The Eagles

[Gelmir]

*laughs*

Do the Eagles have super healing powers in there talons? I mean, if you were in the middle of a lava flow on a rock, it must be breathless. Didn't Frodo's and Sam's lungs-get-full-of-magma... Steam? They should- I mean could have died! Unless them Eagles had some secret powers in there talons to heal hobbits lungs! Maybe a hidden needle goes into them and it acts like a reliever, those with asthma, or know someone with asthma will know what I mean.

~Gelmir~

[Boromir88]

I appreciate the difficulty but really: the Eagles were not explained at all. As a consequence, the non-book-reader was left scratching his/her head, or venturing to offer theories already scrutinised 100 times on the Downs alone.

Well put Mr. Eomer.

There are many problems with the Eagle theory of taking Frodo (with the ring) to Mount Doom.

One, They're not a FedEx service, that just does Gandalf (or anyone else's) bidding. They are servants of Manwe and do not have to obey anyone else. Gwaihir helps out Gandalf because Gandalf healed him from a poison arrow. If Gwaihir (or the eagles) didn't want to help out Gandalf they didn't have to.

It makes an awful story. "Gwaihir take Frodo to Mount Doom." "Ok." Forget all the stuff that makes the stories good (the characters, the ride to the black gates...etc) Let's scrap all that because since Eagles can go unseen there's no point for striking up a war and a diversion to keep Sauron busy.

Seeing as I doubt the Eagles would agree to such a thing, that means it aint gonna happen.

The Eagles could be clearly spotted, as Gwaihir was spotted several times when he carried around Gandalf and viewed areas for him. So, they're open targets and once Sauron finds out, it's gonna be pretty much over.

Finally, what good would the eagles do in the matter of destroying the ring? In Tolkien's letter to Milton Waldman he makes it clear that no one could "neglect, injure, or cast away the ring..." So even if the Eagles decided to take Frodo to Mount Doom and got him in Sammath Naur safely still doesn't solve anything as Frodo would do the same thing. Just claim the ring.