Gwaihir to the rescue .. again?
 

Here's something that's just occurred to me and I'd welcome any thoughts.

JRR devised a wonderful plot device to get his characters out of trouble - Gwaihir the Windlord, Lord of the Eagles. First he and his kin rescue Bilbo and the dwarves, then Gandalf from the Tower of Orthanc, and finally Frodo and Sam from Mount Doom. So why not use him to help complete the Quest?

When they are in Rivendell, why not summon Gwaihir and get him to carry the Ringbearer to Mordor, fly over Mount Doom and drop the Ring in? Yes, there were nine Nazgul flying about, but I'm sure the Eagles could have distracted them while one flew over Mount Doom. And they could have flown high to avoid Orcish archers (and Sauron's notice?) until they reached Orodruin.

I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation, since nothing happens (or doesn't happen) in JRR's works without there being a good reason. Can anyone enlighten me?

Simple: There wouldn't be a story if they had done that.

http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/skwerlz03.jpg

Seriously, a search in The Books for 'eagle' or 'gwaihir' is going to yield several results of threads where the exact same question was asked and answered (at considerable length and comprehensiveness sometimes) [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Here's the discussion I remember;Are they all stupid?
There were some good points brought up.

[ January 06, 2003: Message edited by: Raefindel ]

[img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] *Feels a bit embarassed*

Thanks Sharku and Raefindel. I'm new here and didn't realise that you can search.

Wow! This is a question that has certainly provoked much discussion. I counted at least five threads. I like these explanations best:

1. The Eagles would have been butchered by the Nazgul over Mordor and the Ring claimed for Sauron (but I still hold that enough of them could have held off the Nazgul).

2. The Eagles, being either uninterested in(unaffected by?)the Ring or too unwilling and disintereted to take on such a risky role, would not have agreed to it.

3. The Ring, being of Middle Earth, had to be dealt with by the free people of Middle Earth and not by the Eagles.

4. Saruman and Sauron could have made life difficult for them en route.

5. Would Frodo have been able to throw the Ring in? (Shame on the suggestion that Gwaihir could have dropped in Frodo, the Ring and all).

And of course ... we wouldn't have been blessed with the greatest novel of all time ...

[img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img]

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

Don't worry about it Saucepan Man, we all have to find it out somehow.

Yes, I believe someone also suggested that the eagles were some kind of maia and were forbidden from interfering.