Orcs

"Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places [in The Hobbit] but is usually translated goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kinds)."

- J.R.R. Tolkien in the Preface of The Hobbit

Orcs were the most commonplace villains serving the Dark Powers in all of Tolkien's Mythology, a race of sentient beings bred by the evil Vala Melkor (Morgoth) during the time of the Great Darkness. The Dark Lord Sauron, and later the wizard Saruman, also bred them and used them as soldiers and henchmen to do various evil deeds across Middle-earth.

In The Hobbit the name of their race, orcs, was generally translated by Tolkien to the common English term goblins.

History
Tolkien never mentioned female orcs, but in The Silmarillion he wrote that "the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilúvatar;" and that the wise [Elves] of Eressëa believed that Melkor had created them before the First Age by breeding Elves he had captured and corrupted, by means of torture and mutilation. In The Lord of the Rings, Treebeard tells Merry and Pippin that Orcs were mere attempts by Morgoth to copy the Elves, which would seem to contradict the account in The Silmarillion, but then J.R.R. Tolkien mentioned on several occasions that none of his characters were omniscient. Therefore, Treebeard's account of the creation of the orcs might have simply been his understanding of it, or he might have been right about it and the ancient Elves of Eressëa might have been wrong.

It is unclear whether Tolkien regarded Orcs as evil in their own right or simply as tools of the Dark Lords Morgoth and Sauron. Orcs were dependent on the Dark Lord in various ways; after their leader was defeated, the Orcs were confused and dismayed, and easily scattered by their enemies. In the millennia after Melkor's defeat and banishment from Arda they were without a leader, and degenerated to small, quarrelsome tribes hiding in the Misty Mountains. Only when led by a Maia like Sauron did they begin to reclaim some of their old power and become a real danger to Middle-earth.

Many Orcs (along with fallen Maiar and other evil servants of Melkor) survived in the deep caves, pits, chambers, and tunnels of Melkor's great underground fortresses of Utumno and Angband. They multiplied and later spread through northern Middle-earth. They were first seen by the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin) who reported them to King Thingol, the High King of the Sindar, causing the latter to seek weapons of war for the first time. For over a millennium, the orcs were only a minor problem, but when Melkor (Morgoth) returned with the Silmarils he took full charge of them and soon unleashed them on Beleriand. The newly organized orcs killed Denethor, the King of the lightly armed Laiquendi, but were eventually defeated by Thingol and his allies. They besieged the Havens of the Falas under Círdan, and the siege wasn't broken until the arrival of the Ñoldor. The heavy losses that the Sindar suffered at the hands of the Orcs frightened them to the point that Melian, Queen of Doriath raised a great enchanted wall to protect their kingdom. The Laiquendi, who suffered the most in the battle, hid themselves in the Ossiriand under the cloak of secrecy, or took refuge in Doriath.



First Age
In the First Age, thousands of Orcs were bred in Angband by Morgoth and to participate in the Battles of Beleriand, which lasted 587 years. They first appeared in the Battle of Lhammoth, where they were defeated by the Noldor. When the House of Fëanor returned to Middle-earth Morgoth sent a force of orcs against them. Although the Orcs outnumbered the exiles they were no match for the power and wrath of the Ñoldor, and they were quickly and easily defeated. However, Fëanor could not defeat the power of Morgoth alone and he was killed, leaving the Orcs to continue to breed under the Dark Lord. Years later, when the House of Fingolfin arrived in Middle-earth, orcs were sent against them as well, but they were utterly defeated in the Battle of the Lammoth.

After their crushing defeat in the Dagor Aglareb (Glorious Battle) and in a minor raid on Hithlum, the orcs were never used in mass attacks while Morgoth's enemies were strong, more commonly being used for minor raids, and as spies. They were nearly destroyed in the War of Wrath, and those that survived fled eastwards into the Mountains of Angmar and the Grey Mountains (Ered Mithrin).

Second Age
Sometime around SA 1000, Sauron reappeared in Middle-earth and made the land of Mordor his realm, and then started to build the foundations of Barad-Dûr. During this time, Sauron had forged the Rings of Power and didn't find much use in the orcs as the rings posed much more power than what he thought 'mere mistakes of creation'.

During the War of the Elves and Sauron in SA 1700, the orcs formed the main host of Sauron's power. Despite the immeasurable number of orcs present, the battle was won by the Elves and the Numenoreans due to their united force and numbers. After the battle, Sauron regained power and became ever stronger in the east, with many orcs living in the Misty Mountains.

