Orc Letters
		The following letters were discovered by a shepherd boy in a cave in south-eastern Europe around 1910. They were contained in a casket along with other documents and various coins. The young boy sold the casket to a traveller who brought it to London to be auctioned at Sotheby's. It was purchased by the trustees of the Smithsonian Museum, but never arrived in the U.S.A. as the ship carrying it perished on high sea. The documents are definitely lost for ever as the delicate parchments have little chance of braving the sea water for any length of time. Fortunately, photographic copies on glass plates had been made of some of the letters at Sotheby's, and these were re-discovered in that company's archives in 1996. Many years of research have since been invested in de-ciphering and translating the ancient script. This translation represents the most accurate that we could produce to the best of our knowledge and means. We do not, however, claim that it is free of error. As the originals no longer survive, these documents cannot be dated with any accuracy. The letters themselves are dated in a system of years counted from the "Construction of the second Lugburz". I have never come across such a date system before, but when doing research into it, a librarian suggested I send the translations to Tolkien scholars for their opinions. I am grateful to the editor of the Aglared for allowing me to publish them here. 25th October 67 Dear Choe, Your ideas about the Ring sound very interesting, but I must disappoint you that they are mere daydreaming. In reality the wealth and glory of Mordor depend only on the ingenuity and labour of Orcs, both in Mordor and serving Him beyond. That is why we Orcs need not capture such a Ring to increase our power further. We need an inner cleansing. We must join forces and destroy the enemy within. We must eliminate all the lazy, snotty, lesser Orcs who serve only their own selfish purposes, kill the cursed men who the Master took for His allies and who despise us, especially those shrieking Nazgul at their head. They toil not, neither do they know efficiency, yet the colours of their garments show the abundance of our labour. This country ought to be investing inwardly in it's strengths rather than in the waste and maggotry of it's cursed neighbours and it's own filthy rebels . Take my mine for example: In only a few years have I transformed this outdated rustic institution to a capital business venture. Day and night slaves cut ores in ever deepening pits to feed the furnaces above and turn out weapons for a better future, for a better Mordor. And this is being achieved against the overwhelming inefficiency of an over-regulated state controlled burocratic economy. We used to be supplied with sturdy mountain orcs. Now we get only dwarves and men from the battles up North. Cheap imported labour of the lowest quality. They cannot work the same hours as the slaves we used to have, and only last a season or two. Many are so weakened when they arrive that they are hardly good for our soup, let alone work. And yet the price we pay Lugburz for these parasites grows from year to year. Other captains would have given up for lack of useable raw material, yet I have doubled our nominal production every three years since I took over as manager here. What do we need a ring for? With the metal we make we could make a thousand rings a day. Remember Choe, it's losers who use problems as excuses, winners see challenges and have solutions. That, and only that, is the pillar of success. Your Uncle Nam'raga. 26th January 68 Dear Choe, You musn't think that just because I'm here on an enterprising mine in a distant corner of Mordor, that I don't know about the affairs of the outside world. I know the Nazgul are still out looking for that Ring. Of course it's a secret, but it's spreading and there's no stopping people knowing it. I believe there must be some other purpose behind the quest. Do you think, that if the enemy truly had the ring, he'd really set out with such a small incompetent group to defend it? And march through Moria at that? No he'd bring all his armies and destroy the gates of Mordor. He'd reduce them to dust and all the lands and riches of Mordor would be his. He would capture my mine and analyse the secret of my business strategy. Anything else is fancy storytelling spread to bring discontent into our ranks. Contentment is the first pillar of success. I tell my slaves that they enjoy working for me. I give them incentive. I tell them, they are my most valuable asset; I have an open ear for their comments, especially if they are about increasing productivity. I tell them, it is the loser who sees the problem, but the winner who sees the solution. I take myself as an example. I see no problems, but only challenges. I am sure my Lord in Lugburz sees me as an example for the rest of Mordor's industry, and that I will soon be called up to higher places. Your Uncle Nam'raga. 18th March 68 Dear Choe, Alas, the lack of planning which I have always warned against has reared its head again. The great loss of good war material on Pellenor need not have been necessary had these Nazgul adopted a more quality oriented approach to warfare. It just shows what comes of putting trust in opportunely runaway Numenorians. The enemy is not as strong or worthy of fear as it makes out to be. Remember our Lord the Eye of Lugburz is a god, and answers only to Melkor the Almighty if even unto Him . It is Melkor who allowed the enemy to exist so that our armies could test my blades against their necks. That and none other is the sole pillar of my success. They have no other purpose, and all fear of them is unfounded. Remember, it is the loser who sees the problem, but the winner who sees the solution. If these stories of gods from across the sea were true, those gods would help their 'friends', or at least send emmissaries to show them the Way and teach them Quality Management. But have they? No. The enemy is only trying to sabotage the superiority of Mordor in the most childish and ungodlike way. Only recently was an elf captured at Cirith Ungol. Do you see what the enemy is trying to do? He is trying to attack us with little chunks of elven magic. It's Beren and Luthien all over again, but this time we're prepared! His companion got away, but I am ready for him! I am always prepared. That is the pillar, and the sole pillar of my success. If that elf, however big he may be, does as much as touch one stone of my mine or by some magic make grass return to my soil, to make it look as if we weren't working, to distort our vision of the Solution, then woe betide him and all his kind. Your Uncle Nam'raga . 25th March 68 Dear Choe I am informed that a host of the enemy's horsemen are riding against our Black Gate. I hope our defences will prove more competent this time. They cost enough of my tax money as it is. After all, they are now equipped with the finest steel from my forges. We have even delved into new metals on a deeper layer, and found an ore which, I am told by prophesy, will one day be used to destroy entire cities and maybe the world. This is truly the work of orks. I call it Urukanium after us Uruk-Hai, so that we will never be forgotten, and the world may ever benefit from our ingenuity, the ingenuity which is the sole pillar of our success. But Mordor cannot fall even in our time. A pretty trap is being sprung for the last of the pretty Elven-sons of the West at the Great Gate. It is just a matter of hours before Mordor's enemies will be ground into the mud; just as these three strangers who I see fighting each other on the mount of Oroduin even as I write will soon be consumed by its flames. The rise to power of Mordor is but a confirmation of the advantages of the new economic order and especially that of my own mine. And when they will ask me, "Nam'raga, how did you win the War", I will answer, "I am a winner because I saw the solution". That and that alone is the pillar of my success! Your Uncle Nam'raga
	This article was published in Aglared 16 (2001). <== back to article list
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