Would LoTR exist if Kalevala didn't exist? Tantantannn! :vaultboy:

Thinking about what would have happened if something else would have happened that caused the thing we specilate about to not happen while happening is pointless. :cheat:

I think if Tolkien hadn't created them, someone else would have seen the need for a green, nasty, hate-able little creature.

Yeah i realise that.

Someone would have come up with a green monster like thing without the amazing world of Middle-Earth because fantasy is by and large about history. It's incredibly difficult to make something truly original in the fantasy genre without borrowing from something else. The Elder Scrolls borrowed from The Lord of the Rings, which borrowed from Beowulf, which borrowed from Norse Mythology and so on and so on.

I just noticed this post. In Tolkien's mythology Orcs and Goblins are different types of creatures.

It's also shown that way in the Jackson's LotR films. You see Goblins in the Mines of Moria and they look and act differently than Orcs. Goblins also have a different social structure with kings etc. In fact Goblins in Tolkien mythology is actually somewhat close to Oblivion's goblins - often underground, with a hierarchy of leaders. Vs Orcs that seem to mostly serve the evil villains.