Our Orcish Beastiary explores the Orcs of Middle-earth. Based in part on the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien, from The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Histories of Middle Earth, and the Unfinished Tales:The Lost Lore of Middle-earth we also include parts of the extended lore found in the films by Peter Jackson and also some of our own writings and inspiration created here at The Land of Shadow.com.

We hope this will be your favorite library of choice when searching for knowledge about the Foot Soldiers of Shadow... the Orcs of Middle-earth!

An invaluable source as always has been the Encyclopedia of Arda, one of the best sources for information on all aspects of Tolkien's Middle-earth. In addition to the text, we have included the visual imagery from many illustrators as well as Peter Jackson's & New Line cinema's Lord of the Rings. Below is a list of the artists and musicians who's creative works have brought our Orcish Beastiary to life.

Paintings and Illustrations

John Howe
Alan Lee

Jeremy Bennett
Daniel Falconer
Garth Jenson
Paul Lasaine
Warren Mahy
Ben Wootten
Weta Digital & Weta Workshop

Digital Imagery and Matte Painting & Photography

Ronn Brown
Dylan Cole
Karen deJong
Max Dennison
Yanick Dusseault
Gus Hunter
Roger Kupelain
Steve Lynch

Music and Sound Effects

Howard Shore
Za Frûmi
Weta Digital