First off, I just want to say that I've been very pleasantly surprised by the responses my first essay received. I posted it just before calling it a night and by the time I woke up the next morning, I had 3 very insightful reviews and before the day was out I had some really nice Tolkien discussions through the messenger system. Not only that, but I have found a proof reader as well so thanks to Feägalad (or light spirit) for agreeing to help me out. This should really help me with my grammar insecurities.
Welcome to Tolkien essay 2: The Great, the Feathered and the Misunderstood. this one is concerned with perhaps the most hotly debated issue in Tolkien's works: namely the eagles. Although this is hardly a new issue and has been discussed from the time of Tolkien himself, I do think that the issue has been compounded by the Peter Jackson movies. In these films the eagles always seem to be just a handy moth call away, which is just not the way it is in Tolkien. This essay will discuss why exactly the eagles did not bring Frodo to Mordor or the dwarves to Erebor, which are, of course all important points. However, something else I'm going to discuss is their apparent use as Deus Ex Machina. I have found they are very easily mistaken for a Deus Ex Machina effect especially in the movies and people might misunderstand how Tolkien thought about this and get impressions about his work that are inaccurate. These topics are not as clear-cut as the Balrog wing debate so there are no single sentence answers. It is my hope that after reading this essay you'll have a better understanding of the eagles and their use in Tolkien's works.
The eagles taking the company to Mordor issue was first brought to my attention by a friend of mine. He showed me a video on the Internet about "How The Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended". I assume you have seen it and if not it is easy to look up. Now I must admit the first time I saw it I thought it was actually pretty funny. Mind you, I was a lot younger back then and somewhat naive. But these days, my less Tolkienish friends keep bringing this topic up, just to annoy and provoke me in to a discussion. Now, I do not mind a good Tolkien discussion but I have to admit I'm getting rather bored with the same old topic. So in a way this is my definitive attempt to settle the argument once and for all. It is not that I do not want to continue this discussion but this way we will actually know what we are talking about.
As with the Balrog debate, I think it is useful to give you some historical information on the eagles. This way we can see what they are and how they function within the stories. The original, eagles where the messengers and servants of Manwe who is described as the Lord of Winds. He is the leader of the Valar and the representative and steward of Eru on Arda.
"But Manwë Súlimo, highest and holiest of the Valar, sat upon the borders of Aman, forsaking not in his thought the Outer Lands. For his throne was set in majesty upon the pinnacle of Taniquetil, the highest of the mountains of the world, standing upon the margin of the sea. Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world. Thus they brought word to him of well nigh all that passed in Arda."
So what are they? The answer to whether they are true Maiar embodied as eagles or eagles that have sworn fealty to Manwe does not seem entirely clear. This question, however, is in the end not very relevant and has no real bearing on our current discussion. What we do know is that they serve Manwe and are apparently keeping an eye on Morgoth for him.
The next time we encounter an eagle is when Fingon finds Meadhros chained up a cliff in the mountains of the Thangorodrim. After finding his thought-to-be-killed cousin chained up like thatFingon despaired since there was no way for him to reach him. Meadhros was in horrible agony and begged Fingon to end his life. Fingon then readied his bow appealing to Manwe to make the arrow fly fast and end his life swiftly.
"Saying: 'O King to whom all birds are dear, speed now this feathered shaft, and recall some pity for the Noldor in their need!"
Instead of fulfilling Fingon's prayer, Manwe showed pity. He sent forth one of his, doubtless one of the ones that he had set there to keep watch on Morgoth, to sweep down to Fingon. The the mighty eagle flew him to Meadhros, but when Fingon still could not find a way to release his cousin, once again Meadhros begged for Fingon to kill him. However, Fingon instead decided to cut his hand off just above the wrist so he could be released without having to contend with the unyielding shackles.
"But Fingon could not release the hell-wrought bond upon his wrist, nor sever it, nor draw it from the stone. Again therefore in his pain Maedhros beggedthat he would slay him; but Fingon cut off his hand above the wrist, and Thorondor bore them back to Mithrim."
This act rejoined the two kindred's of the Noldor and they reconciled their differences. What is most important for us remember from this story is that, in this case, an eagle comes when summoned. Now this is not a true summons, of course. However, to my knowledge this is the only case in Tolkien when they came for anyone but Manwe's call. The next time we meet an eagle is after Fingolfin's duel with Morgoth when he brings new from this duel to Gondolin and, perhaps more importantly, brought Fingolfin's body to safety.
