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 were 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 had to think hard about sticking a knife in Gorgol and all his Gundabad rivals, too, if the opportunity came up. What was more likely to foul things up for Radgul was his old grudge against Hobbits. If any Orcs of Mount Gram spied even a single Hobbit near the mountain, the Orcs would take it as a warning of war and Radgul would be right at the front, preparing to march on the Shire even though such a march would scatter his followers and leave them vulnerable to threats from every side.
Radgul was patient. He knew Bolg’s offspring Gorgol coveted the throne. but he knew Gorgol remained a laughingstock after his headlong flight from the battle. Radgul was not in any of the factions of Mount Gundabad, but he didn’t need to be. He was counting on Gorgol’s ambition to cause just enough strife that the next time there wad a crisis, Gundabad’s tribes would make a meal of it and Mount Gram’s tribes would step in to do things right.
Of course, Radgul and his servants watched it under cover of darkness, slipping between the shadows cast by massive stones that had been worn into odd shapes by the progress of years, ready to ambush any travellers. The gully itself wound to and fro, with several pathways that separated from the main cleft only to double back, go in endless circles or lead to dead ends where would-be assassins waiting for easy prey.
References[]
- Adventures in Middle-Earth-Rivendell Region Guide
- TOR Characters