On Eagles' Wings

If you are at all familiar with Tolkien’s work, then Bilbo’s cry – proclaiming the arrival of Eagles – will be no stranger to you. Indeed, these plot-armoured birds are somewhat of a hallmark of the Master of Middle-Earth, one rejoiced over and lampooned in equal measure by both lovers and critics of his writing. But they are misunderstood. Tolkien’s Eagles cannot be taken literally; they are a narrative embodiment of the unlooked-for grace, the redemptive turn – winged harbingers of Tolkien’s c