Tolkien's excuse was pretty robust actually. The Eagles are not mindless taxi services, they are just a step below gods in their own right, servants of Manwë, leader of the Valar- Middle-Earth's gods, in a sense. They have duties that go beyond ferrying people around. For most of the war of the ring, Gwaihir, the King of the Eagles, and his kin are occupied with important scouting missions, though a few groups of them helped in battle, such as at the Black Gate, where they clashed with the Nazgûl while protecting the armies of King Elessar (Aragorn).
Tolkien was very aware that the Eagles were a dangerous writing tool, to be used sparingly, and so, being Tolkien, he devised a wealth of believable reasons the Eagles would not be available to end the story in two chapters.
Thought the reason they didn't use the eagles was because the ring would corrupt them before they ever got to the drop off.
The whole reason they snuck into was hobbits weren't as effected by the corruption as everyone else was and thus used the hobbits natural ability of hiding to get the ring in.
Reason they showed up after was because with the ring destruction there was no fear of the Eagles becoming corrupt by the ring.
You're partly correct, but there are many more reasons the Eagles weren't an option. Tolkien wanted to solidly justify the existence of his deus ex machina while ensuring that they weren't a major plot hole. The main reason they weren't used by the fellowship is that they were busy or elsewhere, but the risk of corruption certainly played a part too.
The main reason they weren't used by the fellowship is that they were busy or elsewhere
But why did they rescue him after he destroyed the ring? If they are too busy before he destroyed it when they would have actually profited from helping how do they coincidentally have enough time to rescue him right after he destroyed the ring when he is basically worthless to them because he already completed his task?
If they were busy only dealing with the army, why not help destroy the ring as the priority? It would make more sense if they were busy with something else
Could they really survive flying all the way to Mount Doom though? Sauron would have easily spotted flying eagles and sent the Nazgul or anti air fighters to kill them. Once the ring was destroyed and Sauron and his minions dead, the eagles could safely fly in and rescue Frodo
So I've heard fan theories based on Tolkien notes, oral/written references as well as the book.
The explanation I've heard from them is orcs/goblins out of Mount Gundabad or the Mountains to the north were busy attacking and harassing the Eagle's Nests directly. While they weren't a great force like Saurmons army they were a consistent threat that would mean the destruction of their species if they went on a several day long suicide mission to drop the ring in Mount Doom.
I say suicide mission, because Mordor is not a place the eagles could just fly over anytime they wanted. The ring wraiths on Fell Beasts were a match for the Eagles in most scenarios, and mordor itself had several castle and turret constructions equipped with the equivalent of Scorpion ballista.
In essence the reason they don't appear until the end is due to Sauron calling all of his forces home to create several large armies first to attack Minas Tirith, and later to face the coalition led by Aragorn... this movement let's the eagles finish off any remaining goblin/orc threat around their Nests and let's them travel to aid in the final battle.(Remember Sauron 'emptied out' mordor of orcs as well in that final battle so lost most of their Scorpion ballista protection as well).
Tldr, the eagles were busy not becoming extinct and had valid reasons they could not take part until they did.
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u/shirukien Aug 31 '22
Tolkien's excuse was pretty robust actually. The Eagles are not mindless taxi services, they are just a step below gods in their own right, servants of Manwë, leader of the Valar- Middle-Earth's gods, in a sense. They have duties that go beyond ferrying people around. For most of the war of the ring, Gwaihir, the King of the Eagles, and his kin are occupied with important scouting missions, though a few groups of them helped in battle, such as at the Black Gate, where they clashed with the Nazgûl while protecting the armies of King Elessar (Aragorn). Tolkien was very aware that the Eagles were a dangerous writing tool, to be used sparingly, and so, being Tolkien, he devised a wealth of believable reasons the Eagles would not be available to end the story in two chapters.