Radgul the Orc-Chief



Radgul a wily, sneering, and deadly old Orc who was the chieftain of all the Orcs of Mount Gram. He held designs on greater things than his own mountain. Radgul and his Orcs are removed by a hundred miles from Mount Gundabad where Bolg ruled, and the Orcs of Mount Gram never made it to the Battle of Five Armies. At the time, Radgul considered that an insult, but afterwards he was happy to have missed the debacle. He only wished, in the secrecy of thought, that Bolg’s army had been destroyed even more thoroughly so he could march on Gundabad and take the throne for himself.

Radgul wouldn’t have to think hard about sticking a knife in Gorgol and all his Gundabad rivals, too, if the opportunity came up. What’s more likely to foul things up for Radgul is his old grudge against Hobbits. If any Orcs of Mount Gram spy even a single Hobbit near the mountain, the Orcs will take it as a warning of war and Radgul will be right at the front, preparing to march on the Shire even though such a march will scatter his followers and leave them vulnerable to threats from every side.

Radgul is patient. He knows Bolg’s offspring Gorgol covets the throne. but he knows Gorgol remains a laughingstock after his headlong flight from the battle. Radgul is not in any of the factions of Mount Gundabad, but he doesn’t need to be. He is counting on Gorgol’s ambition to cause just enough strife that the next time there’s a crisis, Gundabad’s tribes will make a meal of it and Mount Gram’s tribes will step in to do things right.

Of course, Radgul and his servants watch it under cover of darkness, slipping between the shadows cast by massive stones that have been worn into odd shapes by the progress of years, ready to ambush any travellers. The gully itself winds to and fro, with several pathways that separate from the main cleft only to double back, go in endless circles or lead to dead ends where would-be assassins wait for easy prey.