[Bill Ferny]

As Ewoyn, Eomer and Durelin said orcs and goblins are the same thing. Men call them goblins, but the older elven term is “orc”. It refers to the species of creature that Melkor created through torturing and tormenting elves in the Pits of Utumno during the first age. This was Melkor’s greatest evil, a twisted form of creating.

Likewise, Sauron’s greatest act of evil was the creation of the Uruk-hai. These were orcs of greater strength, as tall as men, and they did not fear day light. They sacked the greatest city of Gondor, Osgiliath in 2475. The sticking point in relation to the Uruk-hai, at least for me, is that nothing is written about their creation, only that Sauron used sorcery to “make” this terrible breed of orc.

Then you have half-orcs or goblin men. The blood of men, Dunlendings, were mixed with that of orcs by Saruman’s sorcery, thus the creation of half-orcs. The Squint-eyed Southerner is one example. However, it would seem that many of Saruman’s half-orcs were more terrible in form, and at the Battles of the Fords of Isen, Theored, the son of King Theoden of the Mark, was, in fact, slain by a “great orc-man”. I find it hard to believe that a creature with the stature of the Squint-eyed Southerner could accomplish such a feat.

So between Uruks and goblin men, what do we have?

From description, these two fell breeds were very similar: Uruks were not frightened of day light; goblin men were not frightened of day light. Uruks were as tall as men; goblin men were as tall as men. Uruks stood upright; goblin men stood upright. Uruks were lynx-eyed; goblin men were lynx-eyed. Both Uruks and goblin men are “made” not bred. In other words, sorcery is used, not a process of inter-mating two species. Tolkien never says whether mating between these two species is possible, and I strongly suspect it is not.

Minor or non-universal differences include: Uruks were clawed, not all goblin men are described as such. Uruks had fangs; the only description of fangs in a goblin man (that I can find) is the words “fang like”.

Differences that seem to be universal: Uruks have black skin like charred wood. To my knowledge no goblin man is described as such.

From my perspective there seems to be more similarities than differences, leading me to conclude that Uruks and goblin men, while definitely different, are in theory the same. It is my hypothesis that Uruk-hai are, indeed, orcs crossed with men. There is nothing in the Tolkien canon that supports or contests this hypothesis, only reticence. There are also a few arguments that might support this hypothesis.

Melkor’s greatest evil was the creation of orcs. Sauron’s greatest evil was the creation of the Uruk-hai. When Melkor made orcs he was twisting a fair thing into a thing of utter loathing and evil. Now if Sauron merely transformed an already loathsome and evil race into a more powerful, but equally loathsome and evil race, this doesn’t seem to even approach the same level of sinfulness as Melkor’s evil. I’m a little hard pressed to see Sauron’s creation of the Uruk-hai in this manner as an evil that outstrips his creation of the one ring. If, however, Sauron used sorcery to mix the blood of orcs and men in the creation of the Uruk-hai, then we are talking about an evil on a completely different level. This sin would approach the terrible magnitude of Melkor’s sin.

Sauron not only improved the orc theme, he also improved on the troll theme. Creating the Olog-hai. These were trolls, not surprising, who could withstand the light of day. However, their greatest strength is that they had the intelligence of men. Whenever Tolkien wrote about Sauron’s “improvements” he referred to how these improved beasts were more man like.

Saruman’s fall is mostly brought about by his envy and jealously. He is envious of Gandalf who has one of the three rings, and he knew that Gandalf was greater than he. He is envious of Sauron and the power he wields. Out of envy, Saruman immolates both Gandalf and Sauron. Saruman (secretly) develops a hobbit weed habit like Gandalf, and takes a great interest in the Shire. Saruman forges for himself a “ring of power” like Sauron did. Would it be such a stretch, therefore, to say that in imitation of Sauron, Saruman made the half-orcs, attempting to create a fighting force like the Uruks? Saruman never understood the Shire like Gandalf, and his ring was more than likely a worthless trinket in comparison with the one ring. Thus Saruman’s half-orcs would pale in comparison to Sauron’s Uruk-hai.

This is only a hypothesis, and I'm always open to different opinions and takes on the way I see this.

[ October 16, 2002: Message edited by: Bill Ferny ]