LogFAQs > #980102374

action52 posted...

This is the best answer.

But also, the books and movies make a point of driving home how important it is that they move secretly and avoid being detected by Sauron as they move through Mordor. How the idea EVER caught on that giant birds flying in the open sky would be a good idea is beyond me.

It caught on because the Eagles are basically totally unchallenged in the series.

They save the group multiple times in The Hobbit, and basically win the Battle of Five Armies by themselves. Theyre able to easily extract Gandalf from Isengard, and then, after a long absence, they are somehow able to roll up on the Black Gates, seemingly out of nowhere, with nobody being aware they were coming or anywhere near there. Through all of this we neither see nor hear of them suffering a single casualty.

This creates the image of the enemy being particularly inept at dealing with the eagles, as they're basically uncontested, undefeated, undetectable stealth bombers able to traverse the entire country nearly instantly. Now, that's NOT what they are, and Tolkien's reasons for not including them with the Fellowship are very clear. But to a plain book reader/movie watcher, it's easy to see why they'd at least raise the question.