Eagles: Great Heros Of Middle Earth

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

Mans, the Ainur are not like Angels. As Evisse says, they are the 'gods' of Arda under Eru -- as they are sometimes referred to.

They are not God, however. Illuvatar is this. The Ainur in Ea are spirits confined within this world, and are not gods on anything like the same par as Illuvatar the One is.

And the Eagles are well likened to Angels, as I described them in my post. They are not actually angels, but are like them in the roles they play in Middle-Earth.

Eagles have been a symbol of strength, thought I'm not sure about hope...

In Tolkien they are both. Powerful, majestic, coming unlooketh-for when they are needed (angel analogy again)... Kaiserin by the way, I think you are referring to the moulting process of sea-going birds. I am fairly sure that Eagles do not do this. They'd starve fairly quickly. At any rate, I don't think this really had anything to do with it. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]