@Simplebay
THIS IS TL;DR...PLEASE IGNORE IF YOU DON'T CARE.
quote:
The Lord of the Eagles would not take them anywhere near where men lived. "They would shoot at us with their great bows of yew," he said, "for they would think we were after their sheep. And at other times they would be right. No!we are glad to cheat the goblins of their sport, and glad to repay our thanks to you, but we will not risk ourselves for dwarves in the southward plains."
They are very much not at anyone's beck and call but I can't seem to find exactly what they were in order to define why they wouldn't help. You would have to read the other books to understand them better. They were created by Manwe, the leader of the Valar, and were sent to middle earth to keep watch over the exiled elves and Morgoth. I believe this is the reason for their involvement with rescuing the dwarves, fighting at the Battle of the Five Armies and fighting at the end of ROTK. They are enemies of Morgoth and Orcs are creations of Morgoth so they keep tabs on Orc movements. Whenever Orcs gather in force or come down from the mountains, the Eagles love to interfere it seems. I also can't remember what action they are referring to when they mention "repaying" thanks.
Really, it's been a long time since I read The Silmarillion. If you are at all interested and don't mind reading a book that is 10 times harder to get through than LOTR, give it a read. You really gain a grander understanding of the events in LOTR. The book also makes the events of LOTR seem so small and insignificant. Sauron himself is a lesser evil than many others in the mythology.
However, if you want my opinion; the reason the Eagles didn't take the Fellowship to mount Doom was because they were not NEAR powerful enough to fight through the Nazgul. Remember in LOTR, when the Eagles came to help at the battle near the Black Gate, the Witch King of Angmar had already been slain. He was either more powerful or just as powerful as Gandalf when in his White incarnation. The other Nazgul would even avoid confrontation with powerful foes without him around (like when Gandalf rides out to stop them from attacking the retreating Gondorian soldeirs and the Nazgul retreat even though they outnumber him). Also, the Eagles would be torn apart by arrows if troops on the ground aren't otherwise pre-occupied.
This is a major problem I had with the movies as it was MUCH larger an issue than they made it out to be. The Lord of the Nazgul was EXTREMELY powerful and was only destroyed because of the ancient enchantments laid on Merry's dagger that he found in the barrow downs outside of the Shire.
Here is a little about what they were:
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Daggers_of_WesternesseOn a side note, if you haven't read LOTR and you are a fan of fantasy, you should man up and read it. Yes, book 4 is like a marathon, but there is so much greatness in that book (the LOTR). In particular, the chapters on the Siege of Gondor and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields are masterpieces of modern fiction, imo. The movie COULD NOT do the scene of Minas Tirith's gates breaking justice. Those couple of pages are probably my favorite in any book I have ever read.
quote:
The drums rolled and rattled. With a vast rush Grond was hurled forward by huge hands. It reached the Gate. It swung. A deep boom rumbled through the City like thunder running in the clouds. But the doors of iron and posts of steel withstood the stroke.
Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud in a dreadful voice, speaking in some forgotten tongue words of power and terror to rend both heart and stone.
Thrice he cried. Thrice the great ram boomed. And suddenly upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground.
In rode the Lord of the Nazgul. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgul, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.
All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free
horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dnnen.
'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you!Go back!Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!'
The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold!he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly
laughter.
'Old fool!' he said. 'Old fool!This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!' And with that he lifted high
his sword and flames ran down the blade.
Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking
nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.
And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.
It's hard to impress on anyone how that passage gives me goosebumps. But read in context with the doom you feel while reading about the siege in the book and because all of this happens before you read about the Ride of the Rohirrim...it is absolutely amazing. Especially when I read it before the movie came out. You had NO idea that Rohan would arrive in time.
Anyways...can't really remember how I got here. I just love talking shop when it comes to LOTR, lol.
EDIT: Just thought I'd mention that it is completely possible the Eagles just don't care or understand the evil/importance of the ring. Like Tom Bombadil, they may just not care and just do what they do...
[This message has been edited by jlb2957 (edited 12/21/2012 8:24a).]
