Orc-holds

Orc-holds were settlements made or seized by Orcs to dwell in.

History

First Age

Orc holds evidently existed in some form by the year 496 of the late First Age when Túrin likened Brodda's hall to an Orc-hold for being unruly. These early Orc-holds in Beleriand were all likely destroyed in the War of Wrath.

Second Age

At the beginning of the Second Age, many of the surviving Orcs of Morgoth fled to the east; some scattering amidst the north of Middle-earth and others fleeing south towards Mordor. Without a Dark Lord to lead them, the Northern Orcs built up many Orc-holds as part of their own petty realms to exert their dominance over each other. Some of these Orcs even tried to establish Orc-holds in the lands of the Dwarves and the Northmen, but were repelled by the Alliance of Dwarves and Men. The Mordor-orcs were more successful and built many such holds in Mordor, many of which were "clustered about the dales of Udûn".

During the rise of Sauron as Morgoth's successor, many tribes of Northern Orcs were gathered into his service and turned into strong hordes whose Orc-holds were "commanded by grim servants of Barad-dûr". As the Dark Lord moved into Eriador in the War of the Elves and Sauron, a group of Northern Orcs led by his agents overran the mountains, filling them with Orc-holds. Not long after Eregion fell in the year 1697, they seized the Dwarven stronghold of Gundabad, turning it into an Orc-hold and thus allowing them to infest the Ered Mithrin, blocking all communications between Khazad-dûm and the Iron Hills. They presumably made more Orc-holds in the Ered Mithrin.

During the War of the Last Alliance, Sauron sent many Mordor-orcs to reinforce the Orc-holds of the Misty Mountains in an attempt to slow the advance of his chief adversaries, Gil-galad and Elendil; the Dark Lord's hordes, however, cowered from the Last Alliance and instead hid themselves along the Anduin as well as in what would become Mirkwood. Cut off from Sauron's main host, they would remain unaware of their master's defeat and probably believed that he had won.

Third Age

After the War of the Last Alliance, the Gondorians set up a watch upon Mordor, building many strongholds for garrisons to overlook the land. Among these strongholds were Narchost and Carchost above the Black Gate, and the Tower of Cirith Ungol. These strongholds eventually became Orc-holds between the years 1980 and 3019.

With Mount Gundabad as the Orc-capital of the North, many lesser Orc-holds were established by the Northern Orcs throughout the mountains in places like the High Pass and Mount Gram. From these Orc-holds, the Orcs of the Mountains, stirred by Sauron's steady re-emergence, began to multiply and harass the Dwarves by TA 1300. Around the same time, the Witch-king, the Dark Lord's captain, called some of the Northern Orcs to Angmar to serve under his banner to crush Isildur's Heirs in Arnor. These Orcs presumably established some Orc-holds there, which were either destroyed when Angmar fell or continued to exist under the Northern Orcs of Mount Gundabad.

After the Longbeards were driven from Khazad-dûm by Durin's Bane in TA 1981, some Northern Orcs occupied the city, turning it into an Orc-hold; these Moria-orcs lived in an uneasy truce with the Balrog. Around TA 2480, Sauron began sending Mordor-orcs to the Orc-hold of Moria. This caused the Northern Orcs to start extending their Orc-holds to block the mountain passes into Eriador. This was likely when the Front Porch of Goblin-town was established. At the same time, the Northern Orcs also turned many of the Dwarves' old mansions into new Orc-holds. In the year 2509, Celebrían, the wife of Elrond, was waylaid by Northern Orcs in the Redhorn Pass and taken to their Orc-hold. During her captivity there, she received a poisoned wound and was tormented until her late rescue by her sons, Elladan and Elrohir. It is untold whether that Orc-hold was destroyed by them afterwards.

In the year 2740, the Northern Orcs from Mount Gram, led by Golfimbul, grew bold enough to launch an invasion of Eriador wherein they established countless Orc-holds while fighting many skirmishes against the Rangers of the North. In the year 2747, one group reached the Shire only to be defeated by the Shire-folk in the Battle of the Green Fields when Golfimbul himself was beheaded by Bandobras Took. By the following year, the last Orc-hold of the retreating Orcs had been rooted out by the rangers.

By the year 2790, most of the Orc-holds in the Misty Mountains, chiefly Moria, were ruled by Azog, the chieftain of the Moria-orcs. The slaying of Thrór, King of Durin's Folk, by Azog resulted in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, in which the Longbeards sacked as many of the Orc-holds that they could find between Gundabad and Moria. The war ended with the Battle of Azanulbizar that occurred outside the western entrance to Moria. There, the Orcs were defeated and Azog was beheaded by Dáin II. Many of the Northern Orcs crept back to their Orc-holds or fled southwards through Rohan into the White Mountains, building new Orc-holds and harassing the neighboring Rohirrim for two generations - even slaying King Walda in 2851 by the Hold of Dunharrow. As a consequence of the king's death, the last Orc-hold in Rohan and the White Mountains was purged by his son, King Folca. However, the Orcs of the Misty Mountains continued to hold Moria as an Orc-hold despite the Dwarves' victory in the war. They also retook Gundabad in the north, where Bolg claimed the seat of his late sire, Azog.

Erebor and the War of the Ring

By the year 2941, the Northern Orcs of Goblin-town, led by the Great Goblin, forged an alliance with Wargs against the nearby Woodmen. During the Quest of Erebor, Thorin and Company had the ill-fortune of stumbling upon the Front Porch of Goblin-town in the High Pass. Gandalf slipped in unnoticed after them as they were brought as prisoners to the goblin-hall of the Orc-hold. After the Great Goblin believed them to be spies of their enemies, Gandalf felled him and led Thorin II and his companions out of the Orc-hold. Bitter at their chieftain's slaying by the Wizard, the Northern Orcs banded with the Wargs and many messengers passed between every Orc-hold in the mountains, gathering many Orcs from various tribes to gather at Mount Gundabad, where Bolg assembled a vast host to invade the south in revenge. After the death of the Dragon Smaug, their plans changed to marching down upon the Lonely Mountain from the Grey Mountains. In the ensuing Battle of Five Armies, Bolg of the North was slain by Beorn the skin-changer and the defeat of the Northern Orcs by the combined forces of Elves, Men, Dwarves and Great Eagles led to the Misty Mountains being a much safer place for a time, implying that many Orc-holds were abandoned.

With their enemies' number dwindling, the late Thorin's companion, Balin, led an expedition to reclaim Khazad-dûm. While they successfully pushed back the Moria-orcs for five years, their effort was cut short by a counterattack that slaughtered them all. As the War of the Ring drew near, some Uruk-hai moved into the Orc-holds of the Northern Orcs. A group of Northern Orcs were recruited by Saruman, Sauron's vassal, to dwell in Isengard as part of his army to overrun the Rohirrim; though he may also have used these Orcs in experiments which resulted in the creation of the Isengarders. With their aid, Saruman turned Isengard into a single Orc-hold, "a child's model or a slave's flattery" of Mordor.

During the Quest of the Ring, the Fellowship was forced to journey through Khazad-dûm and was pursued by Moria-orcs and Cave-trolls, even being cornered in the Chamber of Mazarbul until escaping the Orc-hold. Still following the company, the Moria-orcs made a sortie into the Northern Fences of Lothlórien, but were defeated by the Galadhrim, with none returning to their Orc-holds. Some Northerners, together with Saruman's scouts and some Mordor-orcs, ambushed the Fellowship at Amon Hen, mortally-wounding Boromir of Gondor and capturing the Hobbits Merry and Pippin. The Northerners wanted to simply take revenge and go back to their Orc-holds, but Saruman's scouts and the Mordor-orcs had their own plans. This three way dispute slowed the troop down, and all of the Orcs were ultimately slain to the last by Rohirrim on Fangorn Forest's eaves. The last march of the Ents resulted in the takeover of the Orc-hold of Isengard and the vanquishment of the Isengarders. Dol Guldur was often used as an Orc-hold by the forces raised by Sauron's lieutenant, Khamûl, second of the Nazgûl, to attack both the Woodland Realm and Lothlórien in Mirkwood. The Orc-hold was destroyed by Galadriel during the war.

After the Downfall of Barad-dûr, the Northern Orcs were diminished, allowing the Longbeards under their king, Durin VII, to reclaim Khazad-dûm in the Fourth Age. Some war machines that "troubled the world" well into following Ages were likely devised by the Orcs of the Misty Mountains and kept within the remaining Orc-holds in their possession.

Etymology

"hold" is an archaic English word usually used in reference to a fortress or some kind of secure refuge.