Had it been Ariosto's "Orc," an a priori argument from science would have had weight.
"Literary and General Lectures and Essays"
Charles Kingsley
270 'Would to appease Him, cut a finger off, Or of my three kid yearlings burn the best, Or let the toothsome apples rot on tree, Or push my tame beast for the Orc to taste: While myself lit a fire, and made a song And sung it, "What I hate, be consecrate To celebrate Thee and Thy state, no mate For Thee; what see for envy in poor me?"
"Browning's Shorter Poems"
Robert Browning
They are seized and carried off by some mariners from the isle of Ebuda, where she is exposed to be devoured by an Orc, but is rescued by a knight on a winged horse.
"Stories from the Italian Poets: With Lives of the Writers, Vol. 2"
Leigh Hunt