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Race
Orcs
Pronunciation
Approximately oo'rch1
Meaning
'Orcs'
Other names
Goblins, Glamhoth, Gorgûn, Orcs
Note
Yrch is a plural term. The singular form is orch.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 21 May 2013
  • This entry is complete

Yrch

An Elvish name for Orcs

In the Sindarin tongue, the word for an Orc or Goblin was orch. Sindarin formed plurals by systematically changing the vowel-sounds within a word (so, for example, amon 'hill', became emyn 'hills'; orod 'mountain' became ered 'mountains', and so on). The same rule applied to orch, so yrch represents the plural: 'Orcs'. By the end of the Third Age Sindarin was the language generally used by Elves of Silvan as well as Sindarin origin, and we hear the word yrch being used by Elves from both the major lands of the Silvan Elves, Lórien and the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood.


Notes

1

The 'ch' here should be pronounced as in German, so that the word ends with the same sound as Bach, rather than torch. The sound of 'oo' in English is close to the Sindarin vowel sound, but is not exactly correct. Tolkien suggests a sound similar that in the French word lune would match the Elves' pronunciation more closely. Note that in Gondor, 'y' was pronounced differently in Sindarin words, so that a native of that land would pronounce yrch more like 'eerch' than the 'oorch' given above.

See also...

Glamhoth

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 21 May 2013
  • This entry is complete

For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001-2002, 2013. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.

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Yrch

An Elvish name for Orcs

Race
Orcs
Pronunciation
Approximately oo'rch1
Meaning
'Orcs'
Other names
Goblins, Glamhoth, Gorgûn, Orcs
Note
Yrch is a plural term. The singular form is orch.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 21 May 2013
  • This entry is complete

Yrch

An Elvish name for Orcs

In the Sindarin tongue, the word for an Orc or Goblin was orch. Sindarin formed plurals by systematically changing the vowel-sounds within a word (so, for example, amon 'hill', became emyn 'hills'; orod 'mountain' became ered 'mountains', and so on). The same rule applied to orch, so yrch represents the plural: 'Orcs'. By the end of the Third Age Sindarin was the language generally used by Elves of Silvan as well as Sindarin origin, and we hear the word yrch being used by Elves from both the major lands of the Silvan Elves, Lórien and the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood.


Notes

1

The 'ch' here should be pronounced as in German, so that the word ends with the same sound as Bach, rather than torch. The sound of 'oo' in English is close to the Sindarin vowel sound, but is not exactly correct. Tolkien suggests a sound similar that in the French word lune would match the Elves' pronunciation more closely. Note that in Gondor, 'y' was pronounced differently in Sindarin words, so that a native of that land would pronounce yrch more like 'eerch' than the 'oorch' given above.

See also...

Glamhoth

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 21 May 2013
  • This entry is complete

For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1998, 2001-2002, 2013. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.

Website services kindly sponsored by myDISCprofile, the free online personality test.
How do your personal strengths fit in with career matching? How can you identify them? Try a free personality test from myDISCprofile.