Gollum and Eagles: Deux ex machina?

[AragornII]

Sorry if this isn't about what you guys are currently discussing, but I've been thinking about the "deus ex machina" thing.

In school we've been studying Shakespeare, and a "deus ex machina" was usually something like an angel or a "savior" figure that comes from the the top of the stage unexpectedly, lowered down by a machine similar to a crane. This event would happen towards the end of the play This fits the meaning of the phrase, which is "god out of machine".

Looking at it in that perspective, I'd say that the Eagles were more of a "deus ex machina" than Gollum was. They were literally saving figures coming from the sky at the end of the story, and to those who hadn't read the books, were totally unexpected. However, they did not help with the main purpose of the story. The main purpose was to destroy the Ring. They didn't really have much to do with the actual act of destroying it. It was good that they came and saved Frodo (and Sam), because it made the story better, but I don't think they meet the full criteria for "deus ex machina".

Gollum, on the other hand, fulfills the other half of the criteria. He comes out of nowhere to help with the main purpose of the story, destroying the Ring. In fact, without him, that would never have happened. But he doesn't come out of the sky, or from above. He is unexpected, though. So the way I see it, Gollum isn't fully a "deus ex machina" either.

This is just what I thought while reading the earlier parts of this thread.