Eagle (Middle-earth)
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222784379
2008-07-01T02:38:03Z
Savidan
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/* Adaptations and influences */
{{Me races}}
In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[fiction]]al universe of [[Middle-earth]], the '''eagles''' were immense flying [[bird]]s that were [[Sapience|sapient]] and could speak. Often emphatically referred to as the '''Great Eagles''',<ref name="FR-CE">{{ME-ref|FR|"The Council of Elrond", p. 275}}</ref><ref name="Silm-RD">{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of the Ruin of Doriath", p. 228|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref> they appear, usually and intentionally as ''[[deus ex machina]]'', in various parts of his [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]], from ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' and the accounts of [[Númenor]] to ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
These creatures are usually assumed to have been similar to actual [[eagle]]s (for example, as an independent species of the subfamily ''[[Buteoninae]]''), but much larger. In ''The Silmarillion'', [[#Thorondor|Thorondor]] is said to have been the greatest of them and of all birds, with a [[wingspan]] of 30 [[fathom]]s (180 ft or 60 m).<ref name="Silm-RN">{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of the Return of the Noldor", p. 110|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref> Elsewhere, the eagles have varied in nature and size both within Tolkien's writings and in later visualisations and films.
==Appearances==
The difference between "common" and Great Eagles is prominently described in ''The Hobbit'':
<blockquote>Eagles are not kindly birds. Some are cowardly and cruel. But the ancient race of the northern mountains were the greatest of all birds; they were proud and strong and noble-hearted.<ref name="H-FPF">{{Harvnb|Hobbit|loc="Out of the Frying-Pan and into the Fire"|Ref=Hobbit 1937}}</ref></blockquote>
===First Age===
Throughout ''The Silmarillion'', the Eagles are particularly associated with [[Manwë]], the ruler of the sky and Lord of the [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]] (angels or "gods"). It is stated that "spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles" brought news from Middle-earth to his halls upon [[Taniquetil]], the highest mountain in the Blessed Realm of [[Valinor]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of the Beginning of Days", p. 40|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref> although later in the book the same is said of birds in general,<ref name="Silm-RN"/> and in the ''[[Valaquenta]]'' of "all swift birds, strong of wing".<ref>{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Valaquenta", p. 26|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref> (On the different conceptions implied by these and similar passages, see ''[[#Nature of the Eagles|Nature]]'' below.)
Upon their first appearance in the main narrative, it is stated that the Eagles had been "sent forth" to Middle-earth by Manwë. He commanded them to live in the mountains north of the land of [[Beleriand]], in order to "watch upon" [[Morgoth]],<ref name="Silm-RN"/> the ultimate evil power who had made war upon the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] and [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]], and to help the exiled [[Noldor]]in Elves "in extreme cases".<ref name="MR138">{{Harvnb|Morgoth's Ring|loc="The Annals of Aman", p. 138|Ref=Morgoth's Ring 1993}}</ref> The Eagles were ruled by [[#Thorondor|Thorondor]], who dwelt (apparently with the majority of his folk) in the [[Echoriath|Encircling Mountains]] to the west of [[Dorthonion]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of the Noldor in Beleriand", p. 125|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref><ref name="Silm-RB">{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of the Ruin of Beleriand", pp. 154, 158–9|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref>
When the Hidden City of [[Gondolin]] was built by [[Turgon]] between the Encircling Mountains, the eagles of Thorondor became his allies, bringing him news and keeping spies off the borders. Because of their guardianship, the [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs]] of Morgoth were unable to approach either the nearby mountains,<ref name="Silm-TFG">{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin", pp. 241, 243|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref> or the important ford of [[Brithiach]] to the south;<ref name="Tuor">{{ME-ref|UT|"Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin" and note 25}}</ref> the eagles' watch had been redoubled after the coming of [[Tuor]],<ref name="Silm-RD"/> enabling Gondolin to remain undiscovered the longest of all Elven realms. When the city fell at last, the eagles of Thorondor protected the fugitives, driving away the orcs that ambushed them at [[Cirith Thoronath]], the Eagles' Cleft north of Gondolin.<ref name="Silm-TFG"/>
The Eagles fought alongside the army of the Valar, Elves and Men during the [[War of Wrath]] at the end of the [[First Age]], when Morgoth was overthrown. In ''The Silmarillion'' it is recounted that after the appearance of winged [[Dragon (Middle-earth)|dragons]], "all the great birds of heaven" gathered under the leadership of Thorondor to [[Eärendil]], and destroyed the majority of the dragons during a battle in the air.<ref>{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of the Voyage of Eärendil", p. 252|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref>
===Second Age===
Tolkien mentioned the eagles in his accounts of the island of [[Númenor]] during the [[Second Age]]. He stated that three eagles guarded the summit of [[Meneltarma]], the Holy Mountain, appearing whenever one approached the hallow and staying in the sky during the [[Númenor#Traditions|Three Prayers]]. The Númenóreans called them "the Witnesses of Manwë" and believed that these eagles had been "sent by him from Aman to keep watch upon the Holy Mountain and upon all the land".<ref name="UT-DN">{{Harvnb|Unfinished Tales|loc="A Description of Númenor"|Ref=Unfinished Tales 1980}}</ref>
There was another eyrie upon the tower of the King's House in the capital [[Armenelos]], always inhabited by a pair of eagles, until the days of [[Tar-Ancalimon]] and the coming of Shadow to Númenor.<ref name="UT-DN"/> In addition, it is stated that many eagles lived upon the hills around [[Sorontil]] in the north of the island,<ref name="UT-DN"/> although in the last case it is unclear whether these were "great" or "common" eagles.
