Hah, I've always wondered about this myself too. The visual of the eagles carrying Frodo away from Mt. Doom makes brings the inconsistency I'm even starker contrast in the final movie.
Totally agree, it pulls me out of the movie every time.
Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
31–40 of 213 posts
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#32No. The whole point of their approach was to remain undetected. Sauron would have detected the eagles presence in Mordor and converged a massive force on the location of Frodo (even 50 or 100 enemies, some nazgul etc, would have been enough to block the ability of Frodo to deposit the ring into the lava).
This point is covered in the article.
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#33No, because, the eagles would have been possessed by the ring.
Wasn't Boromir influenced by just being around the ring?
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#34I enjoyed the thought and analysis that went into this post. It might not be a satisfying answer, but the conclusion seems to be that Tolkien didn't think about eagles as a likely course of action. And if he did, he didn't bother to address it. It's funny to think that we'd never have this conversation if there had been a line like, "for Sauron can sense the great power of the eagles as they approach Mordor." The fac…
Certainly a very interesting analysis, whenever an author uses a deus ex machina, people are bound to come up with explanations, criticisms and the like. Here though it seems like an attempt to you know explain with an inherent internal logic of the Middle Earth.
Agree totally that it is a very great piece of writing.
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#35I can't believe no one realizes the obvious:
Gandalf's "Summon Eagles" spell has a very long cooldown, many decades in length. It was still on cooldown from his use in the Hobbit.
The One Ring melting resets all cooldowns, so he decided to use it to pick the hobbits up for a return ride.
Obviously.
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#36Oh wow! That's a lot of reasoning for making a story boring.This is far from the truly interesting analysis you can make about LotR. [spoiler alert just in case] The one I like the most is the topic of why Frodo fails. When Frodo reaches Mt Doom he finally loses himself to the power of the ring and proclaims himself its master. This is both a product of his character growth and his proximity to Sauron. In the words o…
And surely Frodo's failure implies also that the eagle plan could not have worked: it did not include Gollum
This point is addressed in the article.
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#37How high are Ered Lithui? Can the eagles fly that high? Even if they can, there's still the question of whether a hobbit can survive at that altitude?
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#38As the article points out, it's a question of stealth versus speed, but speed is not necessarily preferable. The powers of Sauron, especially deep within his own domain, are indeed unknown. With even an hour to react, it is quite possible he would be able to conjure up something that would end up in the whole endeavor delivering the ring to him, instead of destroying it. On the other hand, the stealthiness of hobbits is well familiar to Gandalf from his previous experience with having Bilbo as a "burglar", and there are various things that the allied forces can do to further distract Sauron's attention. The power of the eagles is also something that Sauron knows and fears, and that he probably took precautions against; whereas hobbits are creatures that he most likely underestimates.
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#39No, because, the eagles would have been possessed by the ring.
What if you don't tell the eagles on the mission what's up? Even if corruptible, it would take at least some time for them to figure out what's going on and which of the hobbitses they are carrying has the ring.
Re: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor? (2000)
#40Oh wow! That's a lot of reasoning for making a story boring.This is far from the truly interesting analysis you can make about LotR. [spoiler alert just in case] The one I like the most is the topic of why Frodo fails. When Frodo reaches Mt Doom he finally loses himself to the power of the ring and proclaims himself its master. This is both a product of his character growth and his proximity to Sauron. In the words o…
Those letters you link to are fantastic. A book of letters by Tolkien was, indeed, published. I read it 25 years ago, but it seems to still be in print: http://www.amazon.com/Letters-J-R-R-Tolkien-J-R/dp/061805699...
I don't recall much of the letters now, but they did leave a lasting impression of a mind that was both powerful and deeply concerned with ethical questions. I'm not sure I'd have liked Tolkien, but the letters were a great read.