Fans of The Lord of the Rings are currently divided over the definitive answer to one of the book’s most puzzling mysteries.
The Lord of the Rings fans love the story for its deep character development and thrilling adventure. But nothing gets them more riled up than any discussions about the eagles.
Considering the Fellowship of the Ring take a long amount of time to travel to Mount Doom, facing many different trials and dangers along the way, it begs the question: why didn’t they just use the eagles to fly?
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy remains one of the most beloved film franchises of all time.
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There have been several theories and interpretations over the years as to why this didn’t happen. One theory says that Gandalf’s secret plan was going to summon the eagles after they left Moria, but he dies before they get there (He does say, “Fly, you fools”, after all).
Another theory says that using the eagles would have made the mission far less covert. Nine eagles flying into enemy territory would have definitely raised alarms.
Two more theories have been posted by user FalseEpiphany on the Tolkien Fans Reddit page.
“Since the Eagles are intelligent beings, the Ring would have tempted and corrupted them,” the poster writes. “Especially if they flew directly over Mt. Doom where its influence was strongest.”
“Mordor's airspace is probably just as subject to Sauron's corruption as the rest of the Black Land.”
The second theory states: “The plan is incredibly dangerous and has a high chance of getting Eagles killed. Yes, they're a goodly race that will fight Sauron on behalf of the other Free Peoples. But they aren't going to risk their lives unnecessarily."
They continued, “The Fellowship doesn't need them to get to Mordor. They helped Gandalf twice because he'd have remained imprisoned in Orthanc or (probably) died of exposure atop Zirakzigil if they hadn't. The Fellowship can manage fine without an air lift.”
Of course, Tolkien fans love a good debate, even on a topic like this which has been discussed to death over the decades.
“They hammer the point home so many times that the only hope is in secrecy,” writes one comment. “Nothing secret about a giant eagle flying over a desolate desert.”
“To me the answer is pretty simply that the opportunity never arises,” writes another. “Frodo never comes near an eagle until after the Ring is destroyed.”
One very important distinction to make is that the Eagles in The Lord of the Rings are not simply just large, intelligent birds. They’re actually a magical race not too different from Gandalf.
So, it makes sense why they’d probably not want to get too involved with earthly affairs, especially when Gandalf thought he himself would also be corruptible to the powers of the One Ring.
“It’s a bit of an issue because an animal can’t be corrupted by the One Ring so it seems obvious that they could just use the Eagles,” a third comment wrote. “But the problem is that unless you’re deep enough into this fandom to read The Silmarillion, you have no way of knowing that they aren’t animals at all.”
Given the powerful nature of the Eagles, some critics have accused them of being deus ex machina - a plot device where a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly resolved using something unexpected or unlikely.
Tolkien himself recognised the implications of using the Eagles too much, and wrote this in one of his letters: “The Eagles are a dangerous 'machine'. I have used them sparingly, and that is the absolute limit of their credibility or usefulness. The alighting of a Great Eagle of the Misty Mountains in the Shire is absurd; it also makes the later capture of Gandalf by Saruman incredible, and spoils the account of his escape.”
It sounds like the Eagle situation lives on, despite all the evidence and definitive proof fans read. Ultimately, it’ll just be one of those aspects of pop culture that fans will continue to debate until the end of time itself.
Topics: The Lord Of The Rings, TV And Film