Tolkien describes Orcs explicitly in one of his Letters: ..they are (or were) squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types [REF].
Readers have debated at length the extent and meaning of the seemingly racist imagery in Tolkien's writings, including Michael D. C. Drout,[REF] Tom Shippey,[REF] Stephen Shapiro[REF] and Mount Vernon Nazarene University professor Anderson Rearick III [REF].