Eagles

First Age

At a command of Manwë, the Lord of the Eagles, Thorondor, kept his eyries at the top of the Thangorodrim, the volcanoes above Angband, for a time. While he lived there, Thorondor helped Fingon rescue Maedhros.

Thorondor wounded Morgoth in the face after Morgoth's battle with Fingolfin, and he carried Fingolfin's body to the Echoriath, where he was buried by Fingon. Years later, three of the Great Eagles came to the aid of Beren and Lúthien, bearing them away from Thangorodrim after both had drained their strength in the Quest for the Silmaril.

Thorondor's folk later removed their eyries to the Crissaegrim, part of the Echoriad near Gondolin. There they became friends of Turgon, bringing him news and keeping spies off their borders. Because of their guardianship, Orcs were unable to approach either the nearby mountains or the important ford of Brithiach to the south.

They redoubled their watch after the coming of Tuor, enabling Gondolin to remain undiscovered for the longest of all Elven realms. When the city fell at last, the Eagles of Thorondor protected the survivors, driving away the orcs that ambushed them at Cirith Thoronath, the Eagles' Cleft north of Gondolin.

The Eagles fought alongside the army of the Valar, the Elves, and the Edain during the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age. After the appearance of winged dragons, all the great birds gathered under Thorondor and aided Eärendil, destroying the majority of the dragons.

Second Age (Númenor)

In the Second Age, a pair of Eagles had an eyrie in the King's House in Armenelos, the capital of Númenor, until the reign of Tar-Ancalimon, when the Kings of Númenor became hostile to the Valar.

The Númenóreans believed that three Eagles, the Witnesses of Manwë, were sent by Manwë to guard the summit of Meneltarma. These appeared whenever one approached the hallow and stayed in the sky during the Three Prayers.

Many Eagles lived upon the hills around Sorontil in the north of the island.

Eagle-shaped storm clouds, called the "Eagles of the Lords of the West", were sent by Manwë when he tried to reason with or threaten the Númenóreans.

Third Age

By the end of the Third Age, a colony of Eagles under the Great Eagle lived in the northern parts of the Misty Mountains. They mostly nested upon the eastward slopes not far from the High Pass leading from Rivendell, and thus in the direct vicinity of the Goblin-town beneath; often afflicting the goblins and disrupting their plans.

These Eagles helped Radagast and the Elves of Rivendell in watching the land and in gathering news about the Orcs. However, as a result of feeding on the sheep of the local Woodmen of Mirkwood, their relationship with Men was strained, causing them to fear men's bows.

The Eagles rescued Thorin and Company from a band of Goblins and Wargs and carried them to the Carrock. Some days later, they spied the mustering of goblins all over the Mountains to be gathered under the Great Eagle in the Battle of Five Armies near Erebor. It was only with their help that the Dwarves, Men and Elves managed to defeat the goblins. The Great Eagle became known as the King of All Birds.

The Eagles appeared in great numbers at the Battle of the Morannon, helping to fight against the Nazgûl. It was Gwaihir, his brother Landroval, and Meneldor who rescued Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee from Mount Doom after the One Ring had been destroyed.

Thoron is "eagle" in both Sindarin and Quenya (soron in a Quenya without the Shibboleth of Fëanor).

In Gnomish, one of Tolkien's early conceptions of an Elven language, a word for "eagle" is ioroth (poetic form ior). A cognate of the same meaning in Qenya is the poetic ea(r) or earen. Another Gnomish word for "an eagle" is thorn. The Thornhoth was the name for the eagle-folk in this early version.

Tolkien's view of the Eagle's nature alternated over time. In early stages, he considered the Eagles as bird-shaped Maiar, while at other points he speculated that they may be beasts granted the ability to speak by the Valar.

In The Silmarillion, Eagles are described as:

In a text from c. 1959, Tolkien speculated that the Eagles and Huan could be Maiar, but that they could also be beasts elevated by the Valar to possess the ability to speak.

In a later text, the Eagles were first envisioned by Manwë during the Music of the Ainur, and appeared before the awakening of the Elves.

In a later c. 1970 text, the "mighty speaking eagles" are definitively referred to as Maiar:

Some readers have questioned why the Eagles simply didn't carry Frodo into Mordor and drop the One Ring in Mount Doom, or at least aid the Fellowship at some part of the journey, such as helping them avoiding the Redhorn Gate and Moria.

In Letter 210, Tolkien said that the Eagles were "not taxis," and reiterated that the Fellowship's mission depended upon secrecy, so depicting a long arduous journey on foot was required to maintain their stealthy approach. Tolkien further states that Eagles should be used carefully as a plot device, and described them as a "dangerous machine" that he used sparingly.

Tolkien wrote of the Eagles in explicit terms of eucatastrophe in Letter 89, where he describes their coming to save the day in The Hobbit. Since eucatastrophe is by nature unexpected, the Eagles by design would not and could not have been considered by the other characters as available or feasible options to take.

Furthermore, the Great Eagles would have been fairly obvious and defenseless to Sauron, who would have seen them coming from a distance and caused to quickly deduce their plan. Ringwraiths and their Fell beasts and/or Sauron's legions of archers and his siege machines would most likely have stopped the attempt upon spotting the Eagles in the vicinity of Mordor. Thus, a small party was needed to go on foot to minimize the risk of attracting notice.

Tolkien's painting of an eagle on a crag appears in some editions of The Hobbit. According to Christopher Tolkien, the author based this picture on a painting by Archibald Thorburn of an immature Golden Eagle, which Christopher found for him in The Birds of the British Isles by T.A. Coward. However, Tolkien's use of this model does not necessarily mean that his birds were ordinary Golden Eagles.

In the earliest version of the fall of Gondolin, the king of the Eagles, Thorndor (later Thorondor), had no love for Melko (later Melkor) because he had caught many Eagles and tortured them for the magic words that would enable him to fly (in order to challenge Manwë for command of the air). When the Eagles refused to reveal the magic words Melko cut off their wings in order to fashion a pair for himself, "but it availed not".

Eagles in adaptations

2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:

The Eagles are associated with moths; while Gandalf is trapped on the summit of Orthanc, he whispers to a moth and lets it go. Later, when confronted by Saruman, the moth reappears; Gwaihir arrives and Gandalf escapes on its back.

2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King:

Right before the Battle of the Morannon, Gandalf notices a moth flies near him. Then the Eagles appear and fly against the fell beasts. They pick up Frodo and Sam from the slopes of Orodruin.

2012: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:

As Thorin and Company are trapped in a falling tree by the band of Azog and their Wargs, Gandalf uses a moth to summon them to his aid. They grasp the wargs and drop them onto the rocks or in the fire, pick up an unconscious Thorin, and save the protagonists from falling. Unlike in the book, they drop the characters on the Carrock and leave; as in the other film adaptations, the Eagles don't appear sentient and there is no dialogue between them and the characters.

2014: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies:

The Eagles participate in the battle, and upon their arrival one drops Beorn in bear-form into the field of battle. Radagast, who is implied to be responsible for their participation, also rides one into the battle.

2024: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:

2024: The War of the Rohirrim:

1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 25/05/2026.