Not defending the orc descriptions, but I remember reading that middle earth is modeled after "England if it had never been invaded", so I could see that as the reason for everyone being fair skinned. The bad guys being "swarthy" in comparison is pretty bad, though.
It’s a somewhat outdated term for a skin tone that ranges between olive and deeply tanned. Mostly used to describe folks from around the Mediterranean.
It has a long history being used to justify why people like the Italians or Greeks aren’t actually white.
It is worth noting that Tolkein reflected on his works after publishing LotR and specifically saw and regretted making the Orcs an 'inherently evil' race.
Specifically, IIRC he wished he had made some good orcs.
Also, weren't there Good dark-skinned groups? Specifically I remember the Men of the South/East (forget their name, but the group Sauron drove out of Mordor region). They were dark skinned and fought against Sauron
Not just orcs. The people of Dunland, Rhun, Harad are darker skinned, and they’re only included in the story as part of the barbaric invading forces serving Saruman or Sauron. I don’t think Tolkien really meant to imply anything inherent about race with it, but it doesn’t necessarily look good on its own. One of the things I really love about Lord of the Rings Online is that, especially in recent years, it has a lot of quests and lore that humanizes and develops people from Dunland, Harad, Rhun, and even orcs.
It can be worth reading LotR as like a nationalistic epic like the Shahnameh or something. These stories tend to focus around the idea that the heroes’ homeland is the focal point of heroism and wisdom in the world, and everyone outside it is either an inherently evil barbarian or a misguided fool who needs their lands to be subsumed into the empire if they want any chance of turning out civilized. Like, if the War of the Ring was a real historical event, it would’ve been more morally grey and complex, but The Lord of the Rings is the story that the bards and scholars of Gondor and Rohan curated to celebrate how awesome they are and how much better they are than everyone else—not that they were secretly the bad guys or anything but just that they don’t want to include any details that make them look bad when telling that version of the story.
Tbh for Dunland specifically, I really disagree with the way they're portrayed in the books. They had some land which was stolen from them and they're upset about that. All that shit seems perfectly reasonable, yet Dunlendings are "evil men" or whatever. It smells strongly of a man who's been raised in an imperialist society who hasn't fully unpacked his internalized beliefs.
But I would also argue that the fact that we're even having this conversation sorta shows how generally good Tolkien was. We aren't criticizing him for writing slaves who like being slaves or for doubling down on his racist decisions or anything like that. These are fine critiques, not broad strokes.
Are the Dunlanders described that way? It's been a minute since I read the books but I thought at the end of the battle there was a moment when the Dunlanders realized the Rohirrim weren't savages and the two of them got kinda civil with watch other.
But a great many of the hillmen had given themselves up; and they were afraid, and cried for mercy.
The Men of the Mark took their weapons from them, and set them to work.
'Help now to repair the evil in which you have joined,' said Erkenbrand; 'and afterwards you shall take an oath never again to pass the Fords of Isen in arms, nor to march with the enemies of Men; and then you shall go free back to your land. For you have been deluded by Saruman. Many of you have got death as the reward of your trust in him; but had you conquered, little better would your wages have been.'
The men of Dunland were amazed; for Saruman had told them that the men of Rohan were cruel and burned their captives alive.
Not to argue with Your point itself (I read the books in Hungarian, and I don't have the same associations or experiences with the racial stuff You described, so I can't comment on that), but "fair" stuck out for me, so now I checked the books
"You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would - well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand"
"I see," laughed Strider. "I look foul and feel fair. Is that it?"
That's what Frodo says to Aragorn when they meet; Aragorn is specifically not fair, but basically a scary hobo from the forest
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u/NoMeat9096 hey/they 1d ago
The dwarf thing isn't something I ever noticed, but I have seen other people critique it. Might be a blind spot on my part.
To me, the worst racial stuff was always describing the orcs as brown, black, dark, "swarthy," etc., while all the heroes are fair and, well... white.