Try our affiliated browser extension - redirect to BreezeWiki automatically!

Wolf-riders

77805 304318676348257 2011093051 o1-1-
"He has taken Orcs into his service, and Wolf-riders, and evil Men"
—Éomer in the second chapter of The Two Towers[1]

Wolf-riders,[1] or wolfriders,[2] were groups of "Orcs or Orclike beings" that were specially trained to ride wolves and Wargs.[3]

History

Wolves were first ridden by Orcs during the First Age.[4] Beren slew many "wolf-rider Orcs"[5] during his adventures prior to entering Doriath.[6]

Wolfriders partook in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears alongside wolves and Dragons.[7] After the battle, wolfriders roamed freely alongside "wandering Orcs and the Things of Morgoth"[8] throughout West Beleriand.[9]

After the fall of Dor-Cúarthol, wolf-riders were among the Orcs and wolves that took Túrin captive.[10]

In the Battle of Tumhalad in YS 495, some of the Orcs in Glaurung's army were "mounted upon wolves".[11]

In the immediate aftermath of the Fall of Gondolin, Eärendil and six of the Exiles of Gondolin were chased by a score of wolfriders in the Vale of Tumladen before being rescued by Tuor and the folk of the Wing. Two of the wolfriders escaped. After going through the Echoriad, the Exiles of Gondolin became fearful of encountering any wolfriders.[12]

During the Third Age, there were alliances that were made between the Wargs in the Vales of Anduin and the Northern Orcs of the Misty Mountains against the Woodmen. The Orcs sometimes rode on wolves.[13] During the Battle of Five Armies, the swiftest wolf-riders were used by the Orcs and Wargs as a vanguard to attack Dale, where they killed many Dwarves and Lake-men before being defeated on the eastern slopes of the Lonely Mountain.[14]

By the time Saruman took Gandalf captive in Isengard, some "Orcs or Orclike beings"[3] were produced among the Isengarders.[15] Saruman employed these beings as Wolf-riders alongside Orcs and evil Men to harass Rohan.[1] They were mostly used in tracking fugitives or destroying isolated groups.[16]

On February 25 in TA 3019, "a great pack of the dreaded Orcish wolfriders" were part of the vanguard of the eastern force that Saruman had sent to slay Théodred during the First Battle of the Fords of Isen.[2] These wolfriders[2] were "feared by horses"[2] as they passed through gaps between horsemen and slashed at the bellies of the horses.[16] After Théodred's death,[2] two wolfriders were reported by Elfhelm's outriders, causing him to ride to the Fords of Isen instead of to the Hornburg at Helm's Deep.[2]

On March 2, "several troops of the dreaded wolfriders" were sent along the eastern bank of the Isen as forerunners to the main division of Saruman's forces. These Wolf-riders tried to attack Elfhelm's companies and prevent him from reinforcing Grimbold.[2]

After the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen, it was reported by a swift scout "that wolf-riders were abroad in the valley" about Helm's Deep.[17]

Gandalf had sent Elfhelm "with many Riders to Edoras" because he was afraid of "wolf-riders and plunderers" riding to Meduseld when no-one was there to defend it.[18]

In other versions

In a very early draft of The Lord of the Rings, Treebeard took Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took across Rohan to Minas Tirith, but after smelling some war, they all witnessed "a battle of Wolfriders (Saruman) and the Horsemasters" on the way.[19] It is very likely that this battle was the earliest version of the Battles of the Fords of Isen since those are the only battles in The Lord of the Rings in which Wolf-riders[1] fight against the Rohirrim.

In an early draft of the chapter "The Road to Isengard", Gandalf's fear of "wolf-riders and plunderers"[18] riding to Meduseld was originally a fear of "wolf-riders and cruel plunderers" being "sent swiftly" to the Golden Hall.[20]

In an early draft of the chapter "Flotsam and Jetsam", Merry reported that Saruman emptied Isengard of all his remaining forces, which included groups of Orcs "mounted on great wolves" and regiments of Dunlanders.[21] He also saw the Ents deal "with a pack of wolf-riders" that were escorting Gríma into Isengard.[22]

