That Tolkienist rant of the day (warning! I BEGIN WITH AN INSULT): Concerning the question of “Why couldn’t the eagles have solved every Eru-damned problem in middle-earth during the adventures of Thorin’s company and the journey of the Ring? ”. 1) This being the most obvious. You are a moron who has not developed the ability to think beyond what is most easily accessible to your pathetic being. Which usually entails ‘Beer, your privates, and your mother – if not all three at once’. This insult is yours, if you so much as conjecture on the Eagles in such a context. 2) This being the second most obvious. The book would have ended right after Elrond’s council (because I assume you’d at least have the decency to start the journey there). With that, all the great adventures of Middle-Earth’s most epic and trying time since the War of the Jewels – LOST. 3) Finally, Yes I can conjure up more than just insults – imbecile: The Eagles functioned under the direct orders of Manwë (as his spies and messengers) and were devised by Him alone. Who is Manwë? He is the Lord of the Valar, and amongst all the Ainur, the greatest. Only Melkor, before His fall from grace, was greater. The winds and the sky are Manwë’s servants and all of Arda (The Earth) calls Manwë its king. Who are the Valar and the Ainur and Melkor? Well they are the reasons why you should read Tolkiens masterpiece(s) before making imbecilic inferences on topics that you can hardly understand. The Eagles were devised by Manwë initially for the purpose of keeping an eye out on a bunch of rebellious Noldor Elves under the leadership of someone called Fëanor as well as to have His eyes on Mellor (Fine! Ill entertain you, but this time only : Melkor was the first Dark Lord and Saurons master). I will not go into further detail regarding these Elves, lets just say that they caused a lot of grievances to the Valar and almost all the other inhabitants of Middle-Earth (and Valinor) during a period of time known as The War of the Great Jewels, which lasted for several millennias. Everything about this time has been nicely written down in the Silmarillion and you can get your lazy butt to go and read it for yourself. During this period of time the Eagles made very few appearances and then only when there was an extremely dire need. They also appeared during the final war (aptly named ‘The War of Wrath’), to challenge the flying dragons of Melkor (together with Earendil, the father of Elrond) that ended the ‘War of the Jewels’ and destroyed Melkor and his armies. Here I would like to stress something of very strong significance. Whenever the Eagles acted, wherever they showed up at, and whatever they did – it was under the direct command of the King of Arda, Manwë. The Valar were not allowed by Eru Illuvatar (God, the creator of all) to directly force or take control of the doings of the inhabitants of Middle-Earth (right or wrong). Which is why you never see Gandalf (himself a lesser angelic being, also directly under the command of Manwë) directly attacking Sauron with armies under his command or taking over lordship and command over Men, Elves or Dwarves. You also did not see the Valar stopping the Elves from rebelling, during the events of the War of the Great Jewels. Whenever any angelic being assumes control over the Children of Illuvatar (as Elves and Men are called in Tolkiens legendrium due to reasons I will leave you to find out on your own), it is the single most strongest indicator of their fall into evil (i.e. Saruman, Sauron, Melkor, etc.). It is also significant to note that, Manwë desires no power or glory being the exact opposite of His brother Melkor. He is also the closest among the Valar and Powers of Middle-Earth, as Melkor is furthest. Manwës strives to do the will of Illuvatar at all times. Bringing us back on track and reminding you of the significance of the Eagles, during the quest of Thorin’s company to reclaim their treasure at Erebor (basically the entire narrative of ‘The Hobbit’), there was no particular reason for the Eagles to come and save Bilbo and the dwarves from the ‘goblins and wargs’. Unless of course, if Manwë had already known of the location of the Ring and had already tasked Bilbo to be its finder and bearer, so as to create the events that led to Frodo’s journey to Orodruin. So back to the question, why in Arda couldn’t He have sent the Eagles to bring them over to Mordor safely? I can think of some important reasons (If such obvious things such as THE EXISTENCE OF THE ALL SEEING EYE OF SAURON, DAMNED FLYING NAZGULS, AND THE FACT THAT THERED HAVE BEEN NO F-22s ACCOMPAYING THEM TO SPREAD SOME DEMOCRACY IN MORDOR!!!! - hasnt hit you yet): i) Faramir would not have been saved. The reunited Numenorean Kingdom of Gordon and Arnor would not been created nor would the return of the King and heir of Isildur have been possible without bloodshed or war between Denethors loyalist and those desiring the return of the King. Frodos visit alone helped to set Faramir’s heart aright to stop him fixating on the Ring and set in him a desire to see things as it was meant to be. ii) The kingdom of Rohan would have been destroyed or entered into eventual conflict with Gondor. Theoden King would not have been freed from the yolk of Sarumans sorcery and his forces (already paying tribute to Mordor), though unwilling and possibly through enslavement, could easily have been used in the attack on Gondor itself. A civil war might have very well erupted in Rohan pitting uncle against nephew - weakening or destroying Gondors last ally and hope against the Witch-Kings onslaught. iii) Saruman becomes the new Dark Lord. Saruman ranks the same as Sauron. Both are Maia spirits and former servants of Aulë the Smith (a Valar). Both desire power and the Ring and control. The only difference in them is that Sauron has more credibility among the fell beings of Middle-Earth and has more experience in the field of evil. But Saruman requires no Ring to harness his power and is extremely intelligent and resourceful. With Sauron destroyed, he could easily lay his claim to the title of Dark Lord and rule over Saurons former forces. A lesser foe he will be, but nonetheless deadly towards a weakened Gondor and Rohan - ultimately a new servant of Melkor. iv) With the journey of the fellowship never occurring, all those other random and unplanned events and actions (direct or otherwise) that aided whomever the fellowship came into contact with would never have occurred. I have been dying to write this for years now. Now that I have finally done it, I would like to say this: Tolkien never believed in allegories, and to honor his dear memory and work neither will I attempt to draw any allegorical conclusions with regards to the matter which is on any Christian minded person, but I will say this - if you thought Tolkiens works were a mere fantasy novel, think again.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:28:47 +0000