Uruk-hai
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[[Image:Group of Uruk Hai.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A group of Uruk-hai at Helm's Deep in Peter Jackson's [[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]].]]
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Uruk-hai (Black Speech: Orc folk) were a new breed of Orcs that appeared during the Third Age.
Books
The race of Uruks, described as 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 made further 'improvements' of his own, like resistance to sunlight, gave them 'better' armour and weapons, and transferred their loyalty to him.
The 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 didn't like it). Other forces in Saruman's armies, and under his command in the Shire, appear to have been hybrids, though these "half-orcs" were as tall as Men and are never described simply as Orcs, as the Uruk-hai frequently are. Saruman's army of Uruk-hai fought against King Théoden of Rohan and his people at Helm's Deep.
[[Image:Shagrat1.jpg|right|thumb|Shagrat the Uruk of Mordor in Peter Jackson's [[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]].]]
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 Grishnakh was their Captain. They were all long-armed and crook-legged, not as tall as the Isengarder Uruks but larger than the Moria Orcs, who could see better in the dark than the Isengarders.
The Uruk-hai of Saruman the White used an S elf-rune 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) centered on a black field. Aragorn commented that their gear was not in the manner of other Orcs at all. Instead of curved scimitars, they used short, broad-bladed swords. Their great bows were made of yew wood, in length and shape as those of Men. They also appeared different physically: greater stature, swarthy, slant-eyed, thick legs 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-flesh as a treat. 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. Ugluk 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.
Christopher Tolkien describes 'Uruks' as an anglicization of 'Uruk-hai' and his father used the two terms interchangeably many 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' or 'Black Uruks of Mordor' is 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 other breeds often being called 'snaga' ('slave').
In the Two Towers Book, Aragorn observes that the falen Uruk-hai at Amon Hen are entirely different from any breed of Orc he's seen before. Since he had previously served in the Army of Gondor as Thorongil and probably encountered the Uruks of Mordor, this further adds to the evidence that the Uruks of Isengard and Mordor are different breeds.
The name Uruk-hai has the element Uruk, which is a Black Speech word related to Orc, related to the (Valinorean) Quenya word Urko (Ñoldorin Quenya: Orko) of the same meaning.
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