"Thorondor was like the noise of the winds of Manwë, and he seized the body in his mighty talons, and soaring suddenly above the darts of the Orcs he bore the King away.And he laid him upon a mountain-top that looked from the north upon the hidden valley of Gondolin; and Turgon coming built a high cairn over his father."
The eagle in this case is Thorondor who is the Lord of Eagles and this will become the first of the major burial monuments in Tolkien's works. This is another important moment, since the eagle might have come in useful during the actual duel yet Thorondor doesn't help Fingolfin. Instead he helps to spread the news of the bravery and the ultimate demise of the high king.
The next time we see Thorondor, it is when he saves Hurin and Huor who are wandering in the wilds of the mountains around Gondolin. This is a minor moment of the eagles, though it is important to note that they seem to take pity on these humans that are about to die and rescue them The eagles are also the ones that will bear Hurin and Huor out of Gondolin on the bidding of Turgon, the King of Gondolin.
Thorondor is also involved in the story of Beren and Luthien where the eagles rescue the two from the gates of Angband, though in the tale it seems to be a minor point.
"High above the realm of Morgoth Thorondor and his vassals soared, and seeing now the madness of the Wolf and Beren's fall they came swiftly down, even as the powers of Angband were released from the toils of sleep."
Here the eagles do not come when bidden; they seem to come completely out of their own accord. As they did with Hurin and Huor, they seem to see is going on and decide to come. They save the lives of Beren and Luthien arguably the most important people in the entire history of Arda. Since they stole a silmarils from Morgoth's very crown, motivating the remaining elves to reunite and try to take action against Morgoth. They are also the ancestors of both Elrond and Aragorn so their story seems to resonate throughout tolkien's works. We can begin to see the familiar pattern here: things are going badly for 'the good guys' and right in time the eagles come to save the day. This is part of what people mistakenly believe to be a Deus Ex Machina, so keep an eye on that trend.
The next major appearance of the eagles includes Thorondor again. This appearance is during the sack of Gondolin and the duel between a Balrog and Glorfindel.
"Many are the songs that have been sung of the duel of Glorfindel with the Balrog upon a pinnacle of rock in that high place; and both fell to ruin in the abyss. But the eagles coming stooped upon the Orcs, and drove them shrieking back; and all were slain or cast into the deeps, so that rumour of the escape from Gondolin came not until long after to Morgoth's ears. Then Thorondor bore up Glorfindel's body out of the abyss, and they buried him in a mound of stones beside the pass; and a green turf came there, and yellow flowers bloomed upon it amid the barrenness of stone, until the world was changed."
This time they actually seem to help Glorfindel in the duel. Once again they bring a body to safety when the fight is over. This is a very important place because among the refugees there is a nine year old Eärendil, the mightiest mariner of song, who will later end up saving the entirety of Middle-earth.
It will take a long time for us to see eagles again after this and I'm not entirely convinced these are exactly the same eagles. They act slightly differently and act lot more independently. It's my personal theory that they might be descendants from the original Maia eagles, just like Shelob is a descendant of the Maia Ungoliant. They developed a culture for their very own as the years went on. Of course the 'next time' I was talking about is when they famously rescue Thorin and Company from the burning fir trees.
"Then Gandalf climbed to the top of his tree. The sudden splendor flashed from his wand like lightning, as he got ready to spring down from on high right among the spears of the goblins. That would have been the end of him, though he would probably have killed many of them as he came hurtling down like a thunderbolt. But he never leaped. Just at that moment the Lord of the eagles swept down from above, seized him in his talon, and was gone."
What is most important here is that they came without anyone expecting them or calling them. Thorin, the twelve Dwarves, and Bilbo Baggins all believe they are going to die. Even Gandalf, who is clearly different in The Hobbit than he is in The Lord of the Rings, is prepared to die fighting. Now The Company is sure that they are going to die and the eagles are not only unexpected when they come, but as far as we know they are uncalled. They appeared to just be hunting in the area and spot the commotion that was going on with the trees and the fire. They went down to take a look and only really intervened when they saw that the goblins where involved. In a way they seem to care more about teasing the goblins than actually helping The Company, they do seem to be keen to help Gandalf once they see him.
"The wizard and the eagle-lord appeared to know one another slightly, and even to be on friendly terms. As a matter of fact Gandalf, who had often been in the mountains, had once rendered a service to the eagles and healed their lord from an arrow-wound."