When the Númenóreans had finally forsaken their former beliefs and began to speak openly against the [[Ban of the Valar]], it was in the way of eagle-shaped storm clouds, called the "Eagles of the Lords of the West", that Manwë tried to reason or threaten them.<ref>{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Akallabêth", p. 277|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref>
===Third Age===
By the end of the [[Third Age]], a colony of Eagles lived in the northern parts of the [[Misty Mountains]], as described in ''The Hobbit''. 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 the Mountains. It is stated that these Eagles often afflicted the goblins and "stopped whatever wickedness they were doing"; however, their relationship with the local [[Woodmen of Mirkwood|Woodmen]] was only cool, as the eagles often hunted their sheep.<ref name="H-FPF"/>
During the events of the book, eagles of this colony rescued [[Thorin II Oakenshield|Thorin]]'s company from a band of goblins and [[warg]]s,<ref name="H-FPF"/> ultimately carrying the dwarves to the [[Carrock]].<ref name="H-QL">{{Harvnb|Hobbit|loc="Queer Lodgings"|Ref=Hobbit 1937}}</ref> Later, having espied the mustering of goblins all over the Mountains, a great number of Eagles gathered under [[#Lord of the Eagles|their leader]] and participated in the [[Battle of Five Armies]] near the [[Lonely Mountain]]. It was only with their help that the Dwarves, Men and Elves managed to defeat the goblins.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hobbit|loc="The Return Journey"|Ref=Hobbit 1937}}</ref>
In ''The Lord of the Rings'' it is stated that the Eagles of the Misty Mountains helped the Elves of Rivendell and the [[Wizard (Middle-earth)|Wizard]] [[Radagast (Middle-earth)|Radagast]] in watching the land and in gathering news about the Orcs.<ref name="FR-CE"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Fellowship|loc="The Ring Goes South", p. 288; "A Journey in the Dark", p. 309|Ref=Fellowship 1954}}</ref> In addition, a prominent (though behind-the-scene) role is played by [[#Gwaihir|Gwaihir]], and the Eagles appear in great numbers towards the end of the book. In a parallel to ''The Hobbit'', they arrived at the [[Battle of the Morannon]], helping the Host of the West against the [[Nazgûl]]. Several of them rescued [[Frodo Baggins]] and [[Samwise Gamgee]] from [[Orodruin|Mount Doom]] after the [[One Ring]] had been destroyed.<ref name="RK-FC">{{ME-ref|RK|"The Field of Cormallen", pp. 226–9}}</ref>
==List of named Eagles==
===Thorondor===
The Lord of Eagles in the First Age, said in ''The Silmarillion'' to be the "mightiest of all birds that have ever been", with a wingspan of thirty fathoms and a beak of gold.<ref name="Silm-RN"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Lost Road|loc="Quenta Silmarillion", §97|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref> His name translates from [[Sindarin]], an Elven tongue devised by Tolkien, as 'King of Eagles';<ref name="Etym_THORON-, TĀ-">{{Harvnb|Etymologies|loc=entries THORON-, TĀ-|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref> its cognate form in [[Quenya]], another Elven language, is '''Sorontar'''.<ref name="Etym_THORON-, TĀ-"/><ref name="MR409-11">{{Harvnb|Morgoth's Ring|loc="Myths Transformed", VIII, pp. 409–411|Ref=Morgoth's Ring 1993}}</ref> He led the eagles during most of their appearances in ''The Silmarillion'', and has a significant role of his own.