In adaptations

In Middle-earth Collectible Card Game

In the Middle-earth Collectible Card Game, there is a card labeled "Wolf-riders" that can act as a creature card or a short-event, which increases the prowess and strikes of a Wolf attack.[23]

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

"Send out your Warg-riders."
—Saruman to Sharku in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Saruman refers to the pack of Wolf-riders under the command of Sharku as Warg-riders and sends them to attack the Rohan refugees of Edoras on their way to Helm's Deep. During the skirmish with Warg-riders, Aragorn falls from a cliff, and is later found by Brego.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King film, the Orc lieutenant Gothmog rides a Warg, but only for transportation. Two Warg-riders are seen riding alongside the Easterlings after the Olog-hai breach the Great Gate of Minas Tirith.

In The Hobbit film trilogy

In The Hobbit film trilogy, Azog and Bolg, as well as many orcs under their command, are shown to ride Wargs as they pursue Thorin and Company, and later take part in the Battle of the Five Armies.

Armor

Warg-riders' armor in the films are distinct from that of other Orcs. Some, such as their leader (allegedly named Sharku) wore little beyond bone and fur, whereas others preferred to be more heavily protected, wearing multiple layers of rotting hide, fur and hair or mail, but nearly all included something from the remains of the Warg's kill, such as bone and tooth, and from parts of the Warg itself. Keeping their weight down was a factor with most in order not to tire the Warg.

Their cuirass was often made from the bones of a horse's rib cage, to which was stitched pieces of hide and fur; during centuries of wear — if the Orc survived his close contact with the Wargs, living with and feeding them as they did — the Warg-rider's armor would go from foul-smelling to rotten, and so would need to be constantly repaired and replaced.

Fresh hide would be stitched on top of old, and bones would be replaced as they disintegrated. Other parts of the Orc's body would be wrapped in hide that had been reinforced with bone, and adorned with Warg fangs and spikes made from sharpened bone, to protect it from both enemy and ally.

Their armor may have been further strengthened by bonding pieces together with glue made by boiling down horse bones and hooves. Some orcs wore helmets made from the skulls and scalps of their kills, both beasts and men, and these often featured grisly crests of bone. A rough cloak of Warg fur would have completed the outfit.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king

In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king (expansion to The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II), the Thrall Masters can summon Gundabad Wolf-Riders.

Translations

Foreign Language Translated name
Danish Vargeryttere
Polish Jeźdźcy wargów

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers, Book Three, Ch. II: "The Riders of Rohan", pg. 437
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, V: "The Battles of the Fords of Isen"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Index (entry Wolfriders)
  4. ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch. 19: "Of Beren and Lúthien"
  5. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, I: The Tale of Tinúviel, "Notes and Commentary", pg. 67
  6. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, I: The Tale of Tinúviel, pg. 44
  7. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part One: The Grey Annals, §230
  8. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, I: The Lay of the Children of Húrin, I: Túrin's Fostering, pg. 10
  9. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, I: The Lay of the Children of Húrin, "Second Version of the Lay" , II: Túrin's Fostering, pg. 110
  10. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, I: The Lay of the Children of Húrin, II: Beleg, pg. 40
  11. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, II: Turambar and the Foalókë, pg. 84
  12. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, III: The Fall of Gondolin, pgs. 190, 195
  13. ↑ The Hobbit, Ch. V: "Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire"
  14. ↑ The Hobbit, Ch. XVII: "The Clouds Burst"
  15. ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. II: "The Council of Elrond"
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, V: "The Battles of the Fords of Isen", Notes, note 5
  17. ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers, Book Three, Ch. VII: "Helm's Deep", pg. 529
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers, Book Three, Ch. VIII: "The Road to Isengard", pg. 551
  19. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VII: The Treason of Isengard, XXII: "Treebeard", pg. 412
  20. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VIII: The War of the Ring, Part One: The Fall of Saruman, III: "The Road to Isengard", pg. 29
  21. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VIII: The War of the Ring, Part One: The Fall of Saruman, IV: "Flotsam and Jetsam", pg. 51
  22. ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VIII: The War of the Ring, Part One: The Fall of Saruman, IV: "Flotsam and Jetsam", pg. 54
  23. ↑ "Search for a card: games > Middle Earth" on tradecardsonline.com