Just to post (I'm dying to contribute [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] ) I'd like to disagree with the BW's last post. I've always thought that the eagles of Manwe were Maia themselves that had taken on the shape that their master willed. I'm reminded of a passage in the Silmarillion that speaks of Manwe's throne on Taniquetil. Here it is:
Quote:
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Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world. Thus they brought word to him of well nigh all that passed in Arda; yet some things were hidden even from the eyes of Manwë and the servants of Manwë, for where Melkor sat in his dark thought impenetrable shadows lay.
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I think that is good proof that they were not mere birds.
Ever wandering,
Iawain