Thorondor first enters the narrative when he helped the Elven-prince [[Fingon]] rescue his kinsman [[Maedhros]] from imprisonment upon [[Thangorodrim]].<ref name="Silm-RN"/> After the [[Dagor Bragollach]], he saved [[Fingolfin]]'s body from defilement by his slayer Morgoth, giving the Dark Lord a scar on his face and carrying the Elven-king's corpse to the Encircling Mountains north of Gondolin, where it was buried by Turgon.<ref name="Silm-RB"/> Shortly afterwards, Thorondor espied [[Húrin]] and [[Huor]] at the feet of the Mountains, and sent two of his servants to fetch them and bear to Gondolin, fulfilling thus the intentions of the Vala [[Ulmo]].<ref name="Silm-RB"/> Thorondor and two other eagles rescued [[Lúthien]] and the wounded [[Beren]] from the doors of [[Angband (Middle-earth)|Angband]] during their [[Quest of the Silmaril]], taking them to [[Doriath]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of Beren and Lúthien", p. 182|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref>
===Lord of the Eagles===
While in ''The Silmarillion'' the title "Lord of the Eagles" applies to Thorondor, in ''The Hobbit'' it evidently has another significance. No eagles are identified by name in this book, and titles "the Lord of the Eagles" or "the Great Eagle" distinguish their leader from others. It is stated that once he had been healed from an arrow-wound by [[Gandalf]], and that it was in the memory of this service that his eagles helped the dwarves.<ref name="H-FPF"/> After his participating in the Battle of Five Armies, he was given the title ''King of All Birds'' and wore a golden crown.<ref name="H-QL"/>
Many readers assume that it was Gwaihir that led the eagles in this story. However, in ''[[The Return of the King]]'' Gandalf said that Gwaihir had carried him twice before the Battle of the Morannon,<ref name="RK-FC"/> while the proper count would have been three or four times if Gwaihir and the Lord of the Eagles had been the same individual.
===Gwaihir===
An eagle from the Misty Mountains that helped Gandalf before and during the [[War of the Ring]]; his name means '''Windlord''' in Sindarin,<ref>{{Harvnb|Etymologies|loc=entries WAIWA-, KHER-|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref> and he is said to have been a descendant of Thorondor and the greatest and the swiftest of the Eagles of the North by the end of the Third Age.<ref name="FR-CE"/><ref name="RK-FC"/> When the Eagles heard about [[Gollum]]'s escape from Mirkwood, they sent Gwaihir to bear the news to [[Isengard]], as they had been told by Radagast; the eagle espied Gandalf imprisoned upon the top of the tower and carried him to [[Edoras]].<ref name="FR-CE"/> Next time, Gwaihir was sent to seek for Gandalf by [[Galadriel]]; he found the wizard, who had recently defeated the [[Durin's Bane|Balrog]], upon the summit of [[Celebdil]] and took him to [[Lothlórien]].<ref name="TT-WR">{{ME-ref|TT|"The White Rider", pp. 98–9, 106}}</ref> Upon Gandalf's orders, Gwaihir watched the river [[Anduin]] and brought him news about the [[Fellowship of the Ring (characters)|Company of the Ring]].<ref name="TT-WR"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Fellowhip|loc="The Great River", p. 401|Ref=Fellowship 1954}}; {{Harvnb|Two Towers|loc="The Riders of Rohan", p. 25|Ref=Two Towers 1954}}</ref> The eagle participated in the Battle of the Morannon, and when Mount Doom erupted, he carried Gandalf to it, in order to save Frodo and Sam.<ref name="RK-FC"/>
Eagles named "Gwaihir" and "Landroval" (or, in even earlier texts, "Gwaewar" and "Lhandroval") also appear in J. R. R. Tolkien's manuscripts of ''The Silmarillion'', where they are stated to have been the two vassals of Thorondor who helped to bear Beren and Lúthien from Angband, several thousand years before the War of the Ring.<ref name="LR301-3">{{Harvnb|Lost Road|loc="Quenta Silmarillion", Chs. 12–15, p. 301–3|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref><ref>{{ME-ref|WJ|"The Grey Annals", p. 68}}</ref> The passage was removed from the published ''Silmarillion'' by [[Christopher Tolkien]] to escape the seeming discrepancy with ''The Lord of the Rings'', although later he admitted that he was unable to interpret his father's intentions and regretted the suppression.<ref name="LR301-3"/>
===Landroval===
An eagle who helped to carry Frodo and Sam from Mount Doom, said in ''The Lord of the Rings'' to have been the brother of Gwaihir and descendant of Thorondor.<ref name="RK-FC"/> His name means 'wide-wing' in Sindarin,<ref>{{Harvnb|Etymologies|loc=entries LAD-, RAM-|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref> and it was also used for an eagle of the First Age, either the same as that of the Third or not (see above).
