Q: What Was the Origin of the Uruk-hai?
ANSWER: The Uruk-hai are the elite Orc warriors who serve as the core of Saruman’s army in The Lord of the Rings. In the Peter Jackson movies it appears that Saruman is doing Sauron’s bidding by transforming normal Orcs into Uruk-hai in order to “build … an army worthy of Mordor”. In the books it’s not so clear where the Uruk-hai come from or if they are even “pure” Orcs (assuming there was really even such a thing).
J.R.R. Tolkien was quick to point out both in the narrative and through his own authorial exposition that there were many different kinds of Orcs in Middle-earth. The Uruk-hai of Isengard may have been just one tribe who for whatever reason forsook any loyalty to Sauron and attached themselves to Saruman. But it’s also plausible that they were part of Saruman’s “breeding” program, for Aragorn and his companions speculate that many of Sauron’s servants may indeed have been cross-bred from Orcs and Men.
Some readers believe that the Uruk-hai are just normal Uruks, like the Uruks found in Mordor and Moria. The name Uruk-hai is given in Black Speech and simply means “orc folk” but only the Isengarders are ever referred to as “Uruk-hai”. There is one debated passage where Frodo and Sam overhear an Uruk of Mordor speaking with a tracker and one of the two orcs refers to “rebel Uruk-hai”. Some readers argue this reference is to the rebellious Orcs of Minas Morgul (led by Gorbag) who attempted to seize the mithril chain shirt they found on Frodo; however, in the lack of any confirmation from other passages where “Uruk-hai” is used to refer to any Orcs NOT from Isengard, this one interpretation seems to have no real support.
According to the appendices in The Lord of the Rings the Uruks first appeared in the 25th century of the Third Age when they attacked Ithilien. They had apparently been bred by Sauron or perhaps by his servants in Mordor. Sauron was at this time not living in Mordor. The Watchful Peace, which lasted from Third Age year 2063 to 2460, came to a close with Sauron’s return to Dol Guldur. The Uruks began attacking Ithilien in 2475. The Éothéod/Rohirrim had not yet settled in Calenardhon and Saruman had not yet taken Isengard for his own.
Tolkien says that Sauron sent Uruks to inhabit Moria, which had been abandoned by the Dwarves in Third Age year 1981 after they awoke a Balrog, which slew two of their kings. The Orcs of Moria, led by Azog, murdered Thrór, King of Durin’s Folk, and ignited the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. In a final battle in Nanduhirion, the valley before the eastern gate of Moria, Azog and his bodyguard — all apparently Uruks — were among the last Orcs to be defeated by the Dwarves.
The Battle of Nanduhirion took place in 2799, barely 40 years after Saruman had settled in Isengard. Some Orcs, fleeing the Misty Mountains, passed through Calenardhon/Rohan and established themselves in the Ered Nimrais between Gondor and Rohan. The Orcs continued to trouble Rohan (and possibly Gondor) from 2800 to 2864. The White Council drove Sauron from Dol Guldur in 2941 but he returned to Mordor and declared himself openly in 2951. After the last meeting of the White Council 2953 Saruman withdrew to Isengard and fortified it, taking for his own.
Saruman may not actually have begun working with Orcs (and half-orcs) until around the year 3000, when the Tale of Years says he looked into the Palantir of Orthanc and fell prey to Sauron’s domination. However, it is certainly plausible that Saruman may have established some sort of relationship with Orcs prior to this time. He was in a position to attract Orcs from the Misty Mountains, from the Ered Nimrais (up until 2860), from southern Mirkwood, and from Mordor.
Still, Tolkien never explains fully when and how the Uruk-hai of Isengard came into being, whether as a separate tribe of Uruks or as a result of Saruman’s breeding program.
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