Sooo....my sister and I watched "The Hobbit" again, and I started really thinking about another fan theory I had devised awhile back, but never posted. Maybe you care, maybe not. But it seemed an interesting premise, so I'll give it a go. 

It started a while back when my sister and I were wondering how long Orcs lived. I mean, we figured they were immortal, like the elves. Buuut we were wrong.

According to Tolkien, quote 

"They could be slain, and they were subject to disease; but apart from these ills they died and were not immortal, even according to the manner of the Quendi; indeed they appear to have been by nature short-lived compared with the span of Men of higher race, such as the Edain."

The History of Middle-Earth X - Morgoth's Ring - Chapter 5 - Myths Transformed

Now the higher races of men mentioned here are most likely those from whom Aragorn's people descended, making their life span about 300 years.

Sooo what's that got to do with anything?

Well, Azog lives (in the movies) wayyy longer  than Orcs are supposed to. At first glance, it doesn't seem like it, since we only see scenes with him during Thorin's lifetime, which was less than 300 years. 

But Azog is older than that.

Let's skip over the Misty Mountains, and visit this guy:

According to Beorn, he and Azog go way back. And we are talking WAY back.

Beorn states that his people were the first to live in the mountains, before the  Orcs came down from the North. In reading he Silmarillion and the Appendices in LotR, we find that this would have been before Durin was in Moria. This is before Numenor was even created. And Beorn talks like he was there. 

Now, obviously the Skin changers were not likely all killed and/or enslaved  at the same time, considering that they seem to be rather territorial creatures, and would be hard to find, but Beorn seems to have been living alone, with little to no connection with the outside world, since before the Istari came from Valinor, considering that he has no clue who Gandalf is. And he didn't start living alone until after he was enslaved by Azog. 

Another thing, is that at the time of Beorn's enslavement, one of two things would have to be true: either, Azog was already an extremely accomplished warrior, or Beorn was very young and inexperienced. Either way, we are talking thousands of years prior to the LotR.

So, how did Azog live that long?

There are those who would argue that it was simply poor writing on the part of the directors of the Hobbit. But according to The History of Middle-Earth, there may be a more sinister, and far more interesting, reason behind this.

In the same essay quoted above, we find this interesting little note:

 "For Morgoth had many servants, the oldest and most potent of whom were immortal, belonging indeed in their beginning to the Maiar; and these evil spirits like their Master could take on visible forms. Those whose business it was to direct the Orcs often took Orkish shapes, though they were greater and more terrible. Thus it was that the histories speak of Great Orcs or Orc-captains who were not slain, and who reappeared in battle through years far longer than the span of the lives of Men."

—The History of Middle-Earth X - Morgoth's Ring - Chapter 5 - Myths Transformed

Is it possible? Could Azog be, not an Orc captain, but  a leftover Maia from Morgoth's reign? Beorn says he remembers a time when a great evil was in Middle Earth. It is presumably Sauron, but Sauron was not the first, nor the greatest evil to rule Middle Earth.

Now, it's possible (ahem, probable) that I'm reading way more in than is there. But that would also explain why Legolas can kick the butt of any Orc in any of the movies—except Bolg. What if Bolg was half Maia, half Orc? That would explain the greater strength, and also the horrified disgust that Legolas had for him.

 And, honestly, it makes me love Gandalf's line to Galadriel even more, in light of Bilbo's face off with Azog, to save Thorin. 

What do you guys think?