12/03/2022
Uruk-hai (for short, Uruks) were brutal warriors of Middle-earth, and the strongest breed of Orc.
In The Lord of the Rings, the term Uruk-hai refers chiefly to those bred in Isengard, and in one context are alternatively called Isengarders, while Uruks from Mordor are called Black Uruks or Uruks of Mordor.
The Uruks first appeared out of Mordor in TA 2475, when they assaulted and managed to conquer Ithilien and destroyed the city of Osgiliath. The Uruks in the service of Barad-dûr used the symbol of the red Eye of Sauron, which was also painted on their shields.
Uruk-hai were later bred by the Wizard Saruman the White late in the Third Age, by his dark arts in the pits of Isengard. The Uruks in the service of Isengard used the symbol of the white Hand of Saruman, featured on their banners, helmets, and faces. In the War of the Ring, the Uruk-hai made up a large part of Saruman's army, together with the Dunlendings, man-enemies of Rohan. There are suggestions that the Uruk-hai were the result of crossbreeding Orcs and Men. There were other creatures in Saruman's armies, and under his command in the Shire, that appear to have been hybrids. "Half-orcs" were as tall as Men and are never described simply as Orcs, as the Uruk-hai frequently are. Saruman's army of Uruk-hai fought against King Théoden of Rohan and his people at the Battle of the Hornburg.
