A title given to the Lord of the Eagles of the northern Misty Mountains. He was instrumental in aiding the Quest of Erebor, rescuing Gandalf and the Dwarves from marauding Goblins and Wargs, and later bringing his fellow Eagles to turn the tide in the decisive Battle of Five Armies. He and his people dwelt on the Eyrie, a tall pinnacle of rock emerging from the plains somewhat eastward of the Misty Mountains themselves.
The Great Eagle was a bird of considerable importance, and indeed we're told that he went on to become the King of All Birds and bear a golden crown. His title of 'Great Eagle' reflects his heritage from the Great Eagles of the First Age, especially their Lord, the immense Eagle known as Thorondor. The Great Eagle may indeed have been a direct descendant of Thorondor (both carried the title 'Lord of Eagles') though details of his history remain somewhat unclear.
Notes
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Matters are somewhat confused over the various noble titles used by the Eagles. We cannot be sure that these titles were passed on from Eagle to Eagle as they would be among Men or Elves, and we have very few cases where the same title is used of different birds. The sole exception is 'Lord of Eagles', which is used of both Thorondor in the First Age and by the chieftain of the Eagles of the North in the Third Age. We also have a potentially equivalent 'King of Eagles', which is only specifically recorded as belonging to Thorondor. Similarly the title 'Great Eagle' might very reasonably also have been given to Thorondor, but in practice is only explicitly associated with the Lord of Eagles in the Misty Mountains.
All three of these titles (Great Eagle, King of Eagles and Lord of Eagles) might very possibly be interchangeable titles for the chief Eagle in Middle-earth at a particular time, but direct evidence for this is lacking. Similarly any or all of these titles might have belonged to Gwaihir, who was clearly the pre-eminent Eagle of his time, but in practice none is directly applied to him in any of the canonical sources. |
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- Updated 22 November 2019
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