The Pantheon of the Uruk-hai
and of course by uruk-hai I am speaking of all orckind as they named themselves in the sole language to survive their apparently total extinction.
Ur-furzuk the Maker, the Inverse Crown, the God Who Bleeds, the Allhob: called Morgoth by the elves and Melkor in origin, Ur-Furzuk is a terrifying figure to the uruk. They prefer to call him First or Firstborn (of God) in deferential acknowledgment that he was rightful heir to the throne of the world. Such deference was wise for the uruk-hai feared their Maker with the desperation of a hunted man. It was said those who fell under the gaze of his ire were burned to ash and all feared to meet their dread commander in his Thousand Iron Hells. All the uruk scriptures state without illusion that they were made to fight for the Firstborn's inheritance and it appears ancient uruk-hai accepted this responsibility with pride. They believed without doubt Ur-furzuk was supreme in all things, that he would slay the usurpers, the elfgods, and all the lights in the sky. He would gift his children an unlit world over which he would reign eternal. Of course, worship of the Firstborn was rare in the Second Age and rarer still in the Third; their records of the War of Wrath simply state that those elf-gods finally declared true war against their elder and though they were all slain in the attempt, Ur-furzuk also fell. Despite his pyrrhic victory, reverence for their Maker also fell and precipitously - the uruk-hai had few thoughts to spare the dead in their brutal lives. An interesting consequence of losing their generative deity on uruk religion and psyche, the uruk-hai have already lived through their Dagor Dagorath. All their metaphysics, all their prophecies were *proved* false. Fatalism, nihilism, and individualism are thus popular philosophies and may have severely undermined the uruk's subsequent discipline for war for generations to come. Ur-furzuk lingers in the uruk imagination as a figure of strength, the greatest truth upon which to make oaths, and a melancholy promised paradise lost. They called him the God who Bleeds for of all the gods, only he had the uruk spirit to fight his own wars, and it was from his blood that the uruk-hai were made. Why they did not know is true name is unknown. Perhaps Morgoth forbid his lieutenants from revealing it to them, perhaps his name was considered blasphemy to speak or maybe only to record.
Gorthaur the Dead, Sauron the Eye, Lord of Terror, the Machine, Master Mairon: though primitive uruk records and two nursery songs accurately name him Mairon, the uruk-hai quickly adopted Gorthaur from the Sindar and in the Third Age Sauron from the DĂșnedain for the same reason: the sheer unreasoning terror his name could strike in their enemies. In the First Age Gorthaur was called King of Warlocks and all the uruk priests and scholars studied under his domain. These uruk-hai, as well as any common soldier garrisoned under his command, were feared as cannibals and kidnappers, and to all others only their Maker was more terrible than the Lord of Terror. It was said he was a vampire that drank the blood of a hundred elves every day but if the war went badly (no doubt due to uruk failure) he would be forced to feed on them instead. Following his reemergence after the War of Wrath, uruk doctrine on Sauron is split. Independent or distant tribes denounced Sauron as a pretender or at least a pretender to the Maker's throne. After all, if Ur-furzuk could not survive against the elves, how could his vassal? Those that fell under his thrall however came to see him as a force of endless creation. It appears nearly all of Mordor was converted by the raising of Barad-dĂ»r - a feat utterly beyond the artistry of even the elves. Any hold-outs within his country and for many miles abroad were won using his Ring. To the uruk-hai its power was like a call joyous to answer. Sauron told them he alone had survived the War of Wrath and now there were none who could oppose his claim to the throne of the world. Likely uncertain he could ever assail Valinor, Sauron did not promise to murder the sun and the stars but instead promised the uruk-hai a perfect system in which they would finally reign as the master race. To the uruk-hai, this made perfect sense for they were mightiest and purest and bravest - dubious claims to be sure but not exactly surprising. In fact, everything Sauron said made sense and he eventually occupied the role of divine Truth in their minds. When Sauron held the One, his uruk-hai fought with savage ferocity that never quailed unless a soldier happened to find himself alone against multiple foes. Without the One, however, they reverted to their pack mentality and Sauron was forced to teach them basic tactics. He also began breeding them for strength and size. His fall in the War of the Last Alliance seems to have strengthend the divide between his cynics and his devotees, for the Witch-king of Angmar, later known to be the chief of the NazgĂ»l, convinced many tribes of Sauron's victory over death. Indeed, when he returned, even without the Ring the hosts that hearkened to his banner were without number. It is unknown what effect his ultimate defeat had on the uruk religion, for King Elessar I razed all existing uruk-hai nations to the foundations and if anything of their culture survived, it is lost to us.
