Orc (Blake)

Orc is a proper name for one of the characters in the complex mythology of William Blake. Unlike the medieval sea beast, or Tolkien's humanoid monster, his Orc is a positive figure, the embodiment of rebellion, and stands opposed to Urizen, the embodiment of tradition.

In Blake's illuminated book America a Prophecy, Orc is described by his mythic opponent, "Albion's Angel" as the "Lover of Wild Rebellion, and transgressor of God's Law". He symbolizes the spirit of rebellion and freedom, which provoked the French Revolution.

Background

The name Orc is possibly an anagram of the word cor (heart), in that he was stated in Blake's myth to be born of Enitharmon's heart, or orca (whale) because he sometimes takes the form of a whale. Orcus is also the Latin word for Hell, and Orc is presented as a rebellious, Luciferian character. He was created to serve as Blake's analysis of the revolutions in the United States and France.

Character

In Blake's myth, Orc is seen as the first child of Los with Enitharmon and sometimes either replaced in that position by another or not mentioned as a child at all. In the Four Zoas, the children of Los represent a just form of wrath, pity, frustrated desire and logic, which serve as an analysis of Orc's being. Orc's creation was based on the split between Los and Enitharmon, and he transformed from a worm into the form of a serpent. Based on Orc's relationship with Enitharmon, there is a split between him and Los. Los uses the Chains of Jealousy to bind Orc upon a mountain, and Orc becomes part of the rock. While bound, his imagination is able to exist in a cave located in Urizen's kingdom, which wakes up Urizen. When Urizen seeks out Orc, Orc is freed as he changes into a serpent. The form is corrupted and he is turned into a satanic image. Orc spends his time rebelling against Urizen, and it is only when Urizen stops fighting Orc that Orc is able to become Luvah.

Blake

Blake is a surname or a given name which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory is that it is a corruption of "Ap Lake", meaning "Son of Lake".

Blake was the name of one of the 14 Tribes of Galway in Ireland. These Blakes were descendants of Richard Caddell, alias Blake, who was involved in the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. As such a long present foreign name it became known as de Bláca in Irish.

The origins of the name Blake are also considered to be Old Norse, first appearing in Yorkshire, England, possibly derived from the word Blaker, referring to a village and a former municipality of Akershus county, Norway (east of Oslo).

Blake often refers to the British poet, painter and printmaker William Blake (1757–1827) or to the contemporary figurative artist Blake.

Males with given name Blake

Blake (disambiguation)

Blake is a given name and surname of English origin.

Blake or Blake's may also refer to:

Places

Others

See also

Blake (band)

Blake are a British vocal group. Blake comprises three men whose friendship and musical careers date back to their school days. After reuniting via Facebook as adults they had recorded their first album in six months. It went to No. 1 in the UK Classical Album Chart, selling over 100,000 copies in three weeks, earning the group a Gold Disc. The album received the Classical Brit Award for Album of the Year in 2008.

Their second album, And So It Goes, peaked at No. 12 in the UK pop charts and No.1 in several classical charts around the world. During 2008 and 2009 the group undertook tours of Australia and Japan. 2009 continued with a tour, the creation of their new record label, Blake Records, and the release of their third album, Together. They finished 2009 with a 30-night tour in Scandinavia. In 2010 ‘Beautiful Earth’ was selected by the World Wildlife Fund as its Earth Hour Anthem, and their album Together reached No. 1 in the Australian Classical Charts and No. 1 in the South African Classical Charts. Blake took their ‘An Evening With Blake’ show to over 40 locations throughout the UK, performing to over 50,000 people. After being invited to Buckingham Palace twice during 2010, Blake released ‘All of Me’ in 2011 - written by Simon May.

Orc

An orc /ɔːrk/ (also spelled as ork, orch, or yrch) is a fictional humanoid creature that is part of a fantasy race akin to goblins.

While the overall concept of orcs draws on a variety of pre-existing mythology, the main conception of the creatures stems from the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, in particular The Lord of the Rings. In Tolkien's works, orcs are a brutish, aggressive, repulsive and generally malevolent species, existing in stark contrast with the benevolent Elvish race (from which their own ancestors may have been developed and corrupted) and generally pressed into the service of an evil power. Tolkien's concept of orcs has subsequently been adapted and imported into other works of fantasy fiction as well as into fantasy role-playing and strategy games (such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer and Warcraft), broadening the recognition of the creatures in popular culture.

Earlier references to creatures etymologically or conceptually similar to orcs can be found in Old English and Anglo-Saxon sources; including Beowulf and 16th-century Italian folk tales, in particular those of Giambattista Basile.

Orcs and Goblins (Warhammer)

Orcs & Goblins is a supplemental book for the Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop game. The phrase "orcs & goblins" also refers collectively to all of the races that are described in this book, which includes other "greenskins" as well. The book includes background information, illustrations, and game rules for these races. The Orcs and Goblins represent a generic Dark Ages warband army with little internal cohesion and discipline, and relying on the ferocious charge and individual fighting skills rather than organized generalship.

Stories

Orcs & Goblins contains a number of short stories that provide an illustrative fictional history of the Orcs in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. These stories center around the formation of Waaagh!s and the resulting campaigns.

Gorbad Ironclaw

Gorbad Ironclaw, atop his vicious boar Gnarla, was the mightiest Warlord that ever lived (in the warhammer fantasy universe). Gorbad Ironclaw and his tribe, the Ironclaw Orcs, absorbed the Broken Tooth tribe along with the local Goblin and Night Goblin tribes, to create a massive force of Greenskin warriors. The tribe marched through Black Fire Pass to attack the Empire under the Emperor Sigismund. Gorbad's army conquered the territories of Solland and Wissenland, but Gorbad himself was wounded in the fighting. At the fortress of Altdorf, the Waaagh! was kept at bay outside the city walls. Gorbad unleashed Wyverns upon the city, who threw the defenders into disarray but were ultimately repelled without achieving their main objective, which was to destroy the city gates. Eventually, the lack of progress and Gorbad's injury took their toll on morale, and the army disintegrated. The remnants of Gorbad's tribe were ambushed and defeated on their way home by a Dwarf army under the King of Karaz-a-Karak. It is not known if Gorbad survived the encounter.

Orc (programming language)

Orc is a concurrent, nondeterministic computer programming language created by Jayadev Misra at the University of Texas at Austin.

Orc provides uniform access to computational services, including distributed communication and data manipulation, through sites. Using four simple concurrency primitives, the programmer orchestrates the invocation of sites to achieve a goal, while managing timeouts, priorities, and failures.

External links

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