Orcs of Mordor
The Orcs of Mordor or Mordor-orcs were the orc footsoldiers of Morgoth's lieutenant Sauron. After Sauron established himself in the Black Land of Mordor, he took under his command countless Orcs that continued to battle with Elves and Men over many centuries.
The Orcs of Mordor were not simply gathered from the remnants of Morgoth's armies, but were also bred anew by Sauron.
Third Age
There were many types in the service of the Red Eye, but the largest and fiercest were the Uruks of Mordor, black Orcs of tremendous strength and ferocity first seen out of Mordor around T.A. 2475, assaulting Ithilien. Ithilien was re-taken by Steward Boromir, but years later Ithilien was infested again by Mordor-orcs driving most of the people west of the Anduin.[1]
Few years before the War of the Ring they began mutliplying again and disrupted the transportation from Rhovanion to Osgiliath along the Anduin.[2]
It seems that Sauron could breed armies of Orcs with enormous speed when they were needed. According to Aragorn, for instance, it had taken just a few years for the Orcs to multiply in Mordor to the vast hordes seen in the War of the Ring.
In February of T.A. 3019 a group of Mordor-orcs under Grishnákh joined forces of the Orcs of Isengard on the plains of Rohan during the War of the Ring. Those raided and captured Merry and Pippin. Those Orcs then attempted to head east, but returned when they noticed Rohirrim approaching. Eventually they were wiped out by them.[3]
Orcs made up the backbone of the Eastern hordes during this War, supplemented by Easterlings, Haradrim, and monstrous creatures of Sauron.
Following Sauron's final defeat at the end of the Third Age, Western forces cleared the Black Gate and surrounding hills of Orcs easily without their master to guide them, though it is suggested many escaped into the vast wastes and steppes of Mordor's eastern lands.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion", "The Stewards"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Great River"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Uruk-hai"
