I’ve heard of many games and books that are said to be based in the Tolkein Universe of Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, etc. But did Tolkein invent these races or did he combine them from other sources?
Thanks in advance,
As far as I know (and I’m no Tolkien expert), J.R.R. Tolkien invented the Hobbits and the Orcs. But elves, dwarves, goblins and dragons had been the stuff of legend in many cultures, centuries before Tolkien was born.
Well, all of them had some basis, often many basises, in myth. Tolkein did make them his own, and put them and the idea of them into his own words, often changing things around. Inclusding the orcs and halflings, actually.
Elves: based on the Alfar of Norse mythology. Much tougher customers than those found in Santa’s workshop.
Dwarves: based on Norse and other Germanic mythologies. In legend it was Dwarvish smiths who forged Thor’s hammer and the Ring of the Nibelungs (see the Nibelungenlied and Wagner’s Ring operas for details).
Trolls: common monsters in the folklore of many European countries. Remember the Three Billy Goats Gruff?
Orcs: the name comes from an Old English or Middle English word meaning “man”. The race was JRRT’s own invention, but resemble the ogres and trolls of European folklore. Also with a nod to the Svartalfen (dark elves) of Norse mythology.
Hobbits: JRRT’s own creation, but similar to the brownies of English folklore and the leprechauns of Irish myth. Nearly every country has some form of “little people” in its lore.
And the Ents?
Hobbits are nothing like Leprechauns! Leprechauns are EVIL!!!
Ents: Offhand, I don’t know of any direct mythological sources. But many pre-Christian cultures believed that inanimate objects had conscious souls. The Greek dryads and river-gods, for instance.
The Wizard of Oz has some Ent-like trees in it. Either Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking-Glass has some talking flowers in it. I think that they both pre-date Tolkien.
And leprechauns are only evil in cheesy B-movies. Don’t try to steal their pot of gold, and they are harmless. Usually.
But, then, griffins have been known to get rather possessive about gold themselves. 
I take it you’ve never read The Father Christmas Letters, also by the esteemed professor? I can assure you, the Elves in Santa’s workshop are every bit as tough as those in Middle Earth.
Chronos: I’ve seen a few of them reproduced in J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator, by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. I regret to say, however, that I have yet to read the whole collection. Still…{sniff}I thought Polar Bear was the real muscle of the outfit{/sniff} 
Back to the Ents: I just remembered-the Green Man. I am woefully ignorant about this. According to a book I once read, a common decorative motif in medieval architecture was the Green Man: either a group of leaves, arranged to suggest a human face; or, less subtly, a man’s face, with hair and beard composed of foliage. I have no idea what the folklore is behind this, but I would be willing to bet that the Green Man is Treebeard’s great-great-great granddaddy.
As a footnote to this, John Milton used the word “orc” in Paradise Lost to refer to a creature called “grampus”, which is believed to be a killer whale.
Orc comes from the Latin orcus(Ogre apparently comes from the same source).
Tolkien used it as a synonym for goblin.
Not for nothing, but isn’t “Orka” the proper name for a killer whale?
all cites from pantheon.org -very, very highly recommended, check it out.
They have much more. smapti and fretburner you seem to be correct there, as orc seems to originally mean a large sea creature.
You have no idea how bad I have wanted to introduce that site here, I just didn’t have a reason.
Hmmm. Skimmed those cites, but must say I’m dubious about this comment in the Goblin listing:
Considering a) that the Druids likely spoke a form of Brythonic Celtic (i.e. - early Welsh or Gaulic) and b) “Robin” is contraction of"Robert" a Frankish name, I have my doubts.