When I first read LOTR over fifty years ago I realized this was Earth within the first chapters of the first book when the night sky is described. Tolkien refers to 'red Borgil' rising. That would be Mars. He referred to 'Menelvagor the hunter' rising in the east. That would be Orion, a constellation other cultures in our era have called 'a hunter'. And he refers to 'Remnirath' as 'the netted stars'. That would be the Milky Way. This was very clear to me back then, as I was a kid who owned a telescope and found astronomy fascinating.
When I first read LOTR over fifty years ago I realized this was Earth within the first chapters of the first book when the night sky is described. Tolkien refers to 'red Borgil' rising. That would be Mars. He referred to 'Menelvagor the hunter' rising in the east. That would be Orion, a constellation other cultures in our era have called 'a hunter'. And he refers to 'Remnirath' as 'the netted stars'. That would be the Milky Way. This was very clear to me back then, as I was a kid who owned a telescope and found astronomy fascinating.
Orcs were indians i think !