The Orcs of theLord of the Ringsfranchise are among the most villainous fantasy beings in the history of fiction. They’re unpleasantly inspired by the Mongols, they destroy everything they encounter, and their Kryptonite is sunlight. There are a lot of variants of Orcs across the books, but the idea of a human intermixed with human DNA to create half-orcs only comes up a couple of times.
In broad fantasy fiction, half-orcs are fairly common. Look to the world ofDungeons & Dragons, whichhas featured half-orcsas a playable race since 1978. The concept of blending fantasy races to create new species with unique gifts is all over the genre, but Tolkien was pretty reserved with the idea.
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How Did Saruman Create the Half-Orcs?
Saruman the White,one of the five Istariwho ostensibly came to Middle-earth to defend the innocents against Sauron, turned his back on his duty and chose to serve the Dark Lord instead. His morality is a bit more complicated than that of almost every other character in the franchise. Among his many trespasses against basic decency, his constant unethical experimentation with the Orcs stands out.
Though the Uruk-hai existed before Saruman got involved, he did breed countless soldiers of this uniquely powerful Orc subspecies. There is some contention about how he created the Uruk-hai, with some arguing that the process involved deliberately cross-breeding Orcs and humans. It’s unlikely because the books do feature half-orcs, seemingly crafted with the same dark magic. Subsequently, the exact method of their creation isn’t clear,but both Uruk-hai andhalf-orcs were created through magic by Saruman. Specifically, the half-orcs are created through the union of Orcs and Dunlendings, the wildmen who were manipulated by Saruman to sack Rohan during the war.
What Attributes Do the Half-Orcs Have?
Half-Orcs are split genetically between Orcs and humans, but they generally look more like humans than Orcs. They don’t have the short squat bodies ofthe traditional Orcish form, but their faces are sallow, and their eyes are squinted. To an observer, the half-orc looks like a sickly human with an air of inherent unpleasantness. They’re all as evil as the typical Orc, but they have different applications as soldiers in Sauron’s army.
Since half-orcs look a lot like humans, they’re most useful as spies. For many years before the war began, they worked below Isengard, forging weapons for the eventual conquest of Rohan. Half-orcs fought in direct conflicts from time to time, but their biggest accomplishments were as spies. One of the few well-known half-orcs was known as the Southerner. The Squint-eyed Southerner is an old man who sitsin the Prancing Ponyin Bree. The bar in which the Hobbits meet Aragorn is an important early location in the story. The Southerner is a spy who observes the group as they leave the Shire. His motivations were pulled between Sauron and Saruman, but he eventually aided the process of sacking the Shire. The half-orcs served the side of evil in all things, but they weren’t exactly rewarded for their efforts.
What Became of the Half-Orcs?
The half-orcs were mixed in among the orcs at various battles. After spending untold years working the forges, they were allowed out to fight the Rohirrim. The half-orcs served as a chunk of Saruman’s army as he marched on the Fords of Isen. They fought alongside Saruman against Rohan again in the Battle of the Hornburg. That conflict was the disastrous swan song of the overwhelming majority of half-orcs.The 10,000 Orcs andhalf-orcs who attacked Rohan were mostly slaughtered. This is the battle at Helm’s Deep, perhaps the most climactic action scene in the trilogy. Most half-orcs were either cut down before they reached the fortress walls or crushed by the Huorns in the forest.
The survivors of Helm’s Deep didn’t fair much better. Those who remained in the pits of Isengard were almost all drowned as an army of Ents descended on the city, causing a massive flood. Even fewer half-orcs survived that encounter, and they followed Saruman into exile.They joined Saruman insacking the Shire, serving the wizard until their final moments. The Battle of Bywater, the final conflict in the War of the Ring, claimed the life of the remaining known half-orcs. Their final fate saw them comfortably decorating the uncaring sands of the mass grave known as the Battle Pits.
The half-orcs are arguably tragic figures in theLord of the Ringsfranchise. They were largely born of evil wizardry. They were slaves, born on the losing side of a massive conflict they had no major say in. It’s hard to see their widespread death as a species as anything other than a tragedy of war.Sauron and Saruman arepure forces of evil, and even their own soldiers aren’t free from their callous cruelty.