===Meneldor===
The third companion of Gwaihir and Landroval in the rescue of Frodo and Sam. His name means 'Sky-king' in Sindarin,<ref>{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc=Appendix, entry ''menel''|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Etymologies|loc=entries TĀ-|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref> and he is given a sobriquet "young and swift".<ref name="RK-FC"/>
==Concept and creation==
The Great Eagles ruled by "Thorndor" [''[[sic]]''] already appeared in the first tale about Middle-earth that Tolkien wrote in late 1910s, ''The Fall of Gondolin'', published in ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]''. The role of Thorondor was expanded in stages, with the successive introduction of the relevant plot elements; and after the conception of Númenor entered in 1930s, the notion that the eagles were the messengers of Manwë was further elaborated. Soon after, Tolkien introduced the eagles into ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', repeating in the latter some plot elements and names present in older writings.
In several early texts Tolkien wrote that, before moving to Crissaegrim after the death of Fingolfin, the eagles of Thorondor nested upon the peaks of [[Thangorodrim]] above Morgoth's fortress of Angband;<ref>{{ME-ref|SM|The ''Sketch'', §15; The ''Quenta'', §15; p. 66}}</ref><ref name="Tuor"/> Christopher Tolkien assumes that this idea was later abandoned.<ref name="Tuor"/> Another rejected proposal was that after Beren's death Lúthien would not pass of grief, but would be carried to Valinor by Thorondor who would have been "summoned" by [[Melian]] the Maia.<ref name="LR301-3"/>
The eagles possessed a notable characteristic that distinguished them from other birds in early writings. Tolkien originally described that [[Eä]], the World, was bounded by the [[Walls of Night]], and that the space above the surface of the Earth up to the Walls was divided into three regions;<ref>{{Harvnb|Shaping of Middle-earth|loc="Ambarkanta"|Ref=Shaping of Middle-earth}}</ref> common birds could keep aloft only within the lower layer,<ref>{{Harvnb|Lost Road|loc="The Fall of Númenor", (i), p. 12|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref> while the Eagles of Manwë could fly "beyond the lights of heaven to the edge of darkness".<ref name="Ainulindale-LR">{{Harvnb|Lost Road|loc="Ainulindalë", p. 162|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref> The conception of the limited world and of the layers of the firmament was rejected during the writing of ''The Lord of the Rings''.<ref name="Ainulindale-MR">{{Harvnb|Morgoth's Ring|loc="Ainulindalë"|Ref=Morgoth's Ring 1993}}</ref>
The eagle-shaped clouds that appeared in Númenor were one of Tolkien's recurring associations with the downfall of the island, just like the images of a sloping mountain and of an overwhelming wave;<ref>{{ME-ref|SD|"The Notion Club Papers"}}</ref> they were also introduced by him into two abandoned time-travel stories, ''[[The Lost Road]]'' and ''[[The Notion Club Papers]]''. In a sketch for the former, Tolkien projected that it would be "Sorontur" (Thorondor) himself that appeared in Númenor to the protagonist of the story.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lost Road|loc="The Lost Road", (ii), p. 75|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref>
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 [[Thomas Coward]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hobbit|loc=Foreword to the 50th-anniversary edition|Ref=Hobbit 1937}}</ref> However, Tolkien's use of this model does not necessarily mean that his birds were ordinary Golden Eagles.
