[Music]
today on nerd of the rings we're going
to tackle a common question i get here
on the channel
what is the difference between orcs
goblins urokai
and the other subsets of orcs in middle
earth first we'll establish
where orcs came from there is a little
bit of debate on this topic
and even tolkien himself had multiple
ideas for their origins
the most widely accepted however which
is contained in the published
silmarillion
is that the dark lord melchor kidnapped
some of the earliest elves in middle
earth
and by means of torture and his own dark
power
corrupts them into the original orcs he
takes this method because no one outside
of a louvitar is able to create
life himself we know that after melkor
is imprisoned by the valar and sauron
and his other servants are left behind
in
eng band that the orcs multiply over the
following period
of thousands of years the orcs are first
seen in valerian by the elves who did
not travel to valinor
in the year of the trees 1330. when
morgoth returns to belarian
in the year of the trees 1495 his orcs
continue to multiply
and now make up the vast majority of his
forces
while we don't know how many orcs there
are exactly we know that during the 587
years of conflict in belarian
their numbers are easily in the hundreds
of thousands
in the war of wrath we are told that the
forces involved were uncountable
of which the majority on morgoth side
would have been
orcs their losses during the war of
wrath are catastrophic
and those that survive take refuge in
the arid mythrin
and the mountains of what would later
become the realm of angmar
after morgoth's downfall the orcs of
middle-earth would serve his greatest
servant
sauron using the orc sauron would wage
war with the elves and men of the world
throughout the second age now as we
arrive at the third age stories
we learn of the different kinds of orcs
first we'll cover the simplest term
goblin in short in tolkien's world the
term goblin is just another name for an
orc
while in peter jackson's films goblins
seem to be smaller in stature and belong
to the misty mountains
in tolkien's text goblin and orc are
used interchangeably
among the orcs themselves they have
terms or names for certain members of
their
race a term for some of the lesser orcs
who were typically geared toward being
laborers or scouts
was snogga snaga derives from a term in
black speech
meaning servant or slave in peter
jackson's the two towers
this term was used for a name of one of
jed brophy's orcs
another term we hear in the lord of the
rings is snufflers
smaller orcs with wide nostrils who have
a knack for tracking
finally we have a term that appears only
twice in the entirety of tolkien's
writings
both coming in the hobbit hobgoblins
it is believed that this is just a name
for a larger variation of orcs
undoubtedly the most well-known kind of
orc that fans will be familiar with
are the urukai unlike in the films where
they seem to be a new creation of
saruman
the urukai are actually first bred by
sauron in the late third age
though saruman would also breed urukai
as well
the term urukai is a combination of the
black speech word
uruk meaning orc and hai
meaning folk or people so urukai
literally means
orc folk or orc people also during this
time there was a race of
trolls known as the ologai meaning
troll folk while they are known for
their ferocity
their most notable trait is their
apparent ability to withstand sunlight
which as we know from the hobbit is
typically fatal to trolls
while orcs would not turn to stone in
sunlight they would typically only
endure it if they were forced to
unlike their regular orc counterparts
the urukai could travel in sunlight
without being weakened
they were also faster stronger smarter
and larger than regular orcs we don't
know for certain how sauron and saruman
accomplished this
other than the likely use of their dark
arts treebeard wonders aloud to the
hobbits if the orcs had somehow been
improved or if they were men who had
been corrupted to have orc-like
qualities
or worse yet if they were somehow a
mixture of orcs and men
whatever their origins the uruks of
mordor and eisenguard are some of the
fiercest and most dangerous combatants
in the war of the ring
in the tower of kirith ungul we see how
the powerful uruks of mordor look down
upon and command the lesser
regular orcs a snarl followed by a blow
and a cry
sent him darting back into hiding an orc
voice rose in anger
and he knew it again at once harsh
brutal
cold it was shagrat speaking captain of
the tower
you won't go again you say curse you
snagger you little maggot
if you think i'm so damaged that it's
safe to float me
you're mistaken come here and i'll
squeeze your eyes out
like i did to radbug just now and when
some new lads come i'll deal with you
i'll send you to shelob unfortunately
when it comes to saruman
his deeds don't stop at just creating
urukai
as triviard alluded to there certainly
was some sort of devilry of saruman
happening in the caverns of isengard
as there are two more variations of orcs
which he brings about
half-orcs and goblin men half-orcs were
actually
large evil men who possessed orcish
features
these half-orcs were among the
dunlandings who served saruman in the
battle of the hornberg
where most were destroyed those that
remained were among those who went into
exile after sarman's defeat
and became the ruffians who took over
the shire before they were ousted by the
returning hobbits
another possible example of a half-orc
is the squinted southerner
one of saruman's agents stationed near
the shire who would eventually turn
into an informant of the nazgul as for
goblin men
while they are listed separate from
half-orcs they were very similar to them
they too had a resistance to sunlight
and fought in the battle of the hornberg
now we finally arrive at the natural
question
how did saruman create half orcs and
goblin men
for the likely answer we turn to history
of middle earth volume 10
morgoth's ring it became clear in time
that undoubted men could under the
domination of morgoth or his agents
in a few generations be reduced to
almost orc level of mind and habits
and then they would or could be made to
mate with orcs
producing new breeds often larger and
more
cunning there is no doubt that long
afterwards in the third age
saruman rediscovered this or learned of
it in lore
and in his lust for mastery committed
this his wickedest deed
the interbreeding of orcs and men
producing both
men orcs large and cunning and orcmen
treacherous and vile now it's probably
best we don't dwell
too long on the implications of this
aside to note that there was clearly no
level that morgoth
sauron and saruman would not go to in
order to obtain an advantage in their
war against the free peoples
from their initial creation by morgoth
to their later variations of sauron and
saruman
the orcs of middle-earth were bred for a
single purpose
to serve the dark powers in their wars
against the men
elves and dwarves of middle earth to
close i'll pose a question which tolkien
himself
struggled with in his later life are the
orcs
irredeemable we know other races of
middle earth
the easterlings for example were not
wholly evil
and there were likely those who would
oppose sauron rather than serve him
but what about the orcs are they
creatures evil to the core
this is a topic made for great
discussion and i want to hear your
thoughts in the comments
if you enjoyed this video please hit
subscribe and the bell so you never miss
your weekly dose of nerd of the rings
and if you enjoyed the artwork be sure
to check out the artists in the
description
and visit their sites to purchase prints
of their great work for yourself
as always a huge thank you to my patreon
supporters who make this channel
possible
including tom de bombadil 19 gayle
elizabeth jim limber davis
skye carcass seliman s'morezerk zetrok
gimmocod debbie grand strategy nerd
chief 40123
mid-earth wellness and the dark-haired
one thanks so much for watching and
subscribing and we'll see you next time
on nerd of the rings