Orc hunters

"... so small a thing. Such a little thing!"
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Orc-hunters were Orcs which excelled in tracking^[1] 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 496 of the First Age, one particular band of Orcs-hunters roamed the region of Methiriad near the West March of the Kingdom of Doriath.^[2]

In the year 496 after the dragon Glaurung erased Niënor's memory and Mablung and his company found her on Amon Ethir, they began on their way back to the Kingdom of Doriath on a slow journey. After many days, they reached a guarded bridge over the Taeglin and decided to rest there. However, upon resting there, "a band of Orc-hunters" roaming Methiriad attacked them unawares, causing Niënor to flee into the Forest of Brethil in terror and confusion. When the Orc-hunters pursued her, she outran them, and the Elves overtook and killed them promptly before beginning their own search for Niënor.^[3]

On March 16 of the year 3019 during the late Third Age, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee spy on two Orc-hunters^[4] near the Barad-dûr Road^[5] having a disagreement twenty paces away from them regarding their mission. One of the Orc-hunters 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". As a result of this, the Orc-hunter suggested that it could be all three put together in fact. Following the disagreement, the snuffling Orc-hunter killed the larger one and ran off to a nearby Orc-hold.^[1]

In other versions[]

In the earliest sketch of the story of Túrin, Niënor was driven into the woods by a baneful drink given by Kurúki,^[6] rather than "a band of Orc-hunters"^[3].

In a proposed revision of chapter five of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins refers to Gollum as a "foul orc-<illegible>". While the second half of the word is illegible, John D. Rateliff noted that the word was probably "hunter" and not "thing" since it lacked "a descender at the end". Tolkien eventually discarded this in favor of "He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out".^[7]

In adaptations[]

The Hobbit film trilogy[]

The Hunter Orcs were a ruthless group of Orcs who served Azog the Pale Orc and followed Fimbul and Yazneg. The Moria-orcs and Gundabad Orcs who roamed Eastern Eriador and the Misty Mountains were among those recruited by Azog, as they were known to be particularly aggressive Orcs. Mounted on Gundabad wargs, they could quickly cover and control broad territories. The Hunter Orcs also included Bolg, Narzug, and two unnamed Orcs (Frazer Anderson and Joseph Mika-Hunt).

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power[]

In the seventh episode of the first season, 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 he smells, the Hunter Orc replies simply that he smells nothing but ash.