===Nature of the Eagles===
The question of the Great Eagles' nature was faced by Tolkien with apparent hesitation. In early writings there was no need to define it precisely, since he imagined that, beside the Valar, "many lesser spirits... both great and small" had entered the [[Eä]] upon its creation;<ref>{{Harvnb|Lost Road|loc="Quenta Silmarillion", §2, p. 204|Ref=Lost Road 1987}}</ref> and such talking and sapient creatures as the Eagles or [[Huan]] the Hound, in Tolkien's own words, "have been rather lightly adopted from less 'serious' mythologies".<ref name="MR409-11"/> The phrase "spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles" in ''The Silmarillion'' derives from that stage of writing.<ref name="Ainulindale-LR"/>
After the completion of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien introduced a strict "system" of living creatures:
*Incarnates or the "[[Children of Ilúvatar]]": Elves, Men, [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]] and Orcs, — those who possessed ''[[Fëa and hröa|fëar]]'' or souls, with the defining characteristic of being able to speak;<ref name="QE">{{Harvnb|War of the Jewels|loc="Quendi and Eldar", pp. 405–6|Ref=War of the Jewels 1994}}</ref>
*Self-incarnates or the [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]] and [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maiar]] — "angelic" spirits that "arrayed" themselves in bodily forms of the Incarnates or of animals,<ref name="Ainulindale-MR"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Morgoth's Ring|loc="Myths Transformed", (VIII) p. 412, note 4|Ref=Morgoth's Ring 1993}}</ref> able to communicate both by thought and speech;<ref name="QE"/>
*animals, without the soul and unable to speak.
{{further|[[Fëa and hröa]]}}
For some time Tolkien considered the Eagles as bird-shaped Maiar;<ref name="MR138"/> however, later he realised that the statement about Gwaihir and Landroval's descent from Thorondor had already appeared in print in ''The Lord of the Rings'',<ref name="MR409-11"/> while the notion of the "Children" of the Valar and Maiar had been rejected by him long before.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morgoth's Ring|loc="The Annals of Aman", p. 69; "The Later ''Quenta Silmarillion''", Ch. 1, pp. 151–2|Ref=Morgoth's Ring 1993}}</ref> In the last of his notes on this topic, dated by his son to late 1950s, Tolkien decided that the Great Eagles were common animals that had been "taught language by the Valar, and raised to a higher level — but they still had no ''fëar''."<ref name="MR409-11"/>
However, a different conception may be present in a yet later essay on the origin of the [[Ent]]s which, according to Christopher Tolkien, is likely to derive from 1963 and was included into the published ''Silmarillion''.<ref>{{Harvnb|War of the Jewels|loc="Of the Ents and the Eagles", pp. 340–341|Ref=War of the Jewels 1994}}</ref> Contemporary J. R. R. Tolkien's notes define the Ents as "either souls sent to inhabit trees, or else that slowly took to the likeness of trees";<ref>{{ME-ref|Letters|no.247, p. 335}}</ref> the essay agrees in this, adding that the Ents appeared shortly after the [[Awakening of the Elves]], when "the thought of [[Yavanna]] ... [summoned] spirits from afar". Apparently the same origin for the Great Eagles is implied by the speech of Manwë within the essay: "... before the Children awake there shall go forth with wings like the wind the Eagles of the Lords of the West. ... In the mountains the Eagles shall house, and hear the voices of those who call upon [the Valar]."<ref>{{Harvnb|Silmarillion|loc="Of Aulë and Yavanna", p. 46|Ref=Silmarillion 1977}}</ref>
==Adaptations and influences==
{{Tolkien-sectstub|date=December 2007}}
[[Image:Moon moth.jpg|thumb|right|Moon moths presage the appearance of the Eagles in Peter Jackson's film trilogy]]
Different adaptations of Tolkien's books treated both the nature of the Eagles and their role in the plots with varying level of faithfulness to originals. The first scenario for an animated motion-picture of ''The Lord of the Rings'' proposed to Tolkien in 1957 was turned down because of several cardinal deviations, among which [[Humphrey Carpenter]] recorded that "virtually all walking was dispensed with in the story and the Company of the Ring were transported everywhere on the backs of eagles".<ref>{{ME-ref|Bio|"Cash or kudos", p. 229}}</ref>
In [[The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy]] directed by [[Peter Jackson]], these creatures are 6 m (20 ft) tall with a maximum wingspan of 23 m (75 ft).{{ME-fact|date=December 2007}} A notable deviation from the book is that Gandalf summons Gwaihir to Orthanc with the aid of a by-passing [[moth]] (the role of Radagast was not included in the film). The same moth also appears to him before the Eagles arrive at the Battle of the Morannon.
Although giant birds of prey appear in legends of many cultures, Tolkien's Great Eagles may have been the direct inspiration for similar creatures in various modern fantasy genres, such as the [[Giant eagle (Dungeons & Dragons)|Giant eagles]] in the role-playing game [[Dungeons & Dragons]].
==References==
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;General references
* {{ME-ref|Silm}}
* {{ME-ref|TH}}
* {{ME-ref|LROW|Etym}}
* {{ME-ref|MR}}
[[Category:Middle-earth races]]
[[Category:Middle-earth animals]]
[[Category:Middle-earth lists]]
[[Category:Fictional birds of prey]]
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