J'ai parcouru ce thread assez rapidement et noté quelques questions sur les orcs à propos de leur longévité, indépendance, sentiments, etc. Voici quelques extraits des notes de Tolkien du HoME X qui pourraient vous intéresser. Il faut surtout savoir que Tolkien était revenu à de nombreuses reprises sur la question de l'origine des orcs (d'où découlent beaucoup de questions sur leur espérance de vie, conscience, etc) et qu'on n'a aucune certitude sur ces sujets, ces textes n'ont donc aucune valeur de "vérité absolue" car elles contiennent parfois des contradictions comme vous pouvez le constater. Néanmoins, il semblerait que Tolkien voulait abandonner l'idée de l'origine elfique des orcs et que dernièrement, il semblait se pencher plutôt pour une origine humaine.(Dans une version de "The Annals of Aman", à coté du texte sur l'origine elfique des orcs, Tolkien avait ajouté, après relecture, la note suivante: 'Alter this. Orcs are not Elvish' )Sur l'indépendance des orcs, cet extrait d'un texte qui date sans doute des années 1959/60 précise qu'ils étaient apparemment relativement capables de "vivre" seuls, sans chef, comme des fourmis:
It is true, of course, that Morgoth held the Orcs in dire thraldom; for in their corruption they had lost almost all possibility of resisting the domination of his will. So great indeed did its pressure upon them become ere Angband fell that, if he turned his thought towards them, they were conscious of his 'eye' wherever they might be; and when Morgoth was at last removed from Arda the Orcs that survived in the West were scattered, leaderless and almost witless, and were for a long time without control or purpose.This servitude to a central will that reduced the Orcs almost to an ant-like life was seen even more plainly in the Second and Third Ages under the tyranny of Sauron, Morgoth's chief lieutenant...Moreover, the Orcs continued to live and breed and to carry on their business of ravaging and plundering after Morgoth was overthrown. They had other characteristics of the Incarnates also. They had languages of their own, and spoke among themselves in various tongues according to differences of breed that were discernible among them. They needed food and drink, and rest, though many were by training as tough as Dwarves in enduring hardship.Ce paragraphe est à comparer avec un autre texte où Tolkien écrivait que les orcs n'avait pas d'âme (et étaient donc des animaux, pas d'origine elfique ou humaine donc). On n'a pas de date précise pour ce texte qui date peut être entre 1955 et 1959.
In summary: I think it must be assumed that 'talking' is not necessarily the sign of the possession of a 'rational soul' or fëa. The Orcs were beasts of humanized shape (to mock Men and Elves) deliberately perverted / converted into a more close resemblance to Men. Their 'talking' was really reeling off 'records' set in them by Melkor. Even their rebellious critical words — he knew about them. Melkor taught them speech and as they bred they inherited this; and they had just as much independence as have, say, dogs or horses of their human masters. This talking was largely echoic (cf. parrots), in The Lord of the Rings Sauron is said to have devised a language for them. The same sort of thing may be said of Húan and the Eagles: they were taught language by the Valar, and raised to a higher level - but they still had no fëar.Toujours dans ce même texte, Tolkien argumentait ainsi:
See 'Melkor'. It will there be seen that the wills of Orcs and Balrogs etc. are part of Melkor's power 'dispersed'. Their spirit is one of hate. But hate is non-coöperative (except under direct fear). Hence the rebellions, mutinies, etc. when Morgoth seems far off. Orcs are beasts and Balrogs corrupted Maiar. Also (n.b.) Morgoth not Sauron is the source of Orc-wills. Sauron is just another (if greater) agent. Orcs can rebel against him without losing their own irremediable allegiance to evil (Morgoth). Aulë wanted love. But of course had no thought of dispersing his power. Only Eru can give love and independence. If a finite sub-creator tries to do this he really wants absolute loving obedience, but it turns into robotic servitude and becomes evil.Puisque les orcs n'avaient pas d'âme (source d'une volonté propre et indépendante), leur volonté viendrait donc de Morgoth (selon ce texte). Mais cette hypothèse peut être considérée comme abandonnée si on préfère celles des origines elfiques ou humaines des orcs.A nouveau dans le texte qui date de 1959/60, on a une information sur leur espérance de vie:
They could be slain, and they were subject to disease; but apart from these ills they died and were not immortal, even according to the manner of the Quendi; indeed they appear to have been by nature short-lived compared with the span of Men of higher race, such as the Edain.(A propos des orcs qui seraient "immortels", il y a quelques allusions sur la possibilité que ce serait des maïar au service de Morgoth, comme les balrogs, qui auraient pris la forme des orcs.)Il faut noter que ce texte parle justement de la non origine elfique des orcs:
Finally, there is a cogent point, though horrible to relate. It became clear in time that undoubted Men could under the domination of Morgoth or his agents in a few generations be reduced almost to the Orc-level of mind and habits; and then they would or could be made to mate with Orcs, producing new breeds, often larger and more cunning.On a donc une contradiction entre ce texte et le précédant.Enfin, voici ce qu'on peut lire dans un texte post 1969 qui revient sur l'idée d'une origine humaine des orcs:
Morgoth though in origin possessed of vast power was finite; and it was this expenditure upon the orks, and still more upon the other far more formidable creatures in his service, that in the event so dissipated his powers of mind that Morgoth's overthrow became possible. Thus the greater part of the orks, though under his orders and the dark shadow of their fear of him, were only intermittently objects of his immediate thought and concern, and while that was removed they relapsed into independence and became conscious of their hatred of him and his tyranny. Then they might neglect his orders, or engage in(note de Christopher Tolkien: Here the text breaks off. But the curious thing is that rough drafting for the second paragraph of this note (written on the same paper bearing the same date) begins thus:)But Men could (and can still) be reduced to such a condition. 'Puppets' would simply cease to move or 'live' at all, when not set in motion by the direct will of their maker. In any case, though the number of orks at the height of Morgoth's power, and still after his return from captivity, seems to have been very great, those who were 'absorbed' were always a small part of the total.Etant donné l'état des informations sur ces sujets, l'idéal serait que les personnes intéressées lisent exhaustivement tout ces textes pour se faire eux même leur propre opinion. Ici, je voulais surtout montrer que ces questions n'appelleront pas de réponses définitives, non pas par manque d'information mais plutôt parce qu'on a des textes contradictoires, on pourrait aisément défendre une théorie en citant certains extraits et en négligeant ceux qui ne vont pas dans le sens voulu mais ce serait trompeur.(Pour ma part, plus je lis les écrits de Tolkien et moins j'ai de certitude. La seule chose sûre est qu'on ne peut être sûr de rien (du moins, sur ces questions d'orcs)

)