 | |
| Orc | |
| Orc-hunters | |
|---|---|
| Biographical Information | |
| Location | Beleriand, Mordor, Minas Morgul |
| Affiliation | Morgoth, Eye of Sauron |
| Language | Orcish dialects |
| Gallery | Images of Orc-hunters |
Not much use are you, you little snufflers?
Orc-hunters[1] were Orcs which excelled in tracking[2] that roamed the regions of Beleriand and Middle-earth under the rule of Morgoth and later Sauron.
History
Sometime in or prior to the year F.A. 496 during the late First Age, one particular band of Orc-hunters roamed the region of Methiriad near the West March of the Doriath.[3]
In the year 496 after the dragon Glaurung erased Nienor's memory, Mablung and his company found her on Amon Ethir and began to make their way slowly back to Doriath. After many days, they reached a guarded bridge over the Taeglin and decided to rest there. However, a roaming "band of Orc-hunters" attacked them unawares, causing Nienor to flee into Brethil in terror and confusion. When the Orc-hunters pursued her, she outran them and they were overtaken and killed by the Elves.[4]
On 16 March in the year T.A. 3019 of the late Third Age, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee spied two Orc-hunters[1] near the Barad-dûr Road[5] having a disagreement twenty paces away from them regarding their mission. One of them stated that their bosses Higher Up kept changing their target; from an Elf to a dwarf-man, to even "a pack of rebel Uruk-hai" in the context of the quarrel in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. As a result of this, he suggested that it could be all three put together in fact. Following the disagreement, the snuffling Orc skillfully killed the larger one with an arrow and ran off to a nearby Orc-hold.[2]
Other versions of the legendarium
In a sketch predating the earliest form of the story of Túrin, Nienor was driven into some woods by a baneful drink given to her by Kurúki,[6] instead of a group of Orc-hunters[4].
In a discarded revision of chapter five of The Hobbit, Gollum is described as a "foul orc-<illegible>" by Bilbo Baggins. John D. Rateliff notes that, though the second half of the word is illegible, it was probably "hunter" and not "thing" because the word lacked "a descender at the end".[7]
Portrayal in adaptations
2022: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Season One:
- Episode 7: The Eye:
- When Galadriel and Theo hide from the Orcs beneath a log, a Hunter Orc, portrayed by Jed Brophy, attempts to sniff them out. When another Orc, portrayed by Robert Strange and credited as "Other Orc", asks him what it is that he smells, the Hunter Orc answers that he smells nothing but ash.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Chronology of The Lord of the Rings, p. 74
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Land of Shadow", pp. 924-6
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Narn i Hîn Húrin (The Tale of the Children of Húrin)", "The Journey of Morwen and Nienor to Nargothrond"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Children of Húrin, "The Journey of Morwen and Niënor to Nargothrond"
- ↑ The Chronology of The Lord of the Rings, p. 148
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "II. Turambar and the Foalókë": "Notes and Commentary", pp. 138-40
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Return to Bag-End, "The Fourth Phase", "The 1947 Hobbit", i. Proposed correction of Hobbit to simplify Sequel (Gollum does not give ring)., note 37