Third Age
During the Third Age the orcs were under the power of both the Witch-King of Angmar and Sauron in Dol Guldur and Mordor. They then invaded Eriador from the west under the power of the Necromancer. The orcs of the Misty Mountains formed many independent Orcish societies under the mountains, such as Goblin-town and Mount Gram. Azog, an orc-chieftain of the Misty Mountains, started the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, but his forces were eventually defeated and they fled back under the mountains.



In TA 2941, the Battle of the Five Armies took place between Orcs, Wargs, Men, Elves and Dwarves. Orcs, despite having greater numbers than the other three armies in total, lost and fell in battle, returning to the mountains once again.

The Orcs of Mordor fought in all the major battles of the War of the Ring including the Battle of the Morranon in which the entire force of Mordor was destroyed. The remainder of the orcs dwelled in Mirkwood until the Fall of Dol Guldur.

Fourth Age and Beyond
Although the entire force of Sauron was extinguished by the end of the War of the Ring, groups of orcs were thought to continue to dwell in the Misty Mountains, but posed no threat to the lands north, south, east and west after that point.

Appearance
In Tolkien's writings, orcs were cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted, and hated everybody and everything, particularly the orderly and prosperous, short in stature and humanoid in general shape. They were squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, bow-legged, with wide mouths and slant eyes, long arms, dark skin, and fangs. Tolkien describes one "huge Orc chieftain" as "almost Man-high", and some of Hobbit height such as the smaller orcs and footsoldiers. Sometimes, death was preferable to the torment of Orkish life. Their eyes were crimson gashes, like narrow slits in black iron gates in which hot coals burn. They were cannibalistic, ruthless, and terrible, and often their rending claws, and slavering fangs were gored with the bitter flesh and the foul black blood of their own kind.

Orcs made no beautiful things, but many clever ones including machines, tools, weapons, and instruments of torture, were delighted by wheels, engines, and explosions, and could tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled dwarves. <!—more editing needed beyond this point--> This has been so from the day they were bred by Melkor from corrupted, tortured and mutilated elves that may also have been forced to breed with other unnatural abominations in the dominion of the Dark Powers. They hate themselves and have an even deeper hatred of the Dark Lord and his successors who have brought them to this end. The result is a violent and warlike race in a perpetual state of chaos with itself and others. Despite their abominable nature, they are not dim-witted and are clever and crafty and make good tools, weapons, and machines of war but produce no beautiful things nor do they trade or share anything with others, unless ordered to by a Dark Lord for the purposes of war and conquest.

They have also developed tunnel making and underground living away from the light. Wickedness and violence are their nature, and they are known to quarrel and kill each other over petty things. An example of this destructiveness was its effect on nature such as was the case with Forests and trees which were often destroyed to fuel their war-making. See: Fangorn forest during the War of the Ring and the western part of Middle-earth after Sauron's War on the Elves in the mid-Second Age.

They generally hate Elves, Dwarves and Men, but some were said to make alliances with wicked dwarf groups and others with Men. Without the leadership of a Dark Lord, orcs usually live in tribal communities in underground lairs under mountains under the rule of brutal chieftains, raiding and pillaging settlements of other races that are unfortunate to live near them. Thus, they are hated by almost every race that knows them, even those allied with them.

Without firm leadership, orcs have been known to go into battle in complete disarray and without any resemblance of formation or tactics. Their strength in combat comes from numbers and sheer violence. Due to superior organization, training and weaponry, Men, Dwarves, Elves, and at times even Hobbits, are able to defeat larger numbers of orcs, provided they are able to withstand the horror and shock of the initial onslaught.



Portrayal and appearance in film adaptations
In the Peter Jackson films, orcs range greatly in appearance. Skin colour ranges from bone white (Azog and Bolg) and peachy colours (orcs like Gothmog) to shades of green (the orcs of Moria and Gorbag). Most orcs and later Uruks, however, are shown as having darker shades of black or brown skin (for example, the Black uruks and Sharku). Some orcs are also much more human-like than others, Azog looks like a large and muscular but pale and hairless human whilst Gothmog looks much more deformed and less human-like. Towards the end of The Two Towers the Uruk-hai were made to deliberately have more blotchy and patchy skin. This was to hint that the Uruks had already been unnaturally overbred and the race had become inbred. Later Isengard Uruks look much less impressive and well-formed than the first batch of Uruks like Lurtz. In general the orcs tend to be shorter than most men. According to official Top Trumps most orcs stand somewhere around 5', while the Moria orcs are the smallest at around 4'5". Later breeds shown, like the Morannon Orcs at the Pelennor Fields, seem to be slightly taller, at closer to 5'4" (like Gothmog). Uruk-Hai tend to be the same size as men, closer to 5'8" or more. Early orcs shown are particularly slack with poor posture and broad with long arms (Grishnakh is a good example of this shape) but some later orcs are a more human shape. Uruk-Hai are shown as bulkier and more muscular with much more similar posture to men. Another variety of orc/goblin appears in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. These stunted creatures dwelling within the misty mountains in Goblintown. In the movie, these goblins are short, diseased, mutated creatures covered in dubious warts and unidentified growths. They have pallid pinkish-white skin, large heads, and bat-like or porcine facial features. Many of these goblins also had small amounts of thinning white hair, and cataracts on their sensitive eyes. Also notable is the size of these goblins: while some were easily as big as a man, others were so small they'd be hard pressed to reach a hobbit's shoulder height.

