There's an interesting blog post here.
Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor?
I think his main point there is - that first, yes - there are many reasons you can come up with to explain why the Eagles couldn't be used. They are mentioned in other answers on this page.
But - then why doesn't Tolkein give any of those reasons in the book? He gives so many reasons for so many other things in the book.
It wouldn't be much of a plot hole in a less thoroughly crafted book, but in the LOR with so much else explained, one wonders a bit why Tolkein didn't explain this in a bit of detail - at least hint on the reason.
Though arguing the other way - Tolkein presents it as a world which the characters in the book have only imperfect knowledge of - and there is no "omniscient author" narration involved.
So that gives less need for a reason sometimes, as there can be reasons that none of the characters involved know about. And the reasons they do give can be wrong - it's like ordinary history - you can't take the things they say as 100% reliable.
Also though he sometimes gives their inner thoughts, still he doesn't share everything his characters think. So the characters may know things that the reader never learns.
So for instance with the eagles - maybe it is less of an issue in the book itself because Gandalf has gone by the time they get close enough to Mordor to be within a distance an eagle could fly carrying a ring bearer - and who knows what Gandalf's plans would have been if he had been there at the time?
So - Gandalf might have either had a plan involving the eagles that he hadn't shared yet - or else - have some reason for not involving them. But because the situation never arises either way - then his plan doesn't get discussed.
And he might well have discussed such a plan in private in Rivendell - say with Elrond - but not shared it with the others in the fellowship because it was too soon - he doesn't tend to give all his plans in advance, but reveals things gradually as the journey progresses. For instance the hobbits only learn details about the plan to go through Moria after they fail to cross the pass.
And some things he thinks about may never come to pass so never get revealed because never needed. So - similarly is quite possible that whatever ideas he had about using or not using eagles might only be revealed as they get close to Mordor, so - within the world of the book - they never get revealed as he is not there and no-one else in the Fellowship has the right connection with the eagles to consider discussing possibility of getting their aid at that point.
Just ideas, I think it's a good question to think about, within the world of LOR.
Outside of the world then is obvious reason - that it would be a less interesting story. But I think can easily be made sense of within the book, only question is - how? Nobody seems to know for sure I think, of the various possibilities, as Tolkein didn't say
I think that's part of what makes it work so well - that though he fills in so many details in places - yet - you always have the feeling while reading it - that they are imperfect glimpses on a complex world and history - glimpses by beings that have limited understanding and knowledge of it - much as we do ourselves for our own world.
Even with his example to inspire them - I think few authors have managed to carry that off to quite the extent that Tolkein did - though there have been many good works of fantasy written since then.
Perhaps he didn't say anything - not because he had no explanations to give - but rather - because he knew the point at which to stop with his explanations?
See also:
There is a "How it should have ended" film on LOTR where Gwahir and two of his fellow eagle lords take the ring over Mordor and drop it in Mount Doom. Why was this strategy any worse than sending the fellowship discreetly into Mordor?
Why didn't Frodo fly on eagles, instead of walking for a year on such dangerous roads to reach Mordor?
and the other answers to this question
In The Lord of the Rings, why didn't Frodo just fly/ride some beast (e.g. the Eagles) to Mount Doom, or at least some of the way there?
Also: Eagles - Tolkien Gateway - Flying the Ring to Mount Doom
Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor?
I think his main point there is - that first, yes - there are many reasons you can come up with to explain why the Eagles couldn't be used. They are mentioned in other answers on this page.
But - then why doesn't Tolkein give any of those reasons in the book? He gives so many reasons for so many other things in the book.
It wouldn't be much of a plot hole in a less thoroughly crafted book, but in the LOR with so much else explained, one wonders a bit why Tolkein didn't explain this in a bit of detail - at least hint on the reason.
ONE POSSIBLE RESPONSE
Though arguing the other way - Tolkein presents it as a world which the characters in the book have only imperfect knowledge of - and there is no "omniscient author" narration involved.
