history of - Who invented orcs?

When telling my less than fantasy-savvy friend about a book I've been reading, she asked a question I could not answer: who came up first with these "orcs" I was talking about?

There are at least three dimensions to this question, and they may have different answers.

1. The term orc itself.


2. 
   

   The concept of a generally despicable, probably inherently evil race of foot soldiers.

   
   

   ^{I consider this mostly a narrative tool: give the heroes something to slay without any ethical or moral ramifications.}

   
   


3. A violence-loving, usually sub-intellectual race/society that is not evil per se.

In particular, there are instances of 1. and 3. that are not instances of 2. (e.g. Warcraft orcs). There are also orcs that are presented as "just another race" (e.g. Shadowrun or Nicholl's orcs, even though the latter partly fit 3.).

There are also examples for 2. and 3. where the term orc is not used (e.g. Jordan's Trollocs or Abercrombie's Shanka).

Clearly the three ideas are heavily used in "modern" fantasy (and sci-fi) literature. The earliest reference I know is Tolkien (for 1. and 2.), but he may not have invented either. I struggle to find examples in mythology, but I have only partial knowledge in that area.

So when and where did orcs (the term and the concept) originate?

Answer

Tolkien invented neither orcs, nor the term "orc". The word "orc", related to the term "orkney", is from Beowulf "Þanon untydras ealle onwocon,/eotenas ond ylfe, ond orcneas."

"The concept of a generally despicable, probably inherently evil race of foot soldiers,"¹ probably extends back to antiquity. For example, the Rakshasa demons commanded by Lord Ravana in the Ramayana fit such a description.

Tolkien's conception of orcs/goblins was borrowed more or less directly from George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin. A point Tolkien is explicit about in Letter #144:

They are not based on direct experience of mine; but owe, I suppose, a good deal to the goblin tradition ... especially as it appears in George MacDonald, except for the soft feet which I never believed in.

The concept of "A violence-loving, usually sub-intellectual race/society that is not evil per se," seems too broad a question to answer definitively as conceptions of "intellectual" and "evil" depend on cultural specifics, such as the societal prevalence of literacy, and conceptions of violence as pertaining to evil.

¹ Monster Man, a podcast in which James Holloway critically appraises the history, mythology, etc. of 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons monsters frequently notes entries which fit the "generally despicable, probably inherently evil race of foot soldiers" bill: orcs, hobgoblins, bugbears, bullywugs, gnolls, kobolds, goblins, crab men, fire newts, lizard men, etc., etc. ad nauseum well demonstrates that the concept is widely prevalent via the historical and fictional origins of many of these monster entries.