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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest 6801328" data-source="post: 7696991">You're right, it doesn't preclude such knowledge.  But neither is there any evidence that they do know any such thing.  If we want to start including as valid anything that wasn't explicitly prohibited by Tolkien, this debate is at risk of wandering off into bizarre territory.  (Lightsabers?  Tolkien didn't say that the elves couldn't make lightsabers, did he?)Yes, this is a very sensible point and I'll be getting back to it shortly.  But I'll point out that a Hobbit riding on an Eagle would still be Hobbits playing a role.This is silly.  He's just going to snap his fingers and suddenly there's going to be a violent storm...where, exactly?  From LotR:In other words, it never occurred to Sauron that anybody would try to destroy the ring.  So if he noticed some giant Eagles flying into his domain he would think...what?  And remember, the only reason he became aware of the magnitude of his folly was that Frodo actually put the ring on.  And did he summon a tornado to suck Frodo out of the doorway of Sammath Naur?  Did he command lightning to strike him dead?  No...he sent his Ringwraiths.  Let's face it, the Eagles would have worked brilliantly.So why didn't Elrond and Gandalf ask them to?  Because...big shocker coming here...they aren't real people making optimal decisions.  Tolkien didn't have his characters do any such thing because the story would have sucked.  The only rationale we need is the one you stated: Gandalf knew that Bilbo was 'meant' to find the Ring, and that somehow Hobbits would play an important role in this.  So we don't need to explain why the Eagles weren't used, or why magical weapons weren't handed out.  The answer is simply that doing so wouldn't have been as good of a story.EDIT: And before I forget...the argument that Frodo was going to be able to sneak in because he was stealthy is nonsense: Hobbits going into Mordor alone was never part of the plan.  They sent some decidedly non-sneaky companions with him.  So, yeah, it turned out that way but you can't argue that the Eagles weren't utilized because they would be too obvious, so they sent Aragorn and Boromir and Gandalf to walk in instead.  Helloooooo????</blockquote>

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