So that gives less need for a reason sometimes, as there can be reasons that none of the characters involved know about. And the reasons they do give can be wrong - it's like ordinary history - you can't take the things they say as 100% reliable.
Also though he sometimes gives their inner thoughts, still he doesn't share everything his characters think. So the characters may know things that the reader never learns.
So for instance with the eagles - maybe it is less of an issue in the book itself because Gandalf has gone by the time they get close enough to Mordor to be within a distance an eagle could fly carrying a ring bearer - and who knows what Gandalf's plans would have been if he had been there at the time?
So - Gandalf might have either had a plan involving the eagles that he hadn't shared yet - or else - have some reason for not involving them. But because the situation never arises either way - then his plan doesn't get discussed.
And he might well have discussed such a plan in private in Rivendell - say with Elrond - but not shared it with the others in the fellowship because it was too soon - he doesn't tend to give all his plans in advance, but reveals things gradually as the journey progresses. For instance the hobbits only learn details about the plan to go through Moria after they fail to cross the pass.
And some things he thinks about may never come to pass so never get revealed because never needed. So - similarly is quite possible that whatever ideas he had about using or not using eagles might only be revealed as they get close to Mordor, so - within the world of the book - they never get revealed as he is not there and no-one else in the Fellowship has the right connection with the eagles to consider discussing possibility of getting their aid at that point.
Just ideas, I think it's a good question to think about, within the world of LOR.
Outside of the world then is obvious reason - that it would be a less interesting story. But I think can easily be made sense of within the book, only question is - how? Nobody seems to know for sure I think, of the various possibilities, as Tolkein didn't say
- Because the Eagles are under the influence of Manwë Sulimo, King of Arda, who typically doesn't meddle in the affairs of Middle Earth.
- Because they are scared of arrows (in the Hobbit, "They would shoot us with their great bows if yew") and vulnerable in the air until Sauron was .destroyed
This is only an issue if they are near to the ground - their problem in the Hobbit was that they would need to land the hobbits somewhere at the end of the journey. Obviously eagles can fly far higher than the furthest you can fire an arrow from a bow - still they would have to get near to the ground at some point on approach to mount Doom and there might be archers there.
Also they have to land somewhere close to Mordor to pick up the hobbits - because they cant fly all the way from the Misty Mountains to Mount Doom with a hobbit. An eagle swooping to pick up a hobbit would be rather obvious - and though there are plenty of areas near to Mordor where there would be unlikely to be archers close to hand - still - the eagles with their fear of arrows might not be keen to land there. - Because they are a bit like the Ents, not that much interested in human affairs.
- Maybe the eagles are especially vulnerable to the influence of the ring (but not too convincing if Frodo doesn't wear it during journey in, hardly seems enough time to corrupt them)
- Just because Gandalf wasn't there to call the eagles to their aid when the time came
- Many other suggestions. I don't mean this as an exhaustive list - see the links below for other suggestions.
I think that's part of what makes it work so well - that though he fills in so many details in places - yet - you always have the feeling while reading it - that they are imperfect glimpses on a complex world and history - glimpses by beings that have limited understanding and knowledge of it - much as we do ourselves for our own world.
Even with his example to inspire them - I think few authors have managed to carry that off to quite the extent that Tolkein did - though there have been many good works of fantasy written since then.
Perhaps he didn't say anything - not because he had no explanations to give - but rather - because he knew the point at which to stop with his explanations?
See also:
There is a "How it should have ended" film on LOTR where Gwahir and two of his fellow eagle lords take the ring over Mordor and drop it in Mount Doom. Why was this strategy any worse than sending the fellowship discreetly into Mordor?
Why didn't Frodo fly on eagles, instead of walking for a year on such dangerous roads to reach Mordor?
and the other answers to this question
In The Lord of the Rings, why didn't Frodo just fly/ride some beast (e.g. the Eagles) to Mount Doom, or at least some of the way there?
Also: Eagles - Tolkien Gateway - Flying the Ring to Mount Doom
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