The 'ORC KNIFE' was inspired by the blades seen carried by the orcs in 'The Lord of the Rings'. It has been HAND FORGED  from one solid bar of steel by Artisan Blacksmith Darrell Markewitz of the Wareham Forge. Intended to be a large knife in the hands of an Uruk-hai, in the hands of a mortal man (or woman) it is more like a short sword, with an overall length of 23 1/2"  and skull crushing weight of 2 lbs 12 oz.

The blade makes up the first half of the length.  It is 1/4" thick along the back and flares out towards the point, starting  at 1 1/2" wide at the riccasso to over 2" across at its widest. The blade sweeps up to a wicked point, almost to 90 degrees from the edge. Before the blade is a square section (riccasso) that is about 3/4" thick and about 4 1/2" long. The rest makes up the hilt, the metal flattened to a rectangle widening towards the pommel, and is wrapped with leather lace. The pommel is a rough shaped knob.
see detail of blade
see detail of hilt
(both full sized direct scans)

The 'Orc Knife' also has runes punched into the hilt just before the pommel. On one side are the runes for LOR (for Lord of the Rings). On the other is the Viking Rune for F - the first letter of runic, indicating this is the very first first blade in a possible series of original forged blades.  The distinctive rune-like makers mark of the Wareham Forge is punched into the end of the pommel. This combination of marks will NEVER BE REPEATED on any other blade.
see LOR runes
see F letter rune
(both enlarged from direct scans)

The 'Orc Knife' is forged from a bar of 1" diameter mild steel and water hardened to replicate the 'black iron' blades used by the orcs. It has been left rough forged with all the hammer marks showing, the fire scale from the forge is the finish. The cutting edge has been rough ground (as we see the orcs doing in the movie), but it is definitely sharp enough to do some serious chopping!
 

"The overall design of  the 'Orc Knife' was inspired by a specific weapon from 'The Two Towers'.  When Merry and Pipin are trying to escape into Fangorn Forest in  the middle of the Uruk-hai / Rohan fight, they are chased into the woods by one of the Uruk-hai. ("They don't NEED their legs...".) That orc is carrying a BFK instead of a  sword - really more like a machete length short sword. It had the same overall style of a simple grip, then a square length of shaft, then a broad sweeping blade. The next day I got out the DVD of 'Fellowship' and looked through the gallery section to check on the general design trends that were used on the various Orc weapons."

"While I was working I tried to image there was a huge fat orc ('Doug the Slug') leaning over me and yelling "Work! FASTER!!" - every time I tried to even out a wrinkle in the steel. (I actually had a lot of trouble forcing  myself to leave the thing as ugly as I did!)"
 

About the Blacksmith:

Darrell Markewitz has been working at the forge for over 25 years. His ' Wareham Forge' is located in Ontario, Canada (in Grey County, about 2 hours NW of Toronto.), and has been a registered business in Ontario since 1992. His professional work centres on original art forgings and historic reproductions. He is specialist in the Viking Age, consulting with institutions such as the Smithsonian, Parks Canada, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. He designed and produced the 'Viking Encampment' living history program for L'Anse aux Meadows NHSC. His original interest in the early medieval period was sparked in part from his first reading of Lord of the Rings (while in public school in the early 1970's).