"Better to Reign in Hell": Ambivalence and Orcs in the Lay of the Children of Húrin

Authors

Matthew Thompson-HandellFollow

Abstract

A remarkable passage in Tolkien's incomplete Lay of the Children of Húrin, describing the Orc-band after its capture of Túrin, provides an echo of Milton's assembly of fallen angels in Book I of Paradise Lost. The description of the Orc-band also hints at the kind of ambivalence which has often been ascribed to Milton's portrayal of Satan. This in turn provides a connection with recent work on humanity in Tolkien's depiction of the Orcs.

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