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I suppose there are several explanations: 1) they are the ones who remained in Middle-Earth, while others (e.g. Elrond's wife) departed west over the Sea to ge

I suppose there are several explanations: 1) they are the ones who remained in Middle-Earth, while others (e.g. Elrond's wife) departed west over the Sea to get away from the violence of Middle-Earth 2) they are ageless, and seem to have a very high adult:child ratio and essentially no elderly, so nearly the entire population is "military age" Taken together, this could plausibly give not much under 50% able to serve in the military in extremis. Relative to Hobbits, Orcs, or Dwarves, the Elves are biologically far more different than Men.

tdba 3y ago
Orcs are elves who were corrupted and mutilated by Morgoth, so hypothetically elves and orcs might have more shared biology. Hobbits are probably an offshoot or variant of men. Elves, dwarves and men all had separate "awakenings" so they don't have any shared ancestry at all. However, earlier races of men (and especially Numenoreans) were more similar to elves, being larger, wiser and having longer lifespans.
- labster 3y ago
  The thing about orcs being corrupted elves isn’t canon, as Tolkien himself never settled on a theory for the origins of orcs. I’m personally against this theory because an elf put under extreme duress will likely just pop back to the Halls of Mandos; when orcs were first bred the way from the West was still open.
  - tdba 3y ago
    Fair, I was just stating the commonly accepted origin. Personally, I think the origin of orcs remaining shadowy and mysterious with numerous contradictory accounts is the best canon. After all, Morgoth works secretly to sow confusion and dissent.
  - rossdavidh 3y ago
    Arguably, Tolkien did say (in the Silmarillion) that orcs were corrupted elves, and then also said (in Unfinished Tales) that orcs were corrupted Wose. Then he also said that Saruman made orcs from corrupted Men. Most plausibly, since there are numerous cases of different groups of orcs looking at least as different from one another as, say, Hobbits and Men and Wose and Dwarves, "orc" is just a term for any humanoid whose form has been corrupted by a Dark Lord.

tdba 3y ago

Orcs are elves who were corrupted and mutilated by Morgoth, so hypothetically elves and orcs might have more shared biology. Hobbits are probably an offshoot or variant of men. Elves, dwarves and men all had separate "awakenings" so they don't have any shared ancestry at all. However, earlier races of men (and especially Numenoreans) were more similar to elves, being larger, wiser and having longer lifespans.

labster 3y ago
The thing about orcs being corrupted elves isn’t canon, as Tolkien himself never settled on a theory for the origins of orcs. I’m personally against this theory because an elf put under extreme duress will likely just pop back to the Halls of Mandos; when orcs were first bred the way from the West was still open.
- tdba 3y ago
  Fair, I was just stating the commonly accepted origin. Personally, I think the origin of orcs remaining shadowy and mysterious with numerous contradictory accounts is the best canon. After all, Morgoth works secretly to sow confusion and dissent.
- rossdavidh 3y ago
  Arguably, Tolkien did say (in the Silmarillion) that orcs were corrupted elves, and then also said (in Unfinished Tales) that orcs were corrupted Wose. Then he also said that Saruman made orcs from corrupted Men. Most plausibly, since there are numerous cases of different groups of orcs looking at least as different from one another as, say, Hobbits and Men and Wose and Dwarves, "orc" is just a term for any humanoid whose form has been corrupted by a Dark Lord.