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List of Middle-earth Orcs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a list of Orcs of Middle-earth, created by fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien and considered to be part of the Middle-earth canon.
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Azog was the name of an Orc chieftain who lived in Moria from about 2480 to 2799 Third Age.
He started the War of the Dwarves and Orcs in 2790 T.A. by killing King Thrór, who came to revisit the ruins of Khazad-dûm.
In the following years, he was the common enemy of all Dwarves, and the war he started climaxed in the Battle of Azanulbizar, where he killed Náin, only to be himself slain by Náin's son Dáin.
His son, Bolg, inherited the rulership in Moria and continued it for another 150 years.
Azog is also a hero for the Goblins in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II's expansion pack The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II - The Rise of the Witch-king.
Balcmeg was one of the orcs killed in the Fall of Gondolin, 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.
illustration by Tom Loback
Boldog is a formidable, Orc-captain of a Host of Angband that is sent to attack Doriath and capture Lúthien mentioned in the The Lay of Leithian in The History of Middle-earth Vol. III, Lays of Beleriand.
The name Boldog was used by several Orc chieftains during the First Age. It is probable that Boldog was actually a title, given to lesser Maiar, servants of Morgoth, who had taken an orcish hröa. Several Orc leaders, such as the Great Goblin from The Hobbit, may have been Boldogs.
Bolg was an Orc 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 killed by Beorn.
Golfimbul was a chieftain of the Orcs of Mount Gram, who led his band in an invasion of the Shire. He was defeated at the Battle of Greenfields by a force led by Bandobras "Bullroarer" Took; the battle was only the first of two which were ever fought within the borders of the Shire (the second was the Battle of Bywater, the last battle of the War of the Ring, where his descendant Pippin fought). Bullroarer knocked off Golfimbul's head with a club and it soared into the air, finally falling into a rabbit hole. According to Hobbit folklore, this inspired the game of golf, which takes its name from the Orc. Golfimbul's name was probably specifically constructed for this pun; fimbul is Old Norse for "great".[1]
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 was a vicious Uruk. He is the captain of an Orc troop at Minas Morgul. He served the Nazgûl who dwelled in the Dead City, but he found them disturbing so he moved to Cirith Ungol with Shagrat.
After Frodo was paralyzed by Shelob, an orc-patrol led by Gorbag and Shagrat came across his webbed body while inspecting Shelob's lair. The Orc troops took Frodo back to Cirith Ungol.
After the capture of Frodo, a dispute between Gorbag and Shagrat began over the ownership of Frodo's mithril vest. The two fought and Shagrat then kicked Gorbag down a flight of stairs. Shagrat alerts his fellow orcs that Gorbag turned on him and massive skirmish breaks out. The fight eventually led to the death of Gorbag and most of the inhabitants of Cirith Ungol.
In Peter Jackson's film version, Gorbag (played by Stephen Ure) is a small Orc, and Shagrat is a large Uruk. Also, he is killed by Sam rather than Shagrat during Frodo's rescue, surprisingly surviving the Orc quarrel until that moment, though he was the first to be attacked.
In the video game The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Gorbag appears as a boss character at the end of the level "Cirith Ungol". In the game, he actually knocks Shagrat down and then Sam must stun him with pikes until he is weak enough to be slaughtered.
Gorbag is also a playable 'hero' in the game The Third Age for Game Boy Advance.
Gorgol was an Orc chieftain, also called the Butcher, who lived in Middle-earth during the First Age. He was slain by Beren.
The Great Goblin was an Orc leader who lived in the Misty Mountains during the Third Age, as recounted in The Hobbit. His followers captured Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo and company during the quest of Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, and took them to their underground stronghold, Goblin Town. He was slain by Gandalf. David Day's Tolkien guides suggest that he, along with Azog and Bolg, was an Uruk, but there is nothing to support for or against the issue.
Grishnákh was an Orc. He led a group of orcs under Sauron's dominion that joined Uglúk's Uruk troop on the plains of Rohan. Since Saruman bred his own strain or breed of Uruk-hai, Grishnákh and Uglúk looked different. Grishnákh's plans for the troops' captives, Merry and Pippin, were in conflict with Uglúk's orders to deliver them to Saruman. Grishnákh was present at the torture and interrogation of Gollum so he not only knew about the Ring, but suspected Merry and Pippin might have it after hearing them imitate Gollum's trademark throat noise. Afterwards, he tried to steal the Hobbits away from the Uruk-hai, in order to take what they had for himself, eventually leading to his demise in Fangorn forest.
In Peter Jackson's movies, Grishnákh (played by Stephen Ure) is a common Orc and is killed by Treebeard, who steps on him. His name is never actually spoken in the movie.
