Do you think there should have been a contrivance to pre-empt the Eagles question?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by denethorthefirst

Although eagles are able to fly very high, Sauron would still be able to spot them miles away, long before they would even reach the black gate, and take the appropriate counter-measures. And how would the Eagles "land" the ring? I mean they can't just drop it, what if they miss? So they have to either land or at least come very close to the mountain. Sauron will then be able to shoot them down, if he hasn't already brought them down with his fell beasts. And another thing: who's to say that the Eagles would even be able to mentally complete the task? It could very well be that the group of eagles tears itself apart well before reaching mount doom, fighting over the ring. And even if the Eagles reach the mountain, the ring-bearing eagle would at this point probably refuse to drop the ring, just like frodo and isildur were not able to harm the ring (and isildur was only in possession for several minutes, the eagle would be exposed to the ring for at least several days)!

Good points. And the way I see it, having the Eagles, who were basically Manwë's 'eyes' in Middle-earth take such an active part in the War of the Ring would have been pretty much the same as sending the Ring over Sea. Elrond discounted that as an option, and I think the Eagles were off-limits for that kind of task as well. The Valar (Eru) had devised the means of accomplishing Sauron's fall with the sending of the Istari. The Eagles were on hand to aid those fighting Sauron, particularly, I think, the Istari, but sending them into Mordor to do the dirty work just wouldn't fly.