Orc-Talk: Tolkien and Ordinary Evil

*The Lord of the Rings* Reading Challenge bonus, week six

Towards the end of The Two Towers, the reader may be surprised to find a strange and funny conversation between two orcs, Gorbag and Shagrat—surprised because it breaks into this devastating moment in the narrative: Sam believes Frodo to be dead, and he finds himself alone, bearing the Ring, as he finally prepares to enter Mordor.

The two orcs exchange w…