How was Gwaihir so well informed ?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Actually, the eagles were Tolkien's primary deus ex machina, conveniently placed to always be at the right place just in the nick of time. And besides Shadowfax, they were Gandalf's secondary mode of transportation. Howard Hughes had the Spruce Goose, Gandalf had the Regal Eagles.

I like Morth's point about deus ex machina. However, neither goose nor turkey would do it.

Those who read LotR with some gleanings drawn from the Bible might might be forgiven for recalling a few passages from that epic:

Originally Posted by Exodus 19:4

"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare
you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself."

Originally Posted by Isaiah 40:31

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not
faint."

Originally Posted by Ezekiel 17:7

"There was also another great eagle with great wings and many
feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward
him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might
water it by the furrows of her plantation."

Originally Posted by Revelation 12:14

"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that
she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she
is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from
the face of the serpent."

As a good Tolkien fan I ought to be quoting from the Jerusalem Bible, but I don't have one at hand, only the King James. And my Cruden's Concordance is for the 1611 edition anyway, which reminds its readers that eagles are a symbol for deliverance. Poe, after all, did not have an eagle repeating, "never more."