However the eagles do not seem quite safe. They are not evil, but they are not strictly good either. The Tolkien Professor once made the following point, and I couldn't agree more with him, the eagles are a part of the wild and that is why they are unsafe as a wild animal might be. Now, they clearly seem to claim more intelligence than wild animals do but they are living in a hard world that requires them to adept to their circumstances.
Now we will see the eagles again when they turn the tide at the Battle of Five Armies, where once again they come unexpected and without being summoned. They appear to have decided to go there because they noticed the goblins going towards Erebor. Since the eagles appear to hate goblins, I surmise they just decided to follow them to see what they were up to.
"The Eagles had long had suspicion of the goblins' mustering; from their watchfulness the movements in the mountains could not be altogether hid. So they too hadgathered in great numbers, under the great Eagle of the Misty Mountains; and at length smelling battle from afar they had come speeding down the gale in the nick of time."
That is I think, the main reason they came to Erebor not to help out over there but because of their general hatred. The fact that they could help Gandalf again in the process was a simply a bonus. What we can take from this is that the eagles are good friends to have and can be very loyal, but they are not just blindly following the good guys and doing whatever they can to help them without a concrete reason to do so.
During the entire Lord of the Rings we see an eagle helping out Gandalf for transportation. He's called Gwahir and I assume this is the same eagle as the Lord of the Eagles. Gwahir is the eagle that rescues Gandalf from Orthanc on the bidding of Radagast the Brown. Gwahir seems to be more then willing to facilitate transport for Gandalf, most likely as thanks for Gandalf's healing of his arrow wound as mentioned in The hobbit. Not only does Gwahir rescue the Grey Wizard from Orthanc, but he also saves him from the top of Caradhras when Gandalf returned as Gandalf the White. Of course we all know that the eagles turn up at the very end during the battle at the Black Gate. Here I think they themselves made the decision to help the armies of the West out, rather like the Ents attacking Isengard. And once again note that they come unlooked for.
Now we've gone over all the Mention of Eagles throughout Tolkien's works, we can make a few conclusions. To summarize: The eagles were originally servants of Manwe, but over the ages they seem to have become more and more self-sufficient. They seem to be acting as agent of providence helping those who need to be helped for the history of middle-earth. In the Third Age, they seem to have broken most, if not all contact with Manwe they hate the goblins and they are very loyal friends should you manage to befriend them. One important thing that, in order to understand, you have to realize is that they are a completely separate society and they seem to be a neutral party. They try not to get involved in the major wars overmuch because, like most people, their own interests come first. Now if Gandalf pleaded for them to help and bring Frodo to Mordor, explaining the need for it, would they be willing to help out? I suppose they would. However it would not have worked for one more very important reason.
The reason the entire quest of Frodo succeeded was secrecy. We can see this in the Council of Elrond where they decide not to send Glorfindel as one of the Nine Walkers because there simply was no way Sauron would not notice the presence of such a great Elf Lord. Yet the Ring had to be taken to Mordor to be destroyed for all at the council knew they could not destroy It by force. Besides, until the very end Sauron would not believe that they would ever attempt to destroy the ring, and that is exactly what happened. In the end, Sauron thought Aragorn had the Ring and that is why He took the bait at the Black Gate, giving Frodo a clear route to Mount Doom. So if Frodo would have gone to Mordor on an eagle and flown over Mount Doom what would have happened? I'm sure he would have been taken down before he gotten anywhere close. This is not Morgoth who fought without an air force, this is Sauron who was Morgoth's pupil and doubtlessly learned from his master's mistakes. Had Frodo attempted to fly into Mordor, a winged Nazgul would undoubtedly have hunted the eagle down and killed both bird and passenger, taking the Ring and everything would have been under Sauron's control despite the best efforts of the West.
Now as I said, the other accusation against Tolkien's eagles is that they are just a Deus ex machine. For those that do not know, "Deus ex machina" means god in machine. It is an old literary device that originated in Greek theatre. In these plays, very bad situations were sometimes resolved in an instant without any preamble or any real logic like the hand of God had reached down and solved everything. This was very popular during the middle Ages and as a medieval-list Tolkien might seem to do the same in his writings. However, I would counter that by saying that Tolkien's use of the eagles is just not that simple. There is another literary term coined by Tolkien himself that is more apropos: eucatastrophe. This comes from the Greek root for "good" so what it means is a "good catastrophe". Tolkien explained in "On Faerie stories" that a eucatastrophe is a sudden unexpected and unpredictable turn for the better. A few examples of this from Tolkien's writings are the eagles coming in at the Battle of Five Armies and at the Black Gate. This might seem like semantics and to go into the differences properly would probably take another essay or two. However, I do believe that there is a major difference between 'Deus ex machina' and 'eucatastrophe'. One of the things I would point to is that what Tolkien does makes sense in the story. A un-eagle related example is the unfolding of the banner when Aragorn comes to the battle of Pelennor. We knew he was on his way there, but we had no idea he was in that particular ship. Right when everything seems at its worst on the Pelennor Fields, the tables turn and Aragorn son of Arathorn, Heir of Elendil reveals himself and comes into his own.
