i found an orc (well, "ork") in, of all places, Oz.
re-reading "The Scarecrow of Oz" i found this:
btw, "The Scarecrow of Oz" was published in 1915.
re-reading "The Scarecrow of Oz" i found this:
now, this doesn't sound much like a D&D orc or a Tolkien orc, but it is a type of "sea-monster" orc, which is another of the early definitions of the word. (cf. orca, or killer whale.)They had divided one of the biscuits and were munching it for breakfast when they were startled by a sudden splash in the pool. Looking toward it, they saw emerging from the water the most curious creature either of them had ever beheld. It wasn't a fish, Trot decided, nor was it a beast. It had wings, though, and queer wings they were: shaped like an inverted chopping bowl and covered with tough skin instead of feathers. It had four legs--much like the legs of a stork, only double the number--and its head was shaped a good deal like that of a poll parrot, with a beak that curved downward in front and upward at the edges, and was half bill and half mouth. But to call it a bird was out of the question, because it had no feathers whatever except a crest of wavy plumes of a scarlet color on the very top of its head. The strange creature must have weighed as much as Cap'n Bill, and as it floundered and struggled to get out of the water to the sandy beach, it was so big and unusual that both Trot and her
companion stared at it in wonder--in wonder that was not unmixed with fear.
The eyes that regarded them as the creature stood dripping before them were bright and mild in expression, and the queer addition to their party made no attempt to attack them and seemed quite as surprised by the meeting as they were.
"I wonder," whispered Trot, "what it is."
"Who, me?" exclaimed the creature in a shrill, high-pitched voice. "Why, I'm an Ork."
"Oh!" said the girl. "But what is an Ork?"
"I am," he repeated, a little proudly, as he shook the water from his funny wings, "and if ever an Ork was glad to be out of the water and on dry land again, you can be sure that I'm that especial, individual Ork!"
btw, "The Scarecrow of Oz" was published in 1915.
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