Gwaihir, also known as Gwaihir the Windlord, was lord of the Great Eagles during the Third Age.
Biography[]
Gwaihir was descended from Thorondor, the greatest Eagle who ever lived. It was said that he and his brother Landroval aided Thorondor in rescuing Beren and Luthien from Angband.[1]
War of the Ring[]
In the summer of TA 3018, Gandalf asked Radagast the Brown to send word among his friends the birds to learn what they could of the Enemy's plans. The Great Eagles flew far and wide and gathered news of the Nazgûl, the muster of Orcs and Wargs, and the escape of Gollum from Mirkwood.
Gwaihir rescues Gandalf from Orthanc
Gwaihir went to Isengard to bring this news to Gandalf. In the early hours of September 18, he found Gandalf imprisoned by Saruman on the pinnacle of Orthanc. Gwaihir bore Gandalf away, and when the wizard said that he needed a horse, Gwaihir set him down in the land of Rohan.
Gandalf the Grey with Gwaihir, by Ivan Cavini
On February 17, 3019, Gwaihir was searching for Gandalf at the request of Galadriel when he found the wizard atop the Silvertine. Gandalf had vanquished the Balrog in the Battle of the Peak, but the entrance to the Endless Stair had been blocked, preventing him from escaping the mountaintop. Gwaihir once again bore Gandalf; he found his burden to be as light as a feather, for Gandalf's old life had been burned away, and he had been reborn as Gandalf the White.
Gwaihir brought Gandalf to Lothlórien, and then at the wizard's request he flew to seek news of the Fellowship. Aragorn and Legolas both saw him circling above the Emyn Muil. Gwaihir returned to Gandalf with the news that Merry and Pippin had been kidnapped by Saruman's Uruk-hai.
Gwaihir facing a fellbeast
Gwaihir and his brother Landroval led a great company of Eagles to the Battle of the Black Gate on March 25, 3019. They swooped in to attack the winged Nazgûl, but the Nazgûl fled when Sauron summoned them to fly to Mount Doom where Frodo Baggins stood at the Cracks of Doom with the Ring. After the Ring was destroyed, Mount Doom erupted and Frodo and Sam were stranded on a hill amid flowing lava and falling ash. Gandalf asked Gwaihir to bear him a final time. Accompanied by Landroval and Meneldor, Gwaihir flew swiftly to Mount Doom; with his keen sight, he spotted the Hobbits through the fumes. The Eagles lifted Frodo and Sam and bore them away to safety.
Etymology[]
The name Gwaihir comes from the Sindarin terms gwaew ("storm, wind") and hîr ("lord, master"), translating his name to "Wind-lord".[2]
Abilities[]
Gwaihir had keen eyesight and was the swiftest of the Great Eagles. He was large and strong enough to carry a grown man, though he could not do so indefinitely.
Gwaihir arriving to rescue Gandalf from Isengard, by John Howe
Elsewhere in the legendarium[]
In earlier versions, his name was "Gwaewar" and he was Thorondor's (then leader of the Great Eagles) vassal. As Gwaewar, he was called the "Lord of the Wind".[3] He was also among the Eagles present to save Beren and Lúthien from Angband.[4]
Gwaihir is sometimes thought to be the unnamed Lord of the Eagles seen in The Hobbit, but this is unlikely, as Gandalf mentions after the Battle of the Black Gate, in TA 3019, that Gwaihir had borne him "three times" thitherto;[5] the first of those times was in rescuing Gandalf from Orthanc in September of TA 3018, which occurred long after the period of The Hobbit.
In adaptations[]
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]
In The Fellowship of the Ring film (2001), Gwaihir arrives at Isengard to rescue Gandalf. Later in The Return of the King, Gwaihir, Landroval, and the other Great Eagles arrive at the Battle of the Black Gate and attack the Nazgûl and their fellbeasts. After the destruction of the One Ring, Gwaihir bears Gandalf and rescues Frodo and Sam from the rocks of Mount Doom.
Video games[]
- Gwaihir makes a brief appearance in the video game The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age as a special power available to Berethor's Company.
- Gwaihir makes an unnamed appearance in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth as a power to use when playing as either Gondor or Rohan. Although he is unnamed - just called an eagle - it is possible that one of the eagles would be Gwaihir.
- Gwaihir also makes a brief appearance in The