Goblins
From Tolkien Gateway
- For the main article on this subject, see Orcs.
Goblins is another name for Orcs[1][2]. It is English (see below) as opposed to Old English, the language that Tolkien used to represent Rohirric[3]. The two are used synonymously in The Lord of the Rings.[4]
[edit] Etymology
Goblin is a folk word, which according to "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English," is probably derived from the Anglo-French gobelin a diminutive of Gobel (cf. Kobold) and therefore is Romance-derived unlike other words preferable by Tolkien[5]
The term was used primarily in The Hobbit but also in The Lord of the Rings.
[edit] Portrayal in Adaptations
For the strategy games The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II goblins have been made clearly distinct from Orcs.