The clothing and armour they wear also ranges greatly. The first orcs seen in the movie seem to wear an assortment of different styles of armour and clothing and also commonly have various piercings and tribal scars. The clothing and armour was probably scavenged. Other orcs wear specifically designed and made uniform armour for battle. Uruks tend to wear heavier, thicker armour or leather armour and headwear unless they choose not (for example Lurtz wears much less armour than the rest of his Uruk scouts). Orcs are often bald or balding, but there are also orcs who have longer matted hair. The new Uruk-Hai have longer thicker hair, which they tend to wear back, except the Berserkers who have theirs shaved off. The orcs' hair is nearly always dark or greying in colour, but in The Return of the King some orcs with blonde hair and beards can be seen marching from Minas Morgul. The favourite weapon of the orcs is an orc Scimitar, used by orcs from all areas. Uruks have a different heavier sword with a hook at the end, designed to deal out more damage and pull people off their horses. Overall, the typical features that are included in all films on all species of orc and Uruk-hai include fangs (sharp teeth that are definitely not human), flared nostrils (almost ape-like on some but much more refined on others), thin patchy skin, a broad stocky shape and black gums and blood.

Goblins vs Orcs
The word goblin, as used by Tolkien is merely another word for Orc, although in popular culture goblin is often used by readers of Tolkien's works to refer to the smaller breeds of Orc. The original edition of The Hobbit and early drafts of The Lord of the Rings used 'goblin' throughout to refer to orcs and used 'Hobgoblin' to refer to larger and/or more evil orcs. In the introduction to later editions of The Hobbit, Tolkien explained that goblins is the translation he used to refer to the creatures referred to by the Hobbits as orcs.



A clear illustration that Tolkien considered goblins and orcs to be the same thing is shown in The Hobbit (the only one of Tolkien's works in which he usually refers to orcs as goblins) when Gandalf asks Thorin if he remembers "Azog the Goblin" who killed his grandfather Thror, while in all his other writings Tolkien describes Azog as a "great Orc." In The Lord of the Rings, "Orc" is used predominantly, with "goblin" used mostly in the Hobbits' conversation. Uruk-hai are a type of larger and stronger Orc. It is also notable that 'Orcrist' is translated from Sindarin as 'Goblin-cleaver'.

In the Brazilian translation of The Hobbit, goblins are also referred to by the word orcs. An example of this is the translation of Great Goblin to Great Orc.

Snaga
Snaga comes from a word in the Black Speech meaning 'slave'. The plural of the word, snagae, is the term for the lesser Orc-breed used both by Saruman, as laborers in Isengard, and by Sauron, who had them first and used them as the core of his Orc-Host at the Pelennor.

Gundabad Orcs
Gundabad Orcs were a powerful race of Orcs whose territory extended to the Misty Mountains, mainly Mount Gundabad and the High Pass. Moria became an Orc settlement of the Gundabad orcs until it was retaken by the Dwarves.

One of the most notable Gundabad orcs that served Sauron was the Orc chieftain Azog and his son Bolg.

Uruk-hai
Uruk-hai were a stronger breed of Orc. The Uruks were originally only in Mordor in battle against Ithilien before Sauron returned, during the time Angmar brought war upon Arnor, and these orcs are called Black Uruks. Shagrat was a prime example of an Uruk. Those Uruks are from Barad-dûr only, and are barely seen at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Saruman apparently improved on this kind of orc and bred his own. It is suggested that he bred Men from the South with orcs, giving them greater size and strength and the ability to travel in broad daylight.

Black Uruks
Black Uruks were an extremely rare breed of Uruk-hai, being one of the most high-ranking and were powerful. They were considered elite, being the best of Sauron's army, and two were notable of being Black Uruks: Murgash, lieutenant of Gothmog, and Shagrat, captain of Cirith Ungol.

