In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Uruk-hai (Black Speech: Orc folk), anglicized to Uruks, were an advanced breed of Orcs that appeared during the Third Age.
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The race of Uruk-hai, described as very large black orcs of great strength, first appeared about the year 2475 of the Third Age, when they conquered Ithilien and destroyed the city of Osgiliath. These original Uruks were of Sauron's breeding, but Saruman bred his own, making further improvements like resistance to sunlight, and giving them different armour and weapons. Being stronger, they looked down upon and often bullied and cowed other kinds of Orcs.
In The Two Towers, Aragorn observes that the fallen Uruk-hai at Amon Hen were not like any breed of Orc he has seen before. Treebeard speculates that Saruman had crossbred Orcs and Men, a "black evil".
These Uruk-hai made up a large part of Saruman's army, together with the Dunlendings and other human enemies of Rohan. They were faster, stronger, and larger than normal Orcs and could travel during the day without being weakened, although they still did not like it. These Uruks called themselves "the fighting Uruk-hai" (The Two Towers, "Helm's Deep"). Saruman's Uruk-hai fought against the Rohirrim at the Battles of the Fords of Isen, at the first of which King Théoden's son Théodred was killed, and the Battle of the Hornburg, where they were defeated and destroyed.
The Uruks and other Orcs in the service of Barad-dûr, the folk of Mordor, used the symbol of the red Eye of Sauron. The Red Eye was also painted on their shields. At least one, a guard, on the march with Merry and Pippin had a black knife with a long saw-edged blade, used by Pippin to cut through the ropes on his hands. These Uruks of Mordor referred to Sauron as the Great Eye, and Grishnákh was one of their captains. They were all long-armed and crook-legged, not as tall as the Isengard Uruks but larger than the Moria (common) Orcs, who could see better in the dark than the Isengarders.
The Uruk-hai of Saruman the White used an elf-rune, similar in appearance to the mathematical symbol < with the value of "S", wrought in white metal on the front of their iron helms. It was clear this "S" stood for Saruman, because their shields had a small white hand (the symbol of Saruman, as opposed to the Red Eye emblem of Sauron) centred on a black field, as well as Sauron's general desire not to have his name written or spoken, as mentioned by Aragorn. He also commented that their gear was not in the manner of other Orcs at all. Instead of curved scimitars, they used short, broad-bladed swords. They also appeared different physically: they were taller, almost man-high, and had thick, straight legs (Orcs of Mordor were described to be bow-legged) and large hands. Although they did not like the light of the sun, they could withstand it better than other orcs. Saruman promised them man's flesh as a reward. He aided them with his wizardry as well: when Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas followed the party of Uruks who kidnapped Merry and Pippin, Saruman's will caused weariness of the heart for the pursuers and lent speed to the Orcs. Uglúk led the Uruk-hai of Isengard, and since they were the strongest he felt that he led the hobbit march as well, insisting on going back by way of Isengard. This was the group that slew Boromir. Uglúk accepted an offer of help from Mordor Uruks at face value, although Grishnákh's hidden objective was to recover the Ring for Sauron. Even in defeat, the Isengarders showed training and discipline, retaining unit cohesion in their desperate drive for the forest's safety when the other Orcs scattered.
The name "Uruk-hai" has the element Uruk, which is a Black Speech word related to Orc, related to the (Valinórean) Quenya word Urko (Noldorin 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. Some readers assume the two terms are different because in The Lord of the Rings 'Uruk-hai' is used primarily to describe Saruman's forces while 'Uruks' and 'Black Uruks of Mordor' are used primarily to describe Sauron's. However, there are examples of each term being used in reference to either group. While 'Uruk-hai' means simply 'Orc-folk' the term was reserved for the soldier orcs of Mordor and Isengard, with snaga ('slave') being their term for other breeds.
Hai is a collective plural. "The Uruk-hai" in some contexts is to "Uruk" as "Mankind" is to "man". But it can also mean all Uruks under consideration. "Saruman's Uruk-hai" means all Saruman's Uruks, "The Uruk-hai" in the description of a battle would mean all Uruks present on the battlefield. It is not used for ordinary plural, as in "several Uruks", and of course never in the singular.
Following Treebeard's speculative statements, some readers have questioned whether Saruman's Uruk-hai at least, and all Uruk-hai at most, were bred by crossbreeding with Men. The book does not directly state this, though it heavily hints at it.
Other forces in Saruman's armies, and under his command in the Shire, definitely appear to have been hybrids, though these individuals, called "half-orcs" and "goblin-men" in The Two Towers, were as tall as Men and are never described simply as Orcs, as the Uruk-hai frequently are, and an account of the first Battle of the Fords of Isen in Unfinished Tales (part of Tolkien's hitherto unpublished writings) apparently treats Uruk-hai and "orc-men" separately.
A relevant passage in Morgoth's Ring (also part of Tolkien's hitherto unpublished writings) states that some Orcs at least were derived from Mannish stock.
"Finally, there is a cogent point, though horrible to relate. It became clear in time that undoubted men could under the domination of Morgoth or his agents in a few generations be reduced almost to the Orc-level of mind and habits; and then they would or could be made to mate with Orcs producing new breeds, often larger and more cunning. There is no doubt that long afterwards, in the Third Age, Saruman rediscovered this, or learned of it in lore, and in his lust for mastery committed this, his wickedest deed: the interbreeding of Orcs and Men, producing both Man-orcs large and cunning, and Orc-men treacherous and vile." (Morgoth's Ring, "Myths Transformed" - Text X)
Given that "Orc-man" and "Man-orcs" are treated as distinct types of hybrids, and that "orc-man" are differentiated from Uruk-hai in Unfinished Tales, some then assume that the "Man-orcs large and cunning" are the Uruk-hai, at least those of Saruman. However, there is nothing in the quote itself that states that the term "Man-orcs" specifically applies to Uruk-hai.
Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth makes no references to Uruk-hai as the results of crossbreeding since the issue hinges on material unpublished when his book was written.
In Peter Jackson's film trilogy, Uruk-hai are bred from pits beneath Isengard and when the time is "right" they are dug up by common Orcs under the service of Saruman, occasionally to the death of the diggers. The first of them is Lurtz, an original character, and he is personally responsible for Boromir's death. They use crossbows at Helm's Deep, though Tolkien does not mention the weapon in the book. There are also "berserker" varieties. It is stated that they are bred from Orc and Goblin stock, instead of Orcs and Men (however, in Tolkien's writings "Goblin" is just another term for Orcs). However it is mentioned in the films that Saruman used a dark art to cross a race of Orcs with "Goblin men", implying some sort of variance between Goblins and Orcs and also implying an already crossed race of Goblins and Men.
Black metal band Burzum was named Uruk-Hai before settling on the name Burzum, which is also a reference to The Lord of the Rings. Also, there is a blackened ambient band named Uruk-Hai.
In the 1990s there was a grindcore band from Arizona who used the name Uruk-Hai, releasing one 7" EP.