Kosomot the Storm, Prince of Hell, the Axeman: known to the elves as Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs and High Captain of Angband, the uruk-hai believed Kosomot to be the son and heir of Ur-furzuk. It's unknown if this was intentionally cultivated by Morgoth or if it was a reflection of the presence he commanded on the battlefield. Kosomot, along with Boldog, was one of the only uruk gods to take the field and wherever he went victory followed. Unlike Ur-furzuk, Kosomot was a strength and valour that could be admired as well as feared. Extensive elven records exist on Gothmog so some concrete facts can be reported: Kosomot manifested at seventeen feet in height and burned with a heat great enough to melt elf-steel at close proximity. Like all balrogs, Gothmog utilized a flaming whip, probably to drive the barely sapient trolls of the First Age. His weapon was a single bladed axe of pure Utumno iron - many Eldarin lives were lost together in a single swing of that dread instrument. The uruk-hai report bloody civil wars occured between Kosomot and Gorthaur in which thousand of their lives would be traded for simple favor for the victor from Ur-furzuk. When Ecthelion of Gondolin slew and was slain in turn by Gothmog, he became a messianic figure for the uruk-hai for by his death the last of their enemies had fallen. He persisted following the War of Wrath as the pagan mannish gods do - as a superstitious name to give simple virtues.
Boldog the Soldier, Big Brother Boldog, the Big Bad Boldog: known as Makar the Brawler in Valinor, for a long time it was unknown if this Ainu went over to Morgoth's service or simply marauded about the Middle-earth. Now it is known that he indeed joined in Morgoth's rebellion for the love he held the uruk-hai, a people so alike to his nature that despite having no great loyalty to Morgoth he could not resist joining in their struggles. Indeed, Boldog - old orkish for "uncle" - seems to be the only deity of the uruk pantheon for which they have true affection and not least because of the affection the Boldog has for them. He called them "little brothers" and gave them what is arguably the most foundational and lasting aspect of their being: their love of combat. He was a constant presence in their lives and fought in all the wars and many raids. Because of his fundamental nature, Makar could suffer wounds that would have slain any other self-incarnate. Many times did Boldog fall in battle only to be mistakenly left for dead by the elves who could not tell this maia apart from regular, if exceptionally fit, uruk-hai. Tellingly, the death of Boldog is not recorded in any uruk scripture and in fact it is believed he raids still in some far-off country with his little brothers.
The Rioter, Wolf of Truth, Unknown Watcher: sister-spirit of Makar, Meåssë's presence was deduced/assumed by the revelation of his identity as Boldog. The Rioter served a complex role as the goddess of deception, and as such was responsible for espionage, propaganda, and surveillance. The Rioter was feared almost as much as Gorthaur and Ur-furzuk for she was not met unless it was to accuse you of a capital crime. There is some evidence that Meåssë was often abroad among the ancient tribes of Men, stirring up discord against the elves and one another. She is presumed slain in the War of Wrath.
Lungorthin the White, the Pale Fire, Lord of Slaves: Lungorthin, lieutenant of Gothmog, was a lord of Balrogs responsible for arming the uruk-hai. Grander projects clearly fell into Sauron's domain but the uruk-hai knew Lungorthin managed their armament and so worshipped him as their god of weapons. As such he also commanded the labor of the many slaves taken into Angband. It is said that of all the Balrogs, Lungorthin burned hottest and so was best suited to to manning the massive forges needed to arm Morgothâs armies. While some artistry is evident in the earliest examples of uruk weaponry, their inability to match the Ăoldor on the battlefield quickly converted Lungorthin to a philosophy of mass production. It is worth wondering how Lungorthin felt about this station. It seems apparent the uruk-hai were loathed by most of their masters and being charged with seeing to their needs with cheap goods must have been galling. Indeed, many little morality tales seem to be about disobedient snagae falling into the fire of the forge - perhaps this is a reflection of a common occurrence in Angband? Lungorthin is known to have escaped the War of Wrath but he never again emerged in the histories of elves or men.
Ăshurz the Grandhob: this figure emerges only after the War of Wrath as a substitute Maker in Ur-furzukâs absence. However, Ăshurz (a formal title meaning âfatherâ as opposed to the more familiar âhobâ) does not contradict Ur-furzukâs place in the uruk-hai pantheon. Indeed, most of the Ăshurz Heresy maintains existing scripture except in one key point. It states that uruk-hai were not spawned from Ur-furzukâs blood but rather bred from elves with the fathers of uruk-hai - the hobgoblins - being former elves themselves. Ăshurz is held to be the architect of this transformation. This is a disturbing development for it mirrors the most widely accepted elven theories for the origin of the uruk-hai. Perhaps if the uruk-hai in the east developed this doctrine one might assume they heard it through men who of course would learned it from the elves, but the Ăshurz Heresy is almost entirely localized in the northern ranges of the Hithaeglir. Most likely this was always an undercurrent of the uruk-hai religion and merely had room to emerge after the War of Wrath. Ăshurz is held to have been Ur-furzukâs Master Breeder and father of the Ălairi, the Gongs, and even Dragons.
Ulbandi the Ogress, the Crownâs Horns: this figure seems entirely invented in the latter days of the First Age. Ulbandi, sometimes called the Forgotten God, was the bride of Ur-furzuk and mother of Kosomot. She likely served to urukify their otherwise inexplicable Maker and the elves have no records of such a being existing.
