4 reasons they CANNOT just fly the Eagles to Mordor


4 reasons they CANNOT just fly the Eagles to Mordor



1.) The Eagles are their own complex race, with linguistic capabilities, societal structures, and political alliances. For example, they converse with Gandalf and Bilbo in the Hobbit, are mentioned to be ruled by Thorondor “Lord of the Eagles”, and ally themselves with the armies of Men and Elves. So, taking this into consideration, saying “why can’t the Eagles just fly the ring to Mordor” is pretty much the equivalent of saying “why can’t the Elves just kill all the Balrogs”. Just because the Eagles technically can drop the ring into Mount Doom doesn’t mean they will, all external factors such as casualties and complications considered. 


2.) If the Eagles did agree to fly the ring to Mount Doom, they definitely would have been noticed. The main virtue in entrusting the ring to a band of nine generally inconspicuous companions was that they would attract the least amount of attention as possible. Sauron already knew that the free peoples had the ring; if Sauron had known they were trying to destroy it, he would have concentrated all his forces against them. The Eagles would undoubtably be shot by Orcs and Haradrim, not to mention attacked by the Nazgûl and their fell beasts. Although, one might validly argue that to the powerful Eagles the arrows are of little consequence and they could easily fight the fell beasts. However, the risk of losing the ring during such fights would be too great. 


3.) The Eagles are emissaries of Manwë, the King of the Valar, so they might not be allowed to take the ring to Mordor. Although they aren’t servants and act independently, the Eagles carry out Manwë’s will and report information to him. Since the Valar decided they would not intervene in Middle Earth after they accidentally sank half a continent in the War of Wrath, sending/allowing his Eagles to do most of the work to destroy the ring would probably be considered forbidden by the lawful Manwë. 


4.) The fourth and most important reason…there would be no story! There would be no struggle to sympathize with and subsequent triumph to revel in if the Eagles just brought the ring to Mordor and the tale was ended. Yes, I know this isn’t an in-universe reason, but it’s still important! It’s the lessons learned along the way that give stories their value.

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