Moria-orcs

Moria-orcs
Origins	Northern Orcs
Dominions	Moria
Languages	Orkish (Black Speech), Westron

Moria-orcs were the Orcs who in TA 2480 came to inhabit the abandoned Dwarven realm of Moria, or Khazad-dûm. They were a group of Northern Orcs.

History

Three centuries after TA 2480, the year that Sauron sent many hosts of Orcs into the Misty Mountains, Azog was the leader of those that occupied Moria. When Thrór came to reclaim Khazad-dûm with Nár, Azog slew Thrór, and this initiated the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. The Dwarves hunted for Azog until he was killed by Dáin Ironfoot in the Battle of Azanulbizar. (After Azog's death, his son Bolg would lead an army of Orcs to the Lonely Mountain, where they were defeated at the Battle of Five Armies, and Bolg was killed.)

When Dwarves led by Balin returned to Moria in TA 2989 to try to reclaim the realm, they were met by bands of Orcs. After five years, these Dwarves' restored colony was overcome by the Orcs and destroyed, and Balin was slain. These Orcs were large in number and sufficient to keep out any enemies thereafter.

During the Fellowship of the Ring's journey through Moria in January of TA 3019, they were found by a host of Orcs led by a large chieftain, who ambushed them in the Twenty-first Hall of North end. With these Orcs were others from Mordor, such as Black Uruks spotted by Boromir. Afterwards, the emergence of Durin's Bane caused the Orcs to disengage and flee as the Fellowship sought the exit to Moria in haste. After the Balrog and Gandalf fell into the abyss below the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, some of these Orcs pursued the Fellowship to Lothlórien, but were warded off or slain by the Elves guarding it.

Sometime after the fall of Sauron, these Orcs were driven out of Moria as Dwarves under Durin VII came and reclaimed the kingdom.

In adaptations

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy

In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, legions of Moria Orcs are shown led by Azog to Moria, in a flashback, where battle ensues. These Orcs fight against the Dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield, his father Thrain and his grandfather Thrór. Azog manages to slay King Thrór, but loses an arm to Thorin, who then leads his Dwarves against the remaining Orcs while Azog is taken by his servants back into Moria.

In extended edition of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the Necromancer (who is Sauron in secret) is revealed by Beorn to be in alliance with the Orcs who had infested Moria, as Azog the Defiler is seen paying homage to the dark figure, and his soldiers gather in Dol Guldur where the Necromancer hides.

Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring

In The Fellowship of the Ring film (2001), after Pippin accidentally knocks a bucket into the dark crevasses of Moria through a well by Balin's Tomb, bands of Orcs are aroused by the noise, and locate the Fellowship. No Orc-chieftain is included. They invade the chamber, and, after a skirmish, the Fellowship run out and through a vast, central hall while hundreds of Orcs climb from the ceiling and down tall pillars to surround them. When they have encircled the Fellowship, Durin's Bane (the Balrog) is awoken nearby, and roars, causing the goblins all to flee.