Eagles of Manwe

[Kirinki54]

"And out of the west there would come at times a great cloud in the evening, shaped as were it and eagle, with pinions spread to the north and the south; and slowly it would loom up, blotting out the sunset, and then uttermost night would fall upon Numenor. And some of the eagles bore lightning beneath their wings, and thunder echoed between sea and cloud." (Akallabeth)

Funny with these shaped clouds isn´t it? A fair warning, if any!(Not heeded as we all well know.)

Why were the eagles so special to Manwe?

Any info or thoughts welcome!

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Kirinki54
"And out of the west there would come at times a great cloud in the evening, shaped as were it and eagle, with pinions spread to the north and the south; and slowly it would loom up, blotting out the sunset, and then uttermost night would fall upon Numenor. And some of the eagles bore lightning beneath their wings, and thunder echoed between sea and cloud." (Akallabeth)

Funny with these shaped clouds isn´t it? A fair warning, if any!(Not heeded as we all well know.)

Why were the eagles so special to Manwe?

Any info or thoughts welcome! I have this picture in my Silmarillion. It is pretty cool. Ted Nasmith is the artist.

The Eagles were special to Manwe because that was the charge given to him in nature by Eru. Manwe controled the winds and all birds of the air, who are dear to him.

Remember Fingon's prayer when he was rescuing Meadhros?(Sp)

[Kirinki54]

Originally posted by Sister Golden Hair
Remember Fingon's prayer when he was rescuing Meadhros?(Sp)

"O King to whom all birds are dear, speed now this feathered shaft, and recall some pity for the Noldor in their need!"

A birdlover! Not a bad chap for a chief arch-angel, that Manwe!

Unless mortals tried to invade his realms of course...

[Ñólendil]

There was of course a reason for his bird-love too. It was when his thought and that of Yavanna's met in the Ainulindalë that the Eagles entered the Music. Manwe is thus partly responsible for his Music (there is Yavanna and {moreso} Eru as well). This is said in Of Aulë and Yavanna in the Quenta Silmarillion. The original text from which the chapter was drawn can be viewed in Vol. XI of HoMe: The War of the Jewels. Looking at the Table of Contents, J. R. R. Tolkien called it Of the Ents and the Eagles. I imagine the name was changed because it also told of the Dwarves.

I find it interesting that Gandalf (a Maia of Manwe {and Varda}) and Radagast (a Maia of Yavanna) both showed a love for birds, and in particular for Eagles. Gandalf tells Beorn in The Hobbit that Radagast is his cousin.

[Kirinki54]

The eagles are actors that literally swoop down from the sky, appear in the action for a brief but important part, and then disappears again. Not much is known of their life and existence between those appearances.

But when you see the texts as a whole (like The Hobbit, LotR, the Silm.) it is striking how present and important they are at all times. They constitute a network of their own, and a separate link to the Valar, e.g. Manwe, and are his assistants. They act and gather information as Michael Martinez said in a thread recently.

It is interesting that there is a sort of parallel in LotR, the crebain working for Sauron (at least that is implied).