Morannon Orcs
Morannon Orcs were a breed of orc similar in size to Uruk-Hai that appeared in the late Third Age, only originating in Mordor. They were larger, standing at least 5 feet and a half tall, and more stocky. The Morannon orcs were Sauron's primary infantry in War of the Ring at the Battle of Osgiliath, Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Battle of Cair Andros and the Battle of the Morannon. These orcs also knew how to operate siege engines like catapults and battering rams. They were heavy infantry troops and wore heavy thick black armor of sharpened plate steel and were actually taught how to fight and defend, as opposed to the uncontrolled rabbles of the Second Age, or the cowardly Goblins of Moria. They used the same weapons as all of the other orcs in Sauron's army but due to their training, these orcs fought much better and could anticipate enemy attacks faster than the rest of the orcs.

Morannon orcs were the most sophisticated breed of orc aside from Uruk-hai. The troops invading Osgiliath and laying siege to Minas Tirith appear to be a mixture of many breeds, mostly Morannon orcs, some Mordor Uruk-hai (Black Uruks) and large factions of lesser orcs.



Morgul Orcs
Morgul Orcs were orcs who lived/patrolled in the city of Minas Morgul, in the Morgul Vale. They are not that distinct from basic Snagae (plural of Snaga), and the two kinds are basically hard to differ.

They participated in The Battle of Osgiliath and in The Battle of the Pelennor Fields. During the War of the Ring, Morgul Orcs numbered at over 150,000 troops. They were armed with orc scimitars, bows, spears, glaves, halberds, other pikes, axes, and odd new-fangled weapons. The lingering orc-hosts in Osgiliath, combined with the host marching from Minas Morgul, made 4 legions, and that excluded the host coming out of Udun which were from Sauron.

Other names
"Gorgûn" was the name that Ghân-buri-Ghân of the wild men of the Drúadan Forest used for the orcs in their own language.

Azog
Azog was the chief of the Orcs of Moria and best known for starting the War of the Dwarves and Orcs after his murder of Thrór. When Thror goes to Moria, Azog cuts off his head and writes his name across it. During the battle of Anazuilburn, Azog is killed by Dain Ironfoot, who jumps over a tomb and cuts off the orc's head with a red axe. In the New Line Cinema Hobbit trilogy, Azog's role is greatly expanded. In the movie he does cut off Thror's head during the Battle of Azanulbizar, but instead of being killed by Dain Ironfoot, Azog fights Thorin and his arm is cut off. He later returns with a prosthetic arm for revenge on Thorin and hunts the company down. He attacks them after they escape the goblins of the Misty Mountains and almost kills Thorin, but is stopped by Bilbo. In the movie, Azog is a Gundabad Orc and is portrayed as 7ft tall, pale white, shirtless, with a claw-like prosthetic arm. Azog is the father of the orc chieftain Bolg.

Balcmeg
Balcmeg was one of the Orcs killed in the Fall of Gondolin by Tuor, according to The Book of Lost Tales. Tolkien wrote the story of the fall of the city in 1917 and never fully revised it, and Balcmeg does not appear in the published Silmarillion, although he was obviously of some importance, for only three orcs out of many that Tuor slew in Gondolin were named.

Boldog
Boldog was a formidable Orc-captain of a Host of Angband sent to attack Doriath and capture Lúthien.

Bolg
Bolg was a Goblin chieftain, the son of Azog, who came to power in Moria after Azog was killed in the war with Dwarves. Bolg ruled Moria for some 150 years and led an army of Orcs in the Battle of Five Armies. He was crushed to death by Beorn's bear form.

Golfimbul
Golfimbul was a chieftain of the Goblins of Mount Gram, in the Ettenmoors, who led his band in an invasion of the Shire. He was defeated at the Battle of Greenfields by Bullroarer Took. His head was clubbed off by the Bullroarer and fell into a rabbit's hole. According to Hobbit folklore, the name of golf is therefore a shortening of his name. Some fans consider his name specifically constructed for this pun.

The Orc incursion in the northern Shire occurred during the reign of Arassuil as Chieftain of the Dúnedain, and the Orcs led by Golfimbul were but the most western pack of Orcs which had left the Hithaeglir. The only reason Golfimbul could make it all the way to the Shire was that the Rangers at the time were fighting many battles with Orcs, preventing them from settling all of Eriador.

Gorbag
Gorbag was the captain of an Orc troop of Minas Morgul. He was slain by Sam in the Tower of Cirith Ungol after a dispute during the War of the Ring.



Gorgol
Gorgol was an Orc chieftain, also called the Butcher, who lived in Middle-earth during the First Age. He was slain by Beren.

