characters, themes, objects and events, here is an index: https://imgur.com/gallery/axV2mPF