LotR -- Book 6 - Chapter 4 - The Field of Cormallen

[Guinevere]

originally posted by Hilde Bracegirdle
Is this simply a strange turn of phrase or is Gwaihir paying Gandalf back for a favor we are unaware of?

Well , in the Hobbit there is mentioned (after they were rescued from the 5 firtrees):

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.

At least, up to now I had taken it for granted that "the lord of the Eagles" was Gwaihir.
But just now I read Aiwendil's post:

originally posted byAiwendil
Gandalf says to Gwaihir, 'Twice you have borne me'. This must refer to his escape from Orthanc and his journey from Zirak-Zigil after the battle with the Balrog. But this would mean that the "lord of the eagles" from The Hobbit was not in fact Gwaihir.

So now I am confused, too! Somehow it doesn't seem plausible to me that there is a second "lord of the eagles" around with whom Gandalf was friends...
But that rescuing in the Hobbit was quite some time ago (78 years, to be precise)
so it could be that Gandalf is just mentioning the two other incidents in the same year.
But isn't "Thrice shall pay for all" a kind of proverb, as we have in German: "Aller guten Dinge sind drei" ?
And are Gwaihir and Landroval really meant to be the same eagles from the first age? or did Tolkien just re-use the names like he did with Legolas and Glorfindel?

originally posted by davem
The question of why Gandalf takes three eagles with him is difficult to answer. Most probably because he didn’t know the fate of Gollum & thought there would be three survivors awaiting rescue. This would be interesting, showing that even at the end he was concerned for Gollum, & was still hoping for his ‘’salvation’.

Well, that's certainly a fascinating idea!
But I supposed the same as Bergil - that Gandalf was riding the 3rd eagle. I guess the other 2 eagles were carrying Sam and Frodo in their claws, as in the movie (and in the Hobbit)

Of course I do love this whole chapter, too! But after all the great posts here I have nothing else to add.