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   /Unfinished Tales/ says that "Uruks" is an "Anglicized form of   
   /Uruk-hai/ of the Black Speech".  A similar translation is provided in   
   Parma Eldalamberon 17 within Tolkien's explanatory note for the first   
   appearance of the Ring verse:   
      
      The debased form of the B. S. which survived in the Third Age only   
      in the Dark Tower is seen in a few names (as Uruk-hai 'Orc-folk')   
      
   In addition to the translation, this shows that the term "Uruk-hai" was   
   used in both Isengard and Mordor.  It is not clear whether, at the end   
   of the Third Age, the term "Uruk" referred to all "great soldier-orcs"   
   or to a specific breed of them.   
      
      According to Appendix A, the race of Uruks first appeared out of   
   Mordor in the last years of Steward Denethor I, before TA 2475.  If   
   "Uruk" is the name of a specific Orc breed, then this proves that   
   Saruman had no hand in their creation.  However, by the time of LotR   
   there is some evidence that several breeds had that name: the companies   
   of Ugluk, Shagrat, and Gorbag were all Uruks, and they differed at   
   least slightly in size and appearance (for example, Sam observed that   
   Gorbag's troop's gear was "a better fit" than Shagrat's).  Still, this   
   evidence is not conclusive; it seems that we cannot determine the   
   meaning of the word /Uruk/ itself without answering the larger   
   question.   
      
      As for Saruman, it is well established that he conducted a breeding   
   program crossing Orcs (quite possibly Uruks) with humans.  Immediately   
   following the quotation from /Morgoth's Ring/ cited in question   
   III.B.14 (Text X of "Myths Transformed") which describes Morgoth's   
   technique of mating Orcs with Men, Tolkien says that   
      
      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 Men-orcs large and cunning, and Orc-men   
      treacherous and vile.   
      
   While this is the only explicit statement of Saruman's deeds, there are   
   numerous comments in LotR about Orclike Men and Manlike Orcs associated   
   with Isengard.  The most direct comments come from the chapter   
   "Treebeard", where Treebeard ponders Saruman's Orcs:   
      
      For these Isengarders are more like wicked Men.  It is a mark of   
      evil things that came in the Great Darkness that they cannot abide   
      the Sun, but Saruman's Orcs can endure it, even if they hate it.  I   
      wonder what he has done?  Are they Men he has ruined, or has he   
      blended the races of Orcs and Men?  That would be a black evil!   
      
   The close agreement between Treebeard's thoughts here and the explicit   
   statement in /Morgoth's Ring/ makes it seem very likely that this was   
   Tolkien's intent.   
      
      The remaining question is whether Saruman's Uruk-hai were the   
   "Men-orcs" from his breeding program.  This seems likely, but it is   
   difficult to find solid proof.  (Treebeard's comments about the   
   Isengarders' tolerance of sunlight may support this view, but it is   
   hard to prove that Uruks of Mordor lacked that tolerance.)   
   -------   
      
   18. What was the origin of Trolls?   
      
   [This updates question V.G.2 of the Tolkien LessFAQ.]   
      
      It is not at all clear.  One piece of information comes from   
   Treebeard's statement (in the chapter "Treebeard") that Trolls were   
   made "in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves".  However, this   
   probably only means that Ents gave Morgoth the idea for Trolls, not   
   that the two races are actually related: the two races have almost   
   nothing in common except great strength.  Also, in Letter #153, Tolkien   
   discusses this very quote and says that "Treebeard is a /character/ in   
   my story, not me... and there is quite a lot he does not know or   
   understand."   
      
      One of Tolkien's more direct comments on the origin of Trolls comes   
   a few lines later in that letter.  He says of the Trolls in /The   
   Hobbit/ that   
      
      I am not sure about Trolls.	I think they are mere 'counterfeits',   
      and hence ... they return to mere stone images when not in the dark.   
       But there are other sorts of Trolls, beside these rather   
      ridiculous, if brutal, Stone-trolls, for which other origins are   
      suggested.   
      
   At least when he wrote this in 1954, then, it seems that Tolkien   
   believed that the Stone-trolls in particular were barely even   
   independent beings, relying on some sort of "spell" or external will   
   for their existence.   
      
      Another direct statement about Trolls can be found at the end of   
   Text IX of the "Myths Transformed" section of /Morgoth's Ring/   
   (probably written in the late 1950s):   
      
      The Elves would have classed the creatures called 'trolls' (in /The   
      Hobbit/ and /The Lord of the Rings/) as Orcs - in character and   
      origin - but they were larger and slower.  It would seem evident   
      that they were corruptions of primitive human types.   
      
   Christopher comments that "he seems to have been thinking...   
   specifically of the /Olog-hai/, the great Trolls who appeared at the   
   end of the Third Age (as stated in Appendix F)", quite likely in part   
   on the basis of the comment in Appendix F that "Some held that [the   
   /Olog-hai/] were not Trolls but giant Orcs".   
      
      However, Tolkien's mention of /The Hobbit/ in this quote suggests   
   that its "Stone-trolls" were meant to be included as well, and Appendix   
   F goes on to say "but the Olog-hai were in fashion of body and mind   
   quite unlike even the largest of Orc-kind... Trolls they were..." which   
   suggests that all Trolls were fundamentally the same, and different   
   than Orcs.   
      
      It is not clear how to reconcile these statements, though the   
   evidence from LotR naturally carries the greatest weight.  In any case,   
   Tolkien's indecision about the origin of Orcs in /Morgoth's Ring/ (as   
   discussed in question III.B.14) almost certainly applies even more   
   strongly to the passing comment regarding Trolls quoted above.   
   -------   
      
   19. What were the giants (seen by Bilbo in /The Hobbit/)?   
      
      Nobody knows.  Among texts considered to be at all canonical (see   
   question III.A.2), giants are mentioned directly only in /The Hobbit/.   
   This has led some to doubt their literal existence entirely, but they   
   do seem to have a firm place in that book: giants (and the destruction   
   they caused) were seen and heard by everyone, and both Thorin and   
   Gandalf were worried about them.  Later, Gandalf says "I must see if I   
   can't find a more or less decent giant" to block up the goblins' new   
   gate (where the group was captured).  He also mentions them to Beorn.   
   It would be difficult to reject giants without rejecting /The Hobbit/   
   as a canonical source entirely, which Tolkien clearly did not do.  Some   
   believe that the voices heard by the Fellowship on the Redhorn pass   
   were giants, or even that Caradhras itself was a "giant" in some sense.   
      
      Three explanations for giants are relatively common.  Perhaps the   
   most natural is that they are an exceptionally large race of humans.   
   Another is that they are a very large breed of troll, which could   
   explain why they are not seen away from the mountains: they would need   
   very large caves in which to hide from the sun.  Finally, they could be   
   "nature spirits" associated with mountains (and possibly with storms);   
   this, too, would explain why they were only seen there. (Some   
   discussion of this can be found in my essay on Tom Bombadil, mentioned   
   in question III.B.3) There is no clear evidence for or against any of   
   these possibilities.   
      
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   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)