Talk:Eagle (Middle-earth)
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Christopher Tolkien's comments about the "Eagle picture" are in his foreword to the 50th-anniversary edition of The Hobbit. All the eagles in The Hobbit are the same, as is clear from the beginning of Chapter VII, at least in this edition. The only speculation is that they include Gwaihir and Landroval. —JerryFriedman 18:10, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
The unanswered question is: Why didn't the Council of Elrond simply ask some Eagles to fly to Mordor with the One Ring, and drop it into Mount Doom? It would have been much easier than to go through all the side plots of the actual story. If you postulate the existence of such creatures as Eagles, and use them in the story, you ought to explain why you don't use them to resolve the primary plot tension.
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- Because it was Frodo's resistance to the evil of the ring wich make him unique, not even Gandalf dare to touch the ring.Seba5618 20:12, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
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- This is what people who don't read the material (enough) gripe about. [1]
One possibility is that there were no Eagles available when they were needed. (Gandalf never summons them with a moth or anything in the book!) Another common argument is that Mordor was well defended, while the Eagles were wary even of shepherds with bows. It may have been an issue of secrecy: a group of Eagles far from the Misty Mountains flying toward Mordor might well have drawn Sauron's attention, and might have even hinted at the plan to destroy the Ring. Some suggest that like the Istari, the Eagles were forbidden by the Valar to help so directly. Another suggestion is that Frodo may have needed the long journey to (hopefully) develop enough strength of will to cast the Ring into the Fire.
Uthanc 07:38, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
We are not sure wheather eagles lived upon the Thangorodrim or not.13:04, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
One does not simply fly into Mordor. It seems to me that Sauron would send the fell beasts used by the Nazgûl at a formation of eagles carrying hobbit with a Ring of Doom. Willworkforicecream (talk) 06:35, 11 March 2008 (UTC)
It is indeed a problem. It might seem no less risky to attempt a sudden dash on an eagle to Mount Doom than to send a hobbit walking into Mordor. The real answer is probably that Tolkien didn't think about it, or else he likely would have had a character suggest this very thing and be refuted. There are other, similar ideas for disposing of the ring (if Radagast was a 'master of hues and shape changes, why not fly into Mordor, etc.). But I think the argument that Mordor was too well defended is as good as any. When Frodo made it to Orodruin, central Mordor had been virtually emptied as Sauron concentrated his forces in the north; and that only occurred in response to the Captains of the West unexpectedly challenging Sauron's might, and that was only possible after the Battle of the Pelannor Fields, etc. In other words, it couldn't have been foreseen that Mount Doom would ever have been so undefended, and usually there were many orcs about it, capable of shooting down an eagle-- to say nothing of the Nazgul (winged or no), other spectres of Sauron's domain, and Sauron himself. Who knows how quickly Sauron could have travelled to Orodruin? He sent the Nazgul when he perceived Frodo and didn't go himself. But if an eagle, or a flight of eagles, suddenly penetrated his realm, it seems likely he would immediately be aware of them, and perceive that one carried the Ringbearer too. And he would have done whatever he could to bring down the eagle long before it reached the slopes of Orodruin. Basically, as fast as they were, the eagles weren't fast enough to get to Mount Doom before "countermeasures" would have brought them down. 169.253.4.21 (talk) 12:22, 9 June 2008 (UTC)TexxasFinn
[edit] ¿Beorn a maiar?
I don't understand how the idea of the eagles being maiar leads to the idea of Beorn being one. The eagles being maiar is a good explanation for them to have fëa, but Beorn was a man, not an animal.Seba5618 20:12, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
- So I just remove the thought of Beorn being a maiar, it just doesn't fit. Eagles might be maiar because that's an explanation for their fëa, but Beorn is a men (with a weird hability I agree). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Seba5618 (talk • contribs) 03:18, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] The Eagles and Vainamoinen
An important influence on Tolkien's conceptualization of the Eagles and the role they play as Gandalf's rescuer (many times) comes from the Kalevala, the Finnish epic myth. The Kalevala influenced Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings in many ways. Few people in the States realize to just how great an extent since the epic isn't very well known in the U.S. Tom Bombadil, the tale of Turin, the song of Tinuviel before Morgoth's throne, and many other episodes are based in whole or in part on the Finnish poems. Likewise the Eagles as rescuers. In the Kalevala, a great Eagle, the lord of the skies, rescues the hero Vainamoinen (a bard and wizard who was an influence on the characters of both Gandalf and Tom Bombadil) from peril after he's been waylaid by an enemy, and carries him to the destination of his quest far to the north. Tolkien read the Kalevala when he was a student at Cambridge, and the eagle-rescue episode with the Finnish wizard doubtless appealed to him and was transformed into into Gandalf's encounter(s). 169.253.4.21 (talk) 12:58, 9 June 2008 (UTC)TexxasFinn
