I think there's a more fundamental answer to the question "Why didn't they just fly the eagles to Mordor", one rooted in an understanding of the theology of Middle-Earth, which is deeply steeped in Tolkien's personal Christian faith. (Though somewhat tangentially related to the Doylist answer of it not being much of a story if they did.)
The eagles are essentially angels in the context of the story – the question is basically analogous to asking "Why didn't they just send some angels to assassinate Hitler in World War II?" They represent divine assistance, something which (in the Christian tradition) can be requested, but never coerced or compelled. Gandalf isn't a Dungeons & Dragons cleric with a Summon Giant Eagles spell he inexplicably doesn't use; he's a divine emissary himself, already sent to Middle-Earth to provide assistance in the fight against evil, but one who has no authority over the eagles and no way to reliably contact them in the books. (All of this is, admittedly, made more clear and expanded upon in The Silmarillion and other such works, but the salient parts can be deduced from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.)
While the question of "Why didn't they just fly the eagles to Mordor" doesn't really make sense in this view (it's "not even wrong" in the famous scientific parlance), it could be rephrased to something more sensible like "Why weren't the eagles sent to carry them to Mordor", or (much more generally), "Why wasn't divine assistance given (to the world, to Frodo, etc.) to help with defeating evil?" To which the answer, of course, is it was! There's Gandalf himself, for one, and one of the major themes of LotR is that help and aid may come from unlikely places; from hobbits, overlooked by the major races and powers of the world, but also from unlikely friends and even enemies. The journey is not without struggle or cost, but it is doable. In the end, the simple answer to "Why weren't the eagles sent to help" is "They were – when they were needed."
The eagles are essentially angels in the context of the story – the question is basically analogous to asking "Why didn't they just send some angels to assassinate Hitler in World War II?" They represent divine assistance, something which (in the Christian tradition) can be requested, but never coerced or compelled. Gandalf isn't a Dungeons & Dragons cleric with a Summon Giant Eagles spell he inexplicably doesn't use; he's a divine emissary himself, already sent to Middle-Earth to provide assistance in the fight against evil, but one who has no authority over the eagles and no way to reliably contact them in the books. (All of this is, admittedly, made more clear and expanded upon in The Silmarillion and other such works, but the salient parts can be deduced from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.)
While the question of "Why didn't they just fly the eagles to Mordor" doesn't really make sense in this view (it's "not even wrong" in the famous scientific parlance), it could be rephrased to something more sensible like "Why weren't the eagles sent to carry them to Mordor", or (much more generally), "Why wasn't divine assistance given (to the world, to Frodo, etc.) to help with defeating evil?" To which the answer, of course, is it was! There's Gandalf himself, for one, and one of the major themes of LotR is that help and aid may come from unlikely places; from hobbits, overlooked by the major races and powers of the world, but also from unlikely friends and even enemies. The journey is not without struggle or cost, but it is doable. In the end, the simple answer to "Why weren't the eagles sent to help" is "They were – when they were needed."
Statistics: Posted by Philadelphus — 27 Nov 2024 07:14