Uruk-hai

Uruk-hai (to some, for short, Uruks, but this is misleading) were brutal warriors of Middle-earth, and the strongest breed of Orc.
In , the term Uruk-hai refers chiefly to those bred in Isengard as Isengarders, while the Uruks from Mordor are referred to as black Uruks of Mordor.
== History ==
The Uruks first appeared out of Mordor in TA 2475, when they overran Ithilien and destroyed the city of Osgiliath., Appendix A, iv. "Gondor and the heirs of Anárion", pg. 1053 (50th Anniversary One-Volume Edition) 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 Saruman used the symbol of the White Hand of Isengard, featured on their banners, helmets, and faces. They were "large, swart" and "slant-eyed"., , Book Three, Ch. III: "The Uruk-hai", pg. 451 (50th Anniversary One-Volume Edition) 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. The Uruk-hai might have been 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. Some used an Elf-rune wrought in white metal on the front of their iron helms. It was clear this stood for Saruman, because their shields had a small White Hand centered on a black field. Aragorn commented, when first encountering them, that their gear was not in the manner of other Orcs at all. Instead of the curved scimitar, they used short, broad-bladed swords. Their great bows were made of yew wood, of the same length and shape as those of Men., , Book Three, Ch. I: "The Departure of Boromir" Saruman's army of Uruk-hai fought against King Théoden of Rohan and his people at the Battle of the Hornburg., , Book Three, Ch. VII: "Helm's Deep"Saruman appeared to aid his Orcs with wizardry as well: when Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas followed the party of Uruks who had kidnapped Merry and Pippin, Saruman's will caused weariness of the heart for the pursuers and lent speed to the Orcs., , Book Three, Ch. III: "The Uruk-hai" This was the group that had slain Boromir, and was later annihilated by Éomer and his éored., , Book Three, Ch. II: "The Riders of Rohan"
== Etymology ==
Uruk-hai was a Black Speech word that meant "Orc-folk." The name "Uruk-hai" has the element Uruk, a Black Speech word related to "orc" and to the (Valinórean) Quenya word urko (Ñoldorin Quenya: orko) of the same meaning. The element hai means "folk," so "Uruk-hai" is "Orc-folk." A similar term is Olog-hai ("troll-folk"), used for a breed of especially strong and vicious trolls capable of surviving sunlight.
Christopher Tolkien describes "uruks" as an anglicization of "Uruk-hai," and his father used the two terms interchangeably a number of times.
== In adaptations ==
thumb|245x245px|Saruman's Orcs, possibly Uruks (1978)
=== The Lord of the Rings (1978 animated film) ===
While their role in the books is recreated for this film, the word "Uruk" is never used in nor are they clearly distinguished from other Orcs. Hence, it is unknown if they exist in this adaptation.
=== The Lord of the Rings film trilogy ===
In by Peter Jackson, Saruman appeared to believe that the Uruks were his invention. In , Gandalf mentions Saruman breeding the Uruks to possess the traits of "Orcs and goblin men" without the two races' weaknesses. However, the film-lore book clears up this discrepancy by explaining that Saruman was in fact only replicating Sauron's method. Sauron's Uruks, seen in , have noticeably rougher features than Saruman's. Saruman's Uruk-hai are shown as being released from a kind of membrane in the mud deep under Isengard (special commentary on the DVD edition explained that they were trying to base the scene on an early description of Tolkien's that Orcs "worm their way out of the ground like maggots").
====Weaponry & army composition====
His Uruks army includes pikemen, swordsmen, crossbowmen, sappers, scouts, and berserkers. The berserkers are even larger and more vicious Uruks. They shave their heads and fill their helmets with human blood, so that when they put on the helmets the blood runs down their backs and its scent sends them into a killing frenzy. They carry double-bent swords. These swords were feared by their Rohirrim enemies for good reason. First, they had double spikes on the end (used for hamstringing or disemboweling horses). Second, the tremendous strength of the berserkers could easily take the head off of any human. Last, they had a keen cutting edge that could easily cut through the leather armor of the Rohirrim (for the massive swords were powerful enough to cut through even steel armor). The sappers were responsible for crewing the ballistae, handling the ladders and carrying Saruman's bombs.
The army additionally had many hundreds of pikemen and a smaller count of deadly crossbowmen. Normal Uruk infantry wielded swords and shields. These swords would maximize the brute strength of the Uruks, being able to cut off limbs and heads very easily.
