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"...everything you have, and everything you know, will be got out of you in due time: everything!"
Grishnákh to Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck in The Two Towers

Grishnákh was an Orc captain of Mordor who led a host of Orcs to join the Uruk-hai who were taking Merry and Pippin across Rohan to Isengard.

Biography[]

Grishnákh's plans for the two captives, Merry and Pippin, were in conflict with Uglúk's orders to deliver them unharmed. Grishnákh wanted to take them to Mordor, but Uglúk refused his plan, so Grishnákh slipped away while the Orcs and Uruk-hai argued amongst themselves. Grishnákh soon returned with other Orcs like himself.

Grishnákh was somehow aware of the existence of the One Ring (having been implied to have participated in the torture of Gollum), and suspected the two Hobbits of possessing it. When the Orcs holding the two Hobbits were attacked by Éomer's éored, Grishnákh used the distraction to search the Hobbits for the Ring. Pippin tried to negotiate with Grishnákh, asking for himself and Merry to be freed in exchange for information about the Ring, but instead Grishnákh tried to carry them away. When it seemed a Rohirrim rider had discovered him, Grishnákh drew his sword to kill the Hobbits lest they be rescued or escape, but before he could act he was shot in the hand by a Rohirrim arrow and dropped the sword, at which point he tried to run but was ridden down and run through with a Rohirrim spear.[1]

Ralph Bakshi's Grishnákh

Grishnákh (1978)

Portrayal in adaptations[]

The Lord of the Rings (1978 animated film)[]

In The Lord of the Rings (1978 film), Grishnákh is voiced by a unknown extra. He has the same general appearance as other orcs, and wields a machete.

He appears sometime after Merry and Pippin are captured by Uglúk's troop, en route to Isengard. During a break from running, he tries drinking from his pouch, but Uglúk knocks him down and steals his drink so as to give it to the heavily-fatigued hobbits.

Later, after being waylaid by the Rohirrim, he chastises Uglúk and the Isengard orcs for their leadership, threatening to report him to Sauron. After Lugdush and Snaga abandon their post, leaving the hobbits unguarded, he tries to take them for himself; however, after attempting to manipulate him, he moves to kill the hobbits instead, but is then suddenly shot by a Rohirrim archer, killing him. The hobbits use his machete to cut their knots.

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]

In The Two Towers, Grishnákh is played by Stephen Ure and is an Orc captain. In this adaptation, his role is somewhat reduced, especially in the Theatrical Edition, and he is less authoritative and disciplined than his novel counterpart. He has more screen time in the Extended Edition though, which shows Grishnákh and his Orc clan intercepting Uglúk and the Uruk-hai on the way to Isengard.

Arriving with about eleven other orcs, Grishnákh chastising the Uruks for being late, indicating they had a prior arrangement to meet. He also demands they head to Mordor, but Uglúk shuts him down. However, following the reveal that Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are being pursued, he forms an uneasy alliance with Uglúk and joins them in their race back.

Morgul rats

Grishnákh amongst fellow Orcs of Isengard, near Fangorn Forest

They manage to run for almost a full day before Grishnákh's band tires out by Fangorn forest, forcing them all to take a break there. When the Uruk-hai and the Orcs soon begin arguing amongst themselves over lack of food to eat, Grishnákh is vexed by Uglúk's insistence that the captive Hobbits not be killed or maimed. After Snaga is slain during the argument, he catches the hobbits trying to flee, and prepares to kill them before he is hit by a Rohirrim rider's spear. However, he survives to chase Merry and Pippin into Fangorn Forest; when he arrives there he nearly kills Merry, but is crushed to death by Treebeard stepping on him.

Grishnákh - LOTR The Card Game

Grishnákh in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, The Treason of Saruman Expansion

Voice dubbing actors[]

Foreign Language Voice dubbing artist
German Ekkehardt Belle

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Amharic ግሪሽናክ
Arabic جريشناخ
Armenian Գրիշնախ
Belarusian Cyrillic Гришнак
Bengali গ্রীষ্ণখ
Bulgarian Cyrillic Гришнах
Chinese (Hong Kong) 葛力斯那克
Czech Grišnákh
German Grischnákh
Georgian გრიშნახი
Greek Γκρίσνακ
Gujarati ગ્રીષ્ણખ
Hebrew גרישנאק
Hindi गृष्णख
Hungarian Grisnák
Japanese グリシュナフ
Kannada ಗ್ರಿಷ್ಖಾಕ್
Kazakh Грісһнак (Cyrillic) Grishnak (Latin)
Korean 그리쉬나크
Kyrgyz Cyrillic Грисhнакh
Macedonian Cyrillic Гришнак
Marathi ग्रिशंख
Mongolian Cyrillic Гришнак
Nepalese ग्रिश्नख
Pashto عریسهناکه ?
Persian گریسهناکه  ?
Polish Grisznák
Punjabi ਗਰੀਸ਼ਨਾਖ
Russian Гришнак
Sanskrit ङ्रिश्नख्
Serbian Гришнак (Cyrillic) Grišnak (Latin)
Sinhalese ග්‍රිෂ්නාක්
Tajik Cyrillic Грисҳнакҳ
Tamil க்ரிஷ்ணக்ஹ்
Telugu గ్రిశ్నాక్
Ukrainian Cyrillic Грішнак
Urdu گراشناکہ
Uzbek Гришнах (Cyrillic) Grishnax (Latin)
Yiddish גרישנאַך

References[]

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