Hi!  Someone just gave me a book about the Orc, but I haven't read it yet.
well it is based on a fictional humanoid creature that is part of a fantasy race akin to goblins
That sounds awesome!  I don't know why my friend gave me the book, but I think I will find it pretty interesting!
yes! the overall concept of orcs draws on a variety of pre-existing mythology, the main conception of the creatures stems from the fantasy writings, of JRR Tolkien
I love mythology!  And I really love Tolkien - I had no idea that Orcs were based on those books!
in Tolkien's works, orcs are a brutish, aggressive, repulsive and generally malevolent species 
So they're not really fun to be around!  LOL  But it sounds like they fit in quite nicely in fantasy books!
they are, the concept of orcs has been subsequently been adapted and importded into other works of fantasy fiction as well as role playing
So they are part of some role playing games?
yea earlier references can be found in anglo-saxon sources