June 20, 2002

The Fighting Uruk-hai
The Real Greg H.

This is in response to the Lord of Gifts (thats you Annatar) article titled Sauron's Uruks. The way I understood it is that Saruman bred his orcs with men (so they could withstand sunlight) and also for traits like strength, size, and ferocity. It is never mentioned, or even insinuated that Sauron ever tried to modify orcs in any way. Instead it seems that he just bred as many as possible and used them as they were. Somehow I cannot see Sauron figuring out how to breed stronger orcs, but Saruman, always the inventer (he liked mechanization and such) seems like a budding genetisist. Cant you see him working out phenotypes with a Punett Square? You know, Gregor Mendel style.