They also sometimes use bladed shields with the White Hand painted on them, as seen on Amon Hen during Aragorn's fight against Lurtz. These were broad shields, made of durable iron that could defend well against incoming attacks and would provide an alternative weapon by using the bladed side, should the Uruk lose his other weapon. Scouts wear light, leather armor and have leather helmets with no crests or brims, and wield short swords, axes, daggers, and powerful bows of yew with a tremendous draw weight. Their armor is grey and is made up of large lames and has a groin guard. Underneath is a layer of chainmail that covers the torso, half the arm and a small fraction of the legs. They also wear arm armor but they have bare legs. For footwear they have puttees and sandals that are covered by foot and leg armor.
As the Isengard Uruk-hai were an army that was being rapidly grown, mass production of arms was required to equip them quickly. The metal weapons used by the Isengard uruks, as depicted in The Fellowship of the Ring, are made from iron melted in a foundry, cast in open molds, then forged, and finally finished by sharpening on grindstones. Armor and helmets are also seen being hammered and shaped en masse. Though the weapons and armor were competently crafted, the quality is depicted as relatively crude compared to the more finely honed weapons of the Elves, Men, and Dwarves. This lack of quality is not shown as hindering effectiveness.
=== Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War ===
Uruk-hai, or "Uruks" as they are termed in the games, appear in both and its sequel as the games' primary antagonists throughout the land of Mordor. A wide variety of Uruks are depicted, including a hierarchy of captains and warchiefs within Sauron's army. Some are also shown to be necromancers, wielding dark sorcery.
Their appearances in these games do not resemble their film depiction.
== Notable Uruk-hai ==
*Uglúk - One of Saruman's Uruk-hai who commanded the scouts that attacked the Fellowship of the Ring and captured Merry and Pippin. Uglúk later died fighting Éomer when his band was slain by Rohirrim. 
*Mauhúr led an attack on the Rohirrim surrounding Uglúk's company, but failed to drive them off.
*Lugdush - He was one of Saruman's Uruks, and appears to be a trusted subordinate of Uglúk. He was tasked with guarding the captive Merry and Pippin. He was presumably killed along the other Orcs by the Riders of Rohan near Fangorn Forest.
=== Non-canonical ===
*Lurtz - Lurtz was a character created specifically for Peter Jackson's movie . He is the first Uruk-hai bred in Isengard, and kills the first thing he sees, strangling the Orc who oversaw his birth. As the first Uruk made, he is shown to be the strongest Uruk, and his skin appears a muddy brown instead of the other Uruk-hai's more reddish skin. Saruman places him in command of the "Uruk-hai scouts" and sends him along with a company of Uruks to find the Fellowship of the Ring. He kills Boromir with a bow, shooting him three times, and then violently duels with Aragorn, in which he loses his arm, is impaled by Aragorn's sword, and finally beheaded. He was portrayed by New Zealand actor Lawrence Makoare.
== See also ==
*Olog-hai
== Translations ==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Amharic 	ዑሩክ፡ሃኢ
Arabic 	أوروك-هاي
Armenian 	ՈՒրուկ-հաի
Belarusian Cyrillic	Урук-хаі
Bengali 	উড়ুক-হয়
Bosnian 	Juruk-hai
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Урук-хай
Chinese 	乌鲁克族
Czech 	Skurut-hai
Esperanto 	Uruk-hajoj
Georgian 	ურუქ-ჰაი
Greek 	Ουρούκ-Χάι
Gujarati 	ઉરુક-હૈ
Hebrew 	אורוק האי
Hindi 	उरुक हाइ
Japanese 	ウルク＝ハイ
Kannada 	ಉರುಕ್-ಹೈ
Kazakh 	Ұрұк-һаі (Cyrillic) Uruk-hai (Latin)
Korean 	우르크하이
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Урук-Гаи
Macedonian Cyrillic	Урук-хаи
Marathi 	ऊरुखै
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Урук-hаи
Nepalese 	उरुक हाइ
Persian 	اوروک-هی
Punjabi 	ਊਰੁਖੈ
Russian 	Урук-Хай
Serbian 	Урук-хаи (Cyrillic) Uruk-hai (Latin)
Sinhalese 	ඌරුක්-හ්ඓ
Tajik Cyrillic 	Урук-ха
Tamil 	உருக்-ஹை
Telugu 	ఉరుక్-హై
Thai 	อูรุก-ไฮ
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Урук-хай
Uzbek 	Урук-ҳаи (Cyrillic) Uruk-hai (Latin)
Yiddish 	ורוק-האַי
== References ==
== External links ==
*List of weapons and armour in Middle-earth at Wikipedia
Category:Black Speech names & words
Category:Uruk-hai
Category:Agents of Saruman
Category:Servants of Sauron
Category:Kinds of Orcs
Category:Characters in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Category:Characters in Middle-earth: Shadow of War
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