In Sierra Entertainment's War of the Ring real-time strategy game, he is a playable hero.
Varg Vikernes of the Norwegian black metal band Burzum, whose music has borrowed heavily from both Tolkien's writings and Norse mythology, took the moniker "Count Grishnackh" for a period of time.
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.
Lug was one of the orcs killed by Tuor during the Fall of Gondolin, 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 Lug does not appear in the published Silmarillion.
Lugdush was one of Saruman's Uruk-hai, and appeared to be a trusted subordinate of Uglúk.
An Orc of Isengard, Mauhúr may have been an Uruk. On the night of February 28-29, 3019 T.A., Mauhúr led a company of reinforcements through the eaves of Fangorn forest to come to the aid of Uglúk. Uglúk's company had been surrounded by a group of Rohirrim led by Éomer. When Mauhúr's company attacked, some of the Rohirrim rode to meet them while the others closed in around Uglúk's camp. Uglúk's captives, Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took, found themselves outside the circle and were able to escape into Fangorn forest. Mauhúr and his company were killed and his head was placed on a pike in warning for other orcs. In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, he is played by Robbie Magasiva. He was killed just outside Fangorn forest as he tried to escape using a wedge formation. It was Éomer that killed him and Uglúk.
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.
illustration by Tom Loback
Orcobal was an orc leader in the Fall of Gondolin, killed by Ecthelion. Tolkien wrote the story of the fall of the city in 1917 and never fully revised it, and Orcobal does not appear in the published Silmarillion.
Othrod was an orc leader in the Fall of Gondolin, killed by Tuor. Tolkien wrote the story of the fall of the city in 1917 and never fully revised it, and Othrod does not appear in the published Silmarillion.
Radbug was an Orc, probably of the tower of Cirith Ungol, who was killed by Shagrat in the battle over Frodo's mithril-shirt (apparently by strangulation).
Shagrat was the Uruk captain in command of the common Orcs and Uruk-hai at the tower of Cirith Ungol, which guarded a treacherous pass into Mordor.
After the discovery of the unconscious Frodo in Shelob's Lair, Shagrat and Gorbag had Frodo put into the highest room of the tower. While the two orcs were searching through Frodo's things, a dispute erupted over the highly valuable mithril vest. The quarrel led to a battle among the Orcs in the tower; nearly all were killed.
Shagrat was the only survivor. He took the mithril shirt, as well as Frodo's Elven cloak, to Barad-dûr. These were used by the Mouth of Sauron as evidence of Frodo's capture.
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King he is the larger of the two orcs in the Cirith Ungol sequence (ie. the Uruk), but as film-Gorbag delivers several of book-Shagrat's lines this has led to some confusion between the two characters.
"Shagrat, Orc of the Ozarks" appeared as Hobo name #573 in John Hodgman's list of 700 Hobo Names in his book, The Areas of My Expertise.
The name is also used (in slightly different form) by singer/guitarist/drummer Shagrath, one of the founding members of black metal band Dimmu Borgir.
Snaga, translated as "slave" in the Appendixes, is not a personal name, but a term used by Uruks to describe smaller, less powerful (normal) Orcs. It is used to refer to:
- A scout in the band of Orcs that captured Merry and Pippin in The Two Towers.
- The only surviving subordinate of Shagrat after battle in the tower of Cirith Ungol (who subsequently died when he fell through the trap-door during Sam's rescue of Frodo).
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 amused at his predicament and because they didn't want to interfere with Shelob.
Uglúk was the captain of Saruman's Uruk-hai who attacked the Fellowship at Amon Hen and captured Merry and Pippin. He and his fellow Uruks claimed responsibility for killing Boromir, haranguing the common Orcs who shied away from him in battle.
Though they were serving different masters, he and Grishnákh defended Merry and Pippin from Orcs who wanted to eat them, saying that it was against both of their respective orders. When Grishnákh returned with 20-40 fellow Mordor Uruks, Uglúk accepted their offer of help at face value. He and the combined bands were tracked by the Rohirrim on their way to Isengard until, near the eaves of Fangorn Forest, they were surrounded, besieged until daylight, and utterly destroyed.
In Peter Jackson's movie adaptation of The Two Towers, Uglúk is played by Nathaniel Lees. Here, Grishnákh also wants to eat the hobbits, but Uglúk stops them. He kills an individual orc called Snaga (the name is apparently not just a term in the film version), whose body is cannibalized.
In Jackson's film version of The Fellowship of the Ring the original leader of the Orc-band was Lurtz, who was slain by Aragorn at Amon Hen.