Why did the Eagles help?

[Maeglin]

Why did the eagles help the company going to the lonely mountain? Aren't they given orders by Manwe? So why would he tell them to help in something so insignificant as reclaiming treasure? And why did Gandalf help? He was sent to ME to help fight Sauron. Also, the eagles seem so much friendlier in the Hobbit than in LotR, they are much more solemn and serious in LotR, why is that? And one more thing, it says in The Hobbit that he later became king of all beasts and wore a golden crown and the other eagles golden collars, does anyone actually think thats true? Wouldn't they be allowed to go to Valinor when they get tired of ME, since they are sort of Maiar themselves?:confused:

[Ithrynluin]

Hom Hoom...lots of questions...:)

First of all,the quest of Erebor was more than just claiming treasure, it meant a lot to the Dwarves - to reclaim their home (or one of their homes) but more importantly it meant getting rid of a great evil which was Smaug.Maybe this was foresight on Gandalf's part - for who knows what harm Smaug could have done later on (and if Sauron somehow persuaded him to assist him in the War of the Ring?)

The Eagles are given orders by Manwë (there is a glimpse of Galadriel having some command over them too but let's forget about that for now),and as the Istari were emissaries of the Valar,the Eagles had to get involved - especially helping the ONLY Maia who hadn't abandoned his mission.

I do think that Eagles get to return to Valinor after a certain amount of time or after their mission is complete. What happened with Thorondor, Lord of the Eagles in the 1st Age? I believe he returned to Manwë's side (either he became weary of ME or he was summoned back by Manwë).

You can also look here (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6833) for some Eagle questions

Everything seems much friendlier and simpler in the Hobbit doesn't it? I don't think the Eagles changed from the time the Hobbit takes place till the time tLOTR happens.You can see the same difference with the Elves for example. They are merry in the Hobbit,drinking wine and all...
And in tLOTR,well...you know.

Hope it helps.:)

[Nóm]

During the writing of The Hobbit, it is my guess that the intention was simply for good story telling, the eagles' reason being that Gandalf had aided the Lord of Eagles in the past, helped him heal an arrow wound.

After putting The Lord of the Rings into the mix, once could imagine that perhaps Manwe played a part in this. Not only to help the dwarves of course, but think what could have happend to the One Ring.
You say that Gandalf's purpose was to aid in the defeat of Sauron, so what was he doing helping dwarves hunt treasure? Well consider that Gandalf's aiding of the dwarves and Bilbo ensured that Bilbo would survive with the ring. These things could not have been in Tolkien's mind (as far as I know anyhow) at the time The Hobbit was written though.


PS: In The Hobbit something is said about most eagles being unfreindly, execpt that family/group that aided Bilbo and them....I dont recall exactly.

[Ariana Undomiel]

I do not think that all of the eagles were the direct servants of Manwe, but I may be wrong. Also, they aided the dwarves in escaping from the goblins because they saw Gandalf in their number and they owed him a debt. Also, Gandalf stated himself in the Lord of the Rings that the troubles of the world were under his care. He was caretaker of the peoples and at the time of the Hobbit he did not have too much to take up his time save for when he was absent from the dwarves' company. This is my theory.

~Ariana

[Glomund]

Gandalf was aiding the dwarves because he knew of Saurons re-emergence and growing power, and was worried about Saurons moving a army to the North to regain the northern passes and re-occupy Angmar. He needed to get rid of Smaug so that the presence of the Iron Hills might keep Sauron from attempting this. It is better explained in "Unfinished Tales" in the section on "The Quest of Erebor".

[Wolfshead]

I was reading over this thread yesterday and on my way down I was thinking, great, no one's pointed out the reason Gandalf and the Eagle's helped, so I can share my vast depth of knowledge with you all. And then I get to the very last post and it is explained. Which annoyed me slightly. Anyway, so I decided to go and look up the reference in Unfinished Tales and quote it to be really helpful. So now I just have to go and find the right page... This is the section I found, I seem to remember another, better part, but I can't find it so perhaps it never existed.
'You may think that Rivendell was out of his reach, but I did not think so. The state of things in the north was very bad. The Kingdom under the Mountain and the Strong Men of Dale were no more. To resist any force that Sauron might send to regain the northern passes in the mountains and the old lands of Angmar there were only the Dwarves of the Iron Hills, and behind them lay a desolation and a Dragon. The Dragon Sauron might use with terrible effect. Often I said to myself: "I must find some means of dealing with Smaug. But a direct stroke against Dol Guldur is needed still more. We must disturb Sauron's plans. I must make the Council see that".
That was taken from the second page of The Quest For Erebor in Unfinished Tales and I'd highly reccomend reading it, it provides a lot of background information about The Hobbit.

So, Gandalf wanted a 'good' force in Erebor to protect the North if any attack came from Sauron in the South. The Battle Of Dale at the same time as The Battle Of Pelennor Fields prevented the North being destroyed by Sauron. There would have been no Queen Of Gondor had Erebor fallen.

This may also have been the reason the Eagles helped, they would have been helping to defeat Sauron.

[Maeglin]

Thanks a lot:). And I bought Unfinished Tales about 2 weeks ago, but I am busy reading The Hobbit and LotR for the 4th time, so I'll get to that in a month or 2, and then I have to read the Sil again.