Gothmog
Gothmog was the Witch-King's second in command at the siege of Minas Tirith.

The Great Goblin
The Great Goblin was a Goblin leader who lived in the Misty Mountains during the Third Age, as recounted in The Hobbit. His followers captured Thorin, Bilbo and company during the quest for the Lonely Mountain, and took them to their underground stronghold, Goblin-town. He was slain by Gandalf.

Grishnákh
Grishnákh was Orc captain from the ashen wastes of Mordor, Grishnákh was part of a group of Orc hunters under Sauron's dominion that joined Uglúk's Uruk-hai troop on the plains of Rohan. Grishnákh's plans for the troops' captives, Merry and Pippin, were in conflict with Uglúk's orders to deliver them to Saruman. Believing they might have the treasure his lord sought, he tried to steal the Hobbits away from the Uruk-hai in order to take what they had for himself; eventually leading to his death.

Lagduf
Lagduf was an Orc of the tower of Cirith Ungol under the command of Shagrat; he and Muzgash were killed by Gorbag's Orcs in the battle over Frodo's mithril-shirt.

Muzgash
Muzgash was an Orc of the tower of Cirith Ungol under the command of Shagrat; he and Lagduf were killed by Gorbag's Orcs in the battle over Frodo's Mithril-shirt.

Radbug
Radbug was an Orc, probably of a patrol from the tower of Cirith Ungol, who was killed by Shagrat in the battle over Frodo's Mithril-shirt. Shagrat had squeezed his eyes out, according to the aforesaid.

Shagrat
Shagrat was the Orc in command of the tower of Cirith Ungol, which guarded a pass into Mordor. After the discovery of the unconscious Frodo, he had Frodo put into the highest room of the tower. In a dispute over Frodo's Mithril Shirt, most of Shagrat's and Gorbag's Orcs were killed. Shagrat was one of only two Orc survivors. He took the mithril-shirt, as well as Frodo's Elven cloak and Sam's sword, to Barad-dûr. These were used by the Mouth of Sauron as evidence of Frodo's capture.

Snaga
Most minor Orcs were called Snaga, but two orcs were called Snaga in the text of The Lord of the Rings:

1. Snaga was an orc that accompanied Grishnakh to make sure Lurtz and his raiding party completed the task of bringing the One Ring to Saruman in The Two Towers (Book Three, Chapter 3, "The Uruk-hai").

2. In Return of the King (Book Six, Chapter, "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"), Snaga is the only surviving subordinate of Shagrat after the battle over Frodo's mithril-shirt at The Tower of Cirith Ungol. He dies after falling through the trap-door.

Ufthak
Ufthak was in the service of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, under the command of Shagrat. He was captured, poisoned, and then forgotten by Shelob. Nonetheless, his fellow Orcs who discovered him made no attempt to rescue him, for they were humored at his hanging and they didn't want to interfere with Shelob.

Gorkil
Gorkil the Goblin-King is a hero in the game Battle for Middle-earth II for the Goblin faction. He rides a rare giant scorpion. In the campaign he is killed by Glorfindel and Gloin during an assault on his fortress in the Ettenmoors.

Murgash
Murgash appears only in the films as a non-canon character. He was a Morannon Orc under the command of Gothmog at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. He was ordered by Gothmog to break down the gates of Minas Tirith, but complained that they were too strong, making Gothmog order Grond to be brought up to the gates. He survived the Rohirim charge and went with Guritz to the docks. He was killed when the Army of the Dead swarmed on to the Corsair ships.

Sharku
Appearing only in the film adaptation of The Two Towers, Sharku is the leader of Saruman's Warg-riders. Sharku means "old man" in the language of Saruman's servants and may be a designation that he is an elder. However, in the book Sharku refers to Saruman himself, modified to "Sharkey".

Etymology
In Tolkien's Sindarin language, "Orc" is orch, plural yrch. In his late, post-Lord of the Rings writings (published in The Peoples of Middle-earth), he preferred the spelling "Ork", evidently mainly to avoid the form Orcish, which would be naturally pronounced with the c as /s/ instead of /k/. (In Tolkien's languages the letter c was always pronounced /k/.) It is also possible that the word is a Common Tongue Version of 'orch', the Sindarin word for Orc. The original sense of the word seems to be "bogey", "bogeyman", that is, something that provokes fear, as seen in the Quenya cognate urko, pl. urqui. In the old English Orc means "demon." The term Uruk-hai merely means "orc-folk" in the Black Speech, and was the Uruk-hai's name for themselves.

Trivia

 * The term "Orc" is an Old English term for a dirty creature which is used occasionally in the epic poem Beowulf.

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