Orcs were the primary foot soldiers of the Dark Lords’ armies and sometimes the weakest (but most numerous) of their servants. They were created by the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, before the First Age and served him and later his successor in their quest to dominate Middle-earth. Before Oromë first found the Elves at Cuiviénen, Melkor kidnapped some of them and cruelly tortured them, twisting them into the first Orcs.
In the First Age, thousands of Orcs were bred in Angband by Morgoth and to participate in the Battles of Beleriand, which lasted 587 years. They first appeared in the Battle of Lhammoth, where they were defeated by the Noldor. When the House of Fëanor returned to Middle-earth Morgoth sent a force of Orcs against them. Although the Orcs outnumbered the exiles they were no match for the power and wrath of the Ñoldor, and were quickly and easily defeated. However, Fëanor could not defeat the power of Morgoth alone and he was killed, leaving the Orcs to continue to breed under the Dark Lord. Years later, when the House of Fingolfin arrived in Middle-earth, Orcs were sent against them as well, but they were utterly defeated in the Battle of the Lammoth.
After their crushing defeat in the Dagor Aglareb and in a minor raid on Hithlum, the Orcs nevertheless regained their numbers. In the Dagor Bragollach and Nirnaeth Arnoediad, they and their master won crushing victories against the free peoples. However, they were nearly destroyed in the War of Wrath, and those that survived fled eastwards into the Mountains of Angmar and the Grey Mountains.
Sometime around SA 1000, Sauron reappeared in Middle-earth and made the land of Mordor his realm, and then started to build the foundations of Barad-Dûr. During the War of the Elves and Sauron in SA 1700, the Orcs formed the main host of Sauron’s power. Despite the immeasurable number of Orcs present, the battle was won by the Elves and the Numenoreans due to their united force and numbers.
Until Sauron’s final downfall in the Third Age, Orcs remained the backbone of the armies of Mordor, and of Isengard when Saruman ruled it.
Characteristics
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, Orcs were cruel, sadistic, black-hearted, vicious, and hateful of everybody and everything, particularly the orderly and prosperous. Physically, they were short in stature (unless of the Uruk variety) and humanoid in shape. They were generally squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, bow-legged, with wide mouths and slant eyes, long arms, dark skin, and fangs. Tolkien describes one “huge Orc chieftain” as “almost Man-high”, and some must have been close to Hobbit height, as Sam and Frodo were able to disguise themselves as Orcs in Mordor. They were roughly humanoid in shape with pointed ears, sharpened teeth and grimy skin. Their appearance was considered revolting by most of the other races.
Wickedness and violence were their nature, and it was not uncommon for them to kill each other in petty quarrels. They had a destructive effect on nature, especially forests, and often destroyed trees to fuel their war-making, particularly those near Isengard. Orcs had unchangeable disdain for all Elves, Dwarves, and Men, though they fought alongside wicked men under Morgoth and then Sauron in the First and Third Age and were also said to have made alliances with wicked dwarves.Wickedness and violence were their nature, and it was not uncommon for them to kill each other in petty quarrels.[4] They had a destructive effect on nature, especially forests, and often destroyed trees to fuel their war-making, particularly those near Isengard. Orcs had unchangeable disdain for all Elves, Dwarves, and Men, though they fought alongside wicked men under Morgoth and then Sauron in the First and Third Age and were also said to have made alliances with wicked dwarves.