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Elf vs Orc - What's the difference?

elf | orc |

As nouns the difference between elf and orc

is that elf is a luminous spirit presiding over nature and fertility and dwelling in the world of Álfheim (Elfland). Compare angel, nymph, fairy while orc is any of several large, ferocious sea creatures, now especially the killer whale.

As initialisms the difference between elf and orc

is that elf is initialism of w:Earth Liberation Front|Earth Liberation Front|lang=en a radical environmentalism group while ORC is orange River Colony, a name given to the Orange Free State when annexed by Britain in 1900.

elf

English

Noun

(elves) (wikipedia elf)
  • (Norse mythology) A luminous spirit presiding over nature and fertility and dwelling in the world of (Elfland). Compare angel, nymph, fairy.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Every elf , and fairy sprite, / Hop as light as bird from brier.
  • Any from a race of mythical, supernatural beings resembling but seen as distinct from human beings. Usually skilled in magic or spellcrafting; sometimes depicted as clashing with dwarves, especially in modern fantasy literature.
  • (fantasy) Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse (through Tolkien's Eldar)
  • A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
  • Derived terms

    * elfin * elfinwood * elfish * Elfland * elflock * elven * elvish * light elves * dark elves

    See also

    * fay * fairy * brownie * dwarf * hobbit

    References

    * Marshall Jones Company (1930). Mythology of All Races'' Series, Volume 2 ''Eddic , Great Britain: Marshall Jones Company, 1930, pp. 220-221.

    orc

    English

    (wikipedia orc)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) orque, (etyl) orca, and their source, (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of several large, ferocious sea creatures, now especially the killer whale.
  • Etymology 2

    Probably from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (fantasy, mythology) A mythical evil monstrous humanoid creature, usually quite aggressive.
  • * 1656 , Samuel Holland, Don Zara del Fogo , I.1:
  • Who at one stroke didst pare away three heads from off the shoulders of an Orke , begotten by an Incubus.
  • * 1834 , "The National Fairy Mythology of England" in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 10, p. 53:
  • The chief exploit of the hero, Beowulf the Great, is the destruction of the two monsters Grendel and his mother; both like most of the evil beings in the old times, dwellers in the fens and the waters; and both, moreover, as some Christian bard has taken care to inform us, of "Cain's kin," as were also the eotens, and the elves, and the orcs (eótenas, and ylfe, and orcneas).
  • * 1954 , (JRR Tolkien), The Fellowship of the Ring :
  • There was a flash like flame and the helm burst asunder. The orc fell with cloven head.

    See also

    * goblin * troll

    Anagrams

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