Forums:Eagles

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Revision as of 21:14, 10 September 2012 by Ederchil (talk | contribs)


There's something that I've wondered about for some time. At the Council of Elrond, no one, not even Gandalf, suggests that the Eagles be recruited to fly the Fellowship, first to Gondor, and then, after a period of practice and training, to Mount Doom. The Council occurs during an opportune window in the story, since at that time, the Eagles had already proven their capability to transport passengers (e.g., Gandalf's air rescue from Orthanc), and Sauron has not yet had time to re-outfit the Nazgul with airborne fell beasts. They could fly the Company from Rivendell to a suitable location in Gondor, then take some time to probe Mordor's air defenses. At this point, Sauron, is probably still focussing on places farther to the North and West to find the Ring and its carriers. Once it's established that the Eye of Barad-dur is not directed due west, Frodo and some of his companions can be flown to the Sammath Naur before the Ring has had time to cause him enough spiritual corrosion for him to want to keep it.

Any thoughts? Unsigned comment by Jgoldberg (talk • contribs).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jgoldberg, and welcome to Tolkien Gateway. This is one of the classic "mistakes" appearing in Tolkien's works. However, the main area of Tolkien Gateway is not the place to discuss such issues -- there are many good forums where people love to indulge in such discussions (a recommendation: The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza). Also, feel free to join our IRC chat, where people might be willing to discuss the issue! --Morgan 20:14, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
Though I remember from my own forum days that if a newbie comes up with "Why couldn't the eagles..." their immediate reaction is "Not this #%$#%$#$% again!" and probably no-one will take the time to actually answer it, instead pointing you at the myriad of other forum posts on the topic. --Ederchil (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 21:14, 10 September 2012 (UTC)