[The Saucepan Man]

I had always thought of the Eagles as a kind of Deus Ex Machina (although, until reading this thread, I never had a phrase to describe it!)

But I agree with Imladrien that, on the definition given, the Eagles don't qualify because they are not "artificially" or "improbably" introduced to save the day. They are well-established elements of JRRT's works. The same goes for the Valar, Maia and Vanyar in the War of Wrath.

In Greek and Roman drama, a god lowered by stage machinery to resolve a plot or extricate the protagonist from a difficult situation.

Oh, thanks a lot! Now I have a vision of the Valar lowering Gandalf into Middle Earth on a winch. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]