Tribes in the Middle-Earth

[HonoredRohan]

For what race or culture in the Middle-Earth is the term "Tribe or tribes” generally used? Was there any connection with the real-world tribes? Thanks
Regards,
William.

 

[Deleted member 12094]

Hi HonoredRohan, welcome to this forum!

In LotR I see that word being used only to refer to various groups of Orcs. Both in Appendix E and F, the following is explained:

The Orcs were first bred by the Dark Power of the North in the Elder Days. It is said that they had no language of their own, but took what they could of other tongues and perverted it to their own liking; yet they made only brutal jargons, scarcely sufficient even for their own needs, unless it were for curses and abuse. And these creatures, being filled with malice, hating even their own kind, quickly developed as many barbarous dialects as there were groups or settlements of their race, so that their Orkish speech was of little use to them in intercourse between different tribes.​

In fact you will find an example of this in the chapter "The Uruk-hai", when Pippin and Merry were being abducted:

To Pippin’s surprise he found that much of the talk was intelligible; many of the Orcs were using ordinary language. Apparently the members of two or three quite different tribes were present, and they could not understand one another’s orc-speech. There was an angry debate concerning what they were to do now: which way they were to take and what should be done with the prisoners.​

In TH I could spot the word just once being mentioned to refer to the Wood-elves (but I don't think that is very meaningful):

The feasting people were Wood-elves, of course. These are not wicked folk. If they have a fault it is distrust of strangers. Though their magic was strong, even in those days they were wary. They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise. For most of them (together with their scattered relations in the hills and mountains) were descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West.​

 

[norrinradd]

For what race or culture in the Middle-Earth is the term "Tribe or tribes” generally used? Was there any connection with the real-world tribes? Thanks
Regards,
William.

You can find that in the History of Middle Earth about the Easterlings: “... many savage tribes in the East (of old corrupted by Morgoth)....”

 

[Olorgando]

...
In TH I could spot the word just once being mentioned to refer to the Wood-elves (but I don't think that is very meaningful):

The feasting people were Wood-elves, of course. These are not wicked folk. If they have a fault it is distrust of strangers. Though their magic was strong, even in those days they were wary. They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise. For most of them (together with their scattered relations in the hills and mountains) were descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West.​

Reading too much into statements in TH for the "serious" legendarium is probably always very iffy. Some doubtful branches of psychoanalysis claiming descent from Sigmund F. of Vienna do like to indulge in such things, but they impress me as straying a bit at least into esoteric territory.

That said, our overall impression may be a bit skewed towards the Light-Elves and the Sindar or Grey-Elves who came in contact with them. Only east of the Misty Mountains are we told of Silvan Elves, in both Thranduil's realm and in Lothlórien. In both cases, it is not unreasonable to assume a certain "civilizing" effect on the Silvan Elves, making them a special branch of the "Moriquendi" or Dark-Elves, or even the "Avari" or Unwilling. There could quite possibly have been Elves, in contrast to the statement in TH above, who were "wicked folk". Eöl, his son Maeglin, or Saeros of Doriath do point in this direction. Or for that matter, even the High Prince of the Noldor Fëanor had some decided character / socialization defects. So perhaps some of those "Avari", the wilder ones, who never got beyond "tribal" organization, could have been more fitting "material" for Melkor to wreak his corruption on. Perhaps they also were already somewhat ugly, a concept which runs contrary to every real-world tradition of Elves being "fair folk" if dangerous to mortals. But those traditions do seem to spread the physical characteristic of Elves more widely than what we know from JRRT's writings.

The Orcs had been introduced into his (early) legendarium as an (enemy) "infantry of the old war about whom one must have no compunction" about slaughtering them in masses. JRRT had no end of trouble reconciling this offhand use of Orcs with his own beliefs, and never finally managed to reconcile their variously being considered "low-level Maia" (for the early Orcs) to Elves to Men to "upgraded beasts", or any cross-breeding among all of these.

But tribal-level wild Elves leading to Orc tribes - not entirely inconceivable.