Where Did Tolkien Get His Orcs?

JRR Tolkien was a master storyteller, famous for creating his very own fantasy world with such depth that entire franchises are built from the smallest passing suggestions in the mountain of notes and records he left when he died. His world is populated by both wonderful and terrible creatures, cross-country wizards and brave rangers who luckily turn out to be long-lost kings.

Much of what Tolkien wrote drew on existing tradition, of which this professor of Anglo Saxon was perhaps as well versed as anybody in the world. But, in searching for his principle “evil” race, it seems that Tolkien unexpectedly drew on his own creative reserves.

Commonly attributed as having been invented by Tolkien, orcs now appear in a wide range of modern fantasy books, films, and popular games. But were these terrible creatures solely a creation of the storyteller’s imagination? Or was he inspired by earlier mythology?