In conclusion, there is one final very important reason why the eagles did not bring Frodo to Mount doom and I would submit that it might be the most important reason of all. If the problem of destroying Sauron's Ring of Power had been resolved this way, The Lord of the Rings would have turned out to be an extremely boring and short book. This might seem like I mean it as a joke, but I am dead serious. Tolkien was a storyteller and he knew how to spin an intriguing tale. That is why he did not truncate the journey by having Gandalf and the Hobbits take a convenient ride atop one of the Great Eagles while Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli made faces at the Black Gate. I hope you now have a better understanding of the eagle problem and that you enjoyed this essay. It was a lot of fun to write, though it was a bigger challenge then I originally thought it would be.
List of terms
Angband: Morgoth's main fortress during the war of the jewels, after the destruction of Utumno his original fortress.
Arda: The planet in the universe of Ëa on which Middle-earth is a continent. Arda is meant to be a prehistoric version of our earth, which is important to remember. Middle-earth was supposed to be the equivalent of northwestern Europe. Originally Tolkien had actually specific modern locations in mind for a lot of the major places in his work. However, this plan was abandoned very early in his life.
Ëa: The universe that Eru created. He did this after the Great Music by saying the word "Ëa" which translates to "let it be". One of the planets in Ëa is Arda.
Eärendil: The Mightiest Mariner of Song, Eärendil is the one who brings the message of the Noldor and the Edaïn of Middle-earth to Valanor. He is the one who pleads for the Valar to stop Morgoth. As the product of the union between an elf and a man, he is the ideal candidate to represent both races. His wife is Elwing, who is the grandchild of Luthien. So both of the Half-Elven families come together in the birth of their children, Elros and Elrond.
Eru: The One, who in Middle-earth is called Iluvatar. Eru is Tolkien's equivalent to the Judea Christian God. As a devout Catholic, Tolkien believed in the Christian God and Eru is therefore, just the elvish name for God.
Feänor: Feänor is the mightiest elf that ever lived. He made the Silmarils but was corrupted by his lust for them and by the lies of Morgoth. He led the Noldor in a revolt against the Valar. Burning with the desire for the Silmarils that Morgoth stole, Feänor died trying to regain his creation.
Maiar:The Maiar, originally of the order of the Ainu helped Eru in the creation of Arda. After the Great Music they came into Arda and became bound to it. The Maiar are in general weaker than the Valar. However the line isn't a very clear one. Some examples of Major Maia are Sauron, Gandalf, and the Balrogs.
Manwe: Sulimo is the Valar of the airs and winds. He's the head of the Valar and basically Eru's steward & representative on Arda.
Melkor: Later known as Morgoth, Melkor is the original Dark Lord in Tolkien's world. He's a fallen Vala and has a lot of similarities with the Lucifer figure in Christian tradition.
Morgoth: The name given to Melkor by Feänor after he killed Finwe and stole the Silmarils.
Noldor: The Noldor are a group of elves who rebelled against the Valar. Lead by Feänor, they returned to Middle-earth to fight a war against Morgoth in hopes of regaining the Silmarils.
Silmaril: The Silmarils were the jewels made by Feänor . They were stolen by Melkor and resulted in most of the wars in the First Age of Middle-earth.
Thangorodrim: The mountain range standing atop Morgoth's main fortress of Angband.
Valar: The Valar were originally of the order of the Ainu and helped Eru in the creation of Arda. After the Great Music they came into Arda and became bound to it. The Valar are the most powerful of that order. A few examples of Valar are Melkor, Manwe, and Varda who in middle-earth is called Elbereth.
I hope you enjoyed this essay and if you have any comments or questions please post a review or a pm. This is also the way to go to suggest other topics that you'd like me to cover. And finally it's been brought to my attention that this site doesn't like none story content. I have looked over the rules and to my understanding there is no direct reference to this kind of content. Now I hope that if it isn't allowed they'll be willing to let this one go I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be allowed.
Finally I just want to thank Feägalad again for helping me out polishing it up a little. This essay wouldn't have looked anywhere near as professional without it.