Also called simply Orcs of the Eye, a force of Orcs in the direct service of Barad-dûr in Mordor, whose gear carried the Red Eye, symbol of Sauron the Dark Lord. Orcs of the Red Eye are mentioned in histories even before the War of the Last Alliance, and they made up much of the force that attacked that Captains of the West from the Morannon in the closing moments of the War of the Ring.
The organisation of the Orcs other than those of the Red Eye is not clearly described, but we know of at least one other main group at the end of the Third Age: the Orcs of the White Hand that served Saruman. The Orcs of Minas Morgul, who fought in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, also appear to have formed a separate army. They are not specially named, but their gear carried the livery of Morgul: a death's-head moon. Further from Mordor, other bands of Orcs lived under their own leaders, though acknowledging the ultimate authority of Sauron: the Orcs of the Misty Mountains were the most well known of these.
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- Updated 2 September 2021
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