Great Eagles

The Great Eagles were beings of Arda said to have been "devised" by Manwë Súlimo, leader of the Valar, and were often called the Eagles of Manwë. They were sent from Valinor to Middle-earth to keep an eye on the exiled Ñoldor, and also upon their foe the evil Vala Morgoth, and later upon Sauron.
==History==
===First Age===
The Great Eagles were the messengers and spies of Manwë, and possessed the ability to see through all physical matter, except for the blackness of Morgoth's evil pits.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter I: "Of the Beginning of Days" Morgoth first discovered the limits of their sight prior to the fall of the great stronghold of Utumno.
For a time, the King of the Eagles, Thorondor, kept his eyries at the top of Thangorodrim, the three mighty peaks that Morgoth raised from the Iron Mountains above the gates of Angband. While they lived there, Thorondor helped Fingon rescue Maedhros from one of the sides of Thangorodrim.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIII: "Of the Return of the Noldor" Thorondor's folk later removed their eyries to the Crissaegrim, part of the Echoriad encircling the secret location of Gondolin. There they were friends of King Turgon, and kept any spies away from the mountains.
Thorondor wounded Morgoth in the face immediately after Morgoth's duel with Fingolfin in the Dagor Bragollach, and carried Fingolfin's corpse to the Echoriad, where Turgon would bury him.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XVIII: "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"
The Great Eagles fought alongside the host of Elves, the Valar, and Edain in the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, intervening decisively with Eärendil in a fight with Ancalagon.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIV: "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"
=== Second Age===
In the Second Age, a pair of Eagles had an eyrie in the King's House in Armenelos, the capital of Númenor, until the reign of Tar-AncalimonThe Nature of Middle-earth, Of the Land and Beasts of Númenor, pg 337. when the Kings became hostile to the Valar. The Eagles also watched the peak of Mount Meneltarma, and three Eagles would always appear when someone climbed to the summit and during the festivals of Erukyermë, Eruhantalë, and Erulaitalë.Unfinished Tales, Introduction, Part Two, chapter I: "A Description of the Island of Númenor"
Towards the end of Númenor, the Valar sent storm clouds in the shape of Great Eagles in an attempt to warn the Númenóreans of their folly and impending punishment.The Silmarillion, Akallabêth (The Downfall of Númenor)
===Third Age===
In the Third Age, some of Thorondor's descendants lived at many eyries of the North, with the most important one being called the Great Shelf, which was to the east of the Misty Mountains in Wilderland. These Eagles helped the Elves of Rivendell and Radagast in watching the land and gathering any news of Orcs.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter II: "The Council of Elrond"
In TA 2941, the Lord of the Eagles at the time with a company of Eagles rescued Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo Baggins, and Thorin Oakenshield and thirteen fellow dwarves from Goblin-town, bringing them to the Great Shelf for a night and a day. Weeks later, a number of these Eagles flew to the Lonely Mountain, joining the Battle of Five Armies that had erupted, and assisting in the defeat of goblins and Wargs. The Lord of the Eagles thereafter became "King of All Birds".The Hobbit, Chapter XVII: "The Clouds Burst"
In TA 3018, during the War of the Ring, Gwaihir rescued Gandalf the Grey from the top of Orthanc in Isengard—having been dispatched by Radagast—and again, in the following year, from Zirakzigil high above Moria after Gandalf's duel with the Balrog.
After Mordor's defeat in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the Eagles aided the host of King Elessar at the Battle of the Morannon at Mordor's Black Gate, in March of 3019. The Eagles arrived in time to overthrow some of the Nazgûl astride their fellbeasts. Then Gwaihir, with others of his people such as Landroval his brother and Meneldor, rescued Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee from Mount Doom, nearby, when the One Ring had been destroyed.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter III: "Mount Doom"
After the War of the Ring had finished, the Eagles departed Middle-earth.
==Names==
Elvish words for the Eagles were Sindarin thoron or thorn and Quenya soron.The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin namesThe History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"
==Background==
Tolkien's painting of an eagle on a crag appears in some editions of The Hobbit. According to Christopher Tolkien, the author based this picture on a painting by Archibald Thorburn of an immature Golden Eagle, which Christopher found for him in The Birds of the British Isles by T. A. Coward. However, Tolkien's use of this model does not necessarily mean that his birds were ordinary Golden Eagles.
==Other versions==
In earlier texts, Tolkien had envisioned the Great Eagles as bird-shaped Maiar.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, The Annals of Aman However, he had remembered that he abandoned the concept of the Children of the Valar, and that Gwaihir and Landroval were descendants of Thorondor during the events of The Lord of the Rings. Eventually, Tolkien decided that the Great Eagles were animals that had been "Taught language by the Valar, and raised to a higher level — but they still had no fëar."The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, Myths Transformed
==In adaptations==
===Peter Jackson's film trilogies===
In Peter Jackson's film trilogies (those of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings), the Eagles are smaller than they are in the book. They have been noted to be around 6m (20ft) tall, with a wingspan of no more than 23m (75ft). Also, in the film adaptations the birds are not shown to be capable of speech. 
In An Unexpected Journey, after Thorin and Company are cornered by Azog and his Orc pack after their escape from Goblin-town in the Misty Mountains, they fend off Azog and his followers by starting a fire, but Thorin confronts Azog and is defeated and wounded, but Bilbo and the others defend him by fighting against the Orcs and Wargs until eventually they are rescued by the Eagles, who also take out some of Azog's pet Wargs, much to his fury. They carry Thorin and Company throughout the lands, landing them on the Carrock before departing. 
During the titular events of The Battle of the Five Armies, the Eagles carry Radagast and Beorn into battle against Azog's army; otherwise their role in the films is identical to that of the books, though the Eagle that carries Gandalf from Orthanc is summoned by Gandalf and not sent by Radagast.
===Video games===
*In The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, an eagle named Beleram acts as a supporting character, aiding the players in battle by attacking enemies like Trolls and Uruk-hai.
*In Lego The Hobbit, the eagles act as a transportation form that carry the player(s) all over Middle-earth. The eagles appear in the same scenes as they did in the first two films.
*In The Battle for Middle-earth II, the Elven faction may summon one Great Eagle with the "Eagle's Nest" upgrade to their fortress.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Groot Arende
Albanian 	Shqiponjat e Madhe
Amharic 	ታላላቅ ንስሮች
Arabic 	العقبان العظيمة
Armenian 	Գրեատ Եագլես
Assamese 	গ্ৰেট ঈগলছ
Azerbaijani 	Böyük qartal
Basque 	Handia arranoak
Belarusian Cyrillic	Вялікія арлы
Bengali 	মহান ঈগল
Bosnian 	Veliki orlovi
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Велики орли
Chinese (Hong Kong)	巨鷹
Catalan 	Grans Àguiles
Cebuano 	Dagko nga mga agila
Croatian 	Veliki Orlovi
Czech 	Velcí Orli
Danish 	Store ørne
Dutch 	Grote Adelaars
Esperanto 	Grandaj Agloj
Estonian 	Suured kotkad
Faroese 	Stórur ørnirnar
Filipino 	Dakilang mga Agila
Finnish 	Kotkat
French 	Grands Aigles
Frisian 	Grutte Earnen (Western)
Georgian 	გრეათ ეაგლეს
German 	Große Adler
Greek 	Μεγάλοι αετοί
Gujarati 	ગ્રેટ ઇગલ્સ
Hebrew 	נשרים גדולים
Hindi 	महान ईगल्स
Hungarian 	Nagy Sasok
Icelandic 	Mikill Ernir
Indonesian 	Elang-elang besar
Italian 	Grandi Aquile
Irish Gaelic 	Hiolair Mór
Japanese 	大鷲
Javanese 	Gedhe elang
Kannada 	ಗ್ರೇಟ್ ಹದ್ದುಗಳು
Kazakh 	Ұлы бүркіттер (Cyrillic) Ulı bürkitter (Latin)
Korean 	위대한 독수리
Kurdish 	Egles mezin (Kurmanji)
Cambodian 	ឥន្ទ្រីដ៏ធំ
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Улуу бүркүттөр
Latin 	Magnae Aquilae
Latvian 	Lieliski ērgļi
Lithuanian 	Didieji ereliai
Macedonian Cyrillic	Греат Еаглес
Malaysian 	Helang Besar
Malayalam 	ഗ്രേറ്റ് കഴുകന്മാരുടെ
Malagasy 	Voromahery Lehibe ?
Maltese 	Kbira ajkli
Manx 	Rauee ny Vooarey ?
Marathi 	ग्रेट गरुड
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Их бүргэдүүд
Nepalese 	ठूलो ईगलहरू
Norwegian 	Stor ørner
Pashto 	غوره ایګلونه
Persian 	بزرگ ایگلز
Polish 	Wielkie Orły
Portuguese 	Grandes Águias
Punjabi 	ਮਹਾਨ ਈਗਲਜ਼
Romanian 	Mari Vulturi
Russian 	Великие Орлы
Scottish Gaelic 	Iolair Mór
Serbian 	Велики орлови (Cyrillic) Veliki orlovi (Latin)
Sesotho 	E khōlō lintsu
Sindhi 	عظيم ايگلز
Sinhalese 	මහා රාජාලීන්
Slovak 	Veľké Orly
Slovenian 	Veliki Orli
Spanish 	Grandes Águilas
Swahili 	Tai Kubwa
Swedish 	Stora Örnar
Tajik Cyrillic 	уқобҳо бузург ?
Tamil 	பெரிய கழுகுகள்
Telugu 	గ్రేట్ ఈగల్స్
Thai 	พญาอินทรี
Turkish 	Büyük kartallar
Turkmen 	Beýik bürgütler
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Великі орли
Urdu 	عظیم ایگلز
Uzbek 	Греат Еаглес (Cyrillic) Buyuk Burgutlar (Latin)
Welsh 	Eryr Mawr
Yiddish 	גרויס יגאַלז
==References==
Category:Eagles
Category:Valar animals
Category:Creatures
de:Adler
es:Águilas
fr:Grands Aigles
it:Aquile
pl:Wielkie Orły
ru:Великие Орлы