LotR: Why didn't they use Gwaihir...

Cafe Society
1

Why didn’t Gandalf just send Frodo to Mount Doom on the eagle, Gwaihir?
It would’ve all been over in not time at all.

2

Sauron would have noticed/been able to prevent the king of the giant eagles flying into his country?

3

sigh

For the 1,456th time.

This is a frequently discussed question. The obvious answer, that it wouldn’t be much of a story, doesn’t serve here. Otherwise, there are several possible responses.

  1. The eagles were not under Gandalf’s control. In the Hobbit, they were attracted to the fir wood by the fire and commotion, and the Battle of Five Armies by the din and hue of war. Gandalf is rescued from Orthanc by an eagle who journeyed there at Radagast’s request and later from the top of Zirak-zigil perhaps at Manwe’s request.

  2. Assuming that Gandalf did not know of the airborne Nazgul, Sauron did nonetheless have spies in the air in the form of crows, etc. The Ringwraiths were abroad and were capable of sensing the Ring. A flight of eagles bearing Frodo and the Ring would eventually be detected before reaching Mordor. The eagles could not fly the whole way at once so there was danger of assault during a rest stop and again when the eagles reached Mordor.

  3. Gandalf knew of the Nazgul, or suspected that Mordor was otherwise protected from intrusion via the air. A flight of eagles would have been very open and obvious as it approached Mordor.

  4. The eagles could not carry such a burden over such a distance or they would not do so. Also, the eagles were only nominal allies; the Hobbit notes that some are not trustworthy.

  5. Finally, even if the Eagles could have flown Frodo to the entryway of Orodruin, the quest still would have failed. Frodo, unprepared and untempered by his journey, would certainly have claimed the Ring rather than casting it into the fire, and without Gollum along, there is no doubt as to the eventual outcome of that scenario.

JRRT hints in Letters that if Gollum had not caused the Ring’s destruction in the way that he did, Frodo might have had a moment of clarity after claiming the Ring where he could have thrown himself (and it) into fire for a suicidal victory, but I’d venture to say that an untested Frodo would not have been able to accomplish that. The journey was necessary, and Gandalf’s foresight that Gollum would play a pivotal role at the end turned out to be true.

4

I believe we had a thread on this before, but lemme see if I can summarize…

  1. The eagles aren’t Gandalf’s personal taxi service. In order to fly Frodo 1,000+miles to Mordor, Gwaihir would have had to neglect all his other duties as the eyes of the Valar.

  2. The eagles aren’t immune from the temptation of the Ring. If Galadriel herself could be tempted, then surely Gwaihir could be as well.

  3. An eagle with a wingspan of 25 fathoms (150 feet) flying into Mordor unaccompanied would have been easy prey for the winged Nazgul or any of Sauron’s other airborne minions.

  4. Frodo was ultimately unable to destroy the Ring himself, even after travelling all the way by foot. Had he merely been carried there by Gwaihir, there would have been no Gollum to take the Ring from him, and ultimately all would have been lost.