- "I have my orders. And it's more than my belly's worth, or yours, to break 'em. Any trespasser found by the guard is to be held at the tower. Prisoner is to be stripped. Full description of every article, garment, weapon, letter, ring, or trinket is to be sent to Lugbúrz at once, and to Lugbúrz only. And the prisoner is to be kept safe and intact, under pain of death for every member of the guard, until He sends or comes Himself. That's plain enough, and that's what I'm going to do."
- —The Two Towers, "The Choices of Master Samwise"
Shagrat was a large, dimwitted, arrogant, long-armed Uruk, Captain of the Tower of Cirith Ungol. He commanded one of two Orc patrols that found Frodo Baggins after he had been poisoned by Shelob.
Shagrat in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, The Mountain of Fire Expansion
Biography[]
In the year TA 3019, Shagrat and his company, along with Gorbag's company from Minas Morgul, discovered the unconscious Frodo Baggins following the hobbit's encounter with Shelob, and took him back to the Tower of Cirith Ungol for searching.[1] Later his Black Uruk tower garrison fought over possession of Frodo's mithril mail shirt with Gorbag's company, and sent up the Stairs of Cirith Ungol to investigate matters. Shagrat interpreted his orders literally: all captives to be searched, but left unharmed and they and their possessions taken to Barad-dûr. Gorbag coveted Frodo's mail shirt for himself, and soon a fight over the shirt began. Gorbag wounded Shagrat in the arm with a knife, but was eventually killed by Shagrat. Their respective followers began fighting also, and slaughtered each other over the next several hours.[2]
Later, Samwise Gamgee, carrying the One Ring, infiltrated the Tower of Cirith Ungol and soon realized that the garrison was effectively wiped out. Shagrat, however, managed to get past him carrying Frodo's armor and other personal items, escaping and taking them to Lugbúrz (Barad-dûr) as ordered.[2]
It is possible that Shagrat was killed by Sauron or the authorities at Barad-dûr for the events that occurred at the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Alternatively, he may have been rewarded for his loyalty by being allowed to march to the Black Gate alongside his fellow Orcs and Uruks as one of their captains. If so, it is unknown whether he was killed in the battle or the subsequent destruction of Mordor following Sauron's downfall, or if he survived and fled.
In adaptations[]
The Return of the King (1980)[]
Shagrat (1980)
In The Return of the King 1980 animated film, Captain Shagrat is voiced by Paul Frees; he is the Orc guarding entrance to the chamber in which Frodo is held captive.
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]
- "The scum tried to knife me. Kill him!!"
- —-Shagrat to the other Orcs in the third film
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Shagrat is of the same appearance as Uruk-hai in prior films. Instead of him, it is Gorbag who in the cave explains Shelob's eating habits, while Shagrat takes the Mithril shirt, saying it is his (while Gorbag intended to take it to Sauron), and in the resulting fight, Shagrat escapes with it. (Later in the film the Mithril shirt appears again at the Black Gates, in the possession of the Mouth of Sauron.)
Given Shagrat's adaptational disloyalty, he would almost certainly have been executed by the authorities for going against Gorbag's authority, which was aligned with the Dark Tower's interests, and that these authorities brought the Mithril shirt to the Mouth of Sauron.
Video games[]
LEGO Shagrat
In the video game of The Return of the King, Shagrat appears in the level of Cirith Ungol. After Sam kills Gorbag, Shagrat steals mithril and runs out of Cirith Ungol.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (GBA), he appears as a secret villain who can be unlocked after the player finishes the evil campaign in hard level.
In LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game, he is a playable character. In the main campaign, he fights Shelob, alongside Sam (this was done to make the level co-op friendly). Like all Uruks, he has super strength, which is used to pull heavy handles.
Shagrat in The Lord of the Rings Online
In The Lord of the Rings Online, Shagrat is abscent from the main storyline and only makes a brief cameo appearance in a scene depicting how Gollum was released from Barad-dûr.
In popular culture[]
The vocalist for the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir is named after this Uruk, although he writes the name as "Shagrath".
Shagrat's name was also used for British supergroup band "Shagrat", formed by Steve Peregrin Took and Mick Farren in 1970.
Voice dubbing actors[]
| Foreign Language | Voice dubbing artist |
| German | Kai Taschner |
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ሻጋራት |
| Arabic | شاغات |
| Armenian | Շագրատ |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Шаграт |
| Bengali | সাগৰত |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Шаграт |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 夏格拉 |
| Georgian | შარატი |
| German | Schagrat |
| Greek | Σάγκρατ |
| Gujarati | શગ્રેટ |
| Hebrew | שאגראט |
| Hindi | ष्हग्रत |
| Japanese | シャグラット |
| Kannada | ಶಗ್ರಾಟ್ |
| Korean | 샤그랏 |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Шаграт |
| Marathi | शग्राट |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Шаграт |
| Nepalese | ष्हग्रत |
| Persian | شاگرات |
| Polish | Szagrat |
| Punjabi | ਸ਼ਗਰਾਤ |
| Russian | Шаграт |
| Serbian | Шаграт (Cyrillic) Šagrat (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ශග්රට් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Шаграт |
| Tamil | ஷகிராட் |
| Telugu | శగ్రాత్ |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Шаграт |
| Yiddish | תהאַגראַט |
References[]
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Four, Ch. X: "The Choices of Master Samwise"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Ch. I: "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"