Eagles of the North

During the First Age, the Great Eagles dwelt among the crags of the Encircling Mountains above Gondolin. These were not simple birds, but servants of Manwë the Elder King who watched over Middle-earth. Their lord was Thorondor the King of Eagles, an immense and powerful being with wings that stretched more than fifty metres (or nearly two hundred feet), who aided Elves and Men in their Wars against Morgoth.

In later Ages, Thorondor's descendants could still be found in Middle-earth. They were diminished by comparison with their mighty forebears, but they were still enormous creatures capable of the speech of Elves and Men. They dwelt among the northern peaks of the Misty Mountains, and especially on a sharp outcropping of rock known simply as the Eyrie. At the time of the War of the Ring, their Lord was Gwaihir the Windlord.

The Eagles of the North were generally friendly to the foes of Sauron. They would offer aid in desperate times, but were not so closely allied that they could be called at will. During the Quest of Erebor, for instance, they were ready to help Gandalf and his companions, but mainly through curiosity and a hatred of the Orcs, as well as gratitude for Gandalf's aid in the past. During the Battle of Five Armies at the end of that Quest, they took a more signifcant part, directly intervening to help defeat the Orcs and their allies.

The Eagles played their part in the War of the Ring, too, and especially their Lord Gwaihir. It was Gwaihir who rescued Gandalf from his imprisonment on the Pinnacle of Orthanc, and later recovered the Wizard after the cataclysmic defeat of the Balrog of Moria. In the final battle before the Gates of Mordor, Gwaihir and his brother Landroval led their Eagles southward from their eyries in the North, and drove off the Winged Nazgûl. After the destruction of the Ring, Gwaihir and Landroval, with another swift Eagle named Meneldor, flew to the erupting Mount Doom to carry the Ring-bearer and his companion away to safety.