The Orgog is the title of an unfinished and unpublished[1] children's tale written by J.R.R. Tolkien "around 1924" about "a strange creature traveling through a fantastic landscape".[2]
Background
When the Tolkien family had moved in 1924 to 2 Darnley Road in Leeds,[3] John Tolkien recalls that The Orgog was one of the tales read by his father to him, when he could not fall asleep.[4][1] While most of these tales were not written down,[4] The Orgog survives as an unfinished, typewritten manuscript.[3] Not much is known of the story itself, except that it is a "strange, convoluted tale of an odd creature travelling through a fantastic landscape"[3] and includes "blue mountains and an orange sun"[3].[2]
It has been suggested by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull that Tolkien's watercolour A Shop on the Edge of the Hills of Fairy Land (painted in 1924) is likely related to the tale,[note 1] as the word "Gogs" appears on the depicted shop building, though there is no mention of such a shop in the tale. However, like The Orgog, it also has "blue mountains and an orange sun". The painting is dedicated to John. In September 1936, Christopher Tolkien accidentally tore it up, though Tolkien repaired it.[3]
On 22 June 2025, Jason Fisher mentioned on his blog that he had been told that The Orgog "really isn’t in a state suitable for publication" in a private correspondence.[5]
Etymology
The meaning of "orgog", and if the word has any connection to one of Tolkien's invented languages, is unknown. It was speculated by Jason Fisher on his blog that the word may
relate to “ogre”, perhaps connected with Hilary Tolkien’s (and Ronald’s) childhood tales of black and white ogres. Or there is the character of Orgoglio from Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. That work was more to Lewis’s taste than Tolkien’s, but you never know. In that work, Orgoglio is a monster who attacks Redcross Knight in Book One, Canto VII. The name, interestingly enough, is Italian for “pride”, from Vulgar Latin *orgollium, in turn from Proto-West Germanic *urgollju “pride, arrogance”.[5]
Inspiration
Although it might be a mere coincidence, the name Orgog is reminiscent of Orgoglio, the name of a giant appearing in Book I of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene.[note 2]
See also
Notes
- ↑ The painting appears as figure no. 71 in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator.
- ↑ For a mention of Orgoglio in the context of Tolkien's writings, cf. Jonathan Evans, "Pride" in Michael D.C. Drout (ed.), J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, p. 543.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: II. Reader's Guide, p. 499
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien; Douglas A. Anderson, (ed.), (2002) The Annotated Hobbit: Revised and Expanded Edition, p. 5
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator, "Art for Children", p. 77
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 125 (entry "17 March 1924")
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jason Fisher, "“The Ulsterior Motive” and other unpublished writings of Tolkien" 22 June 2025, Lingwë - Musings of a Fish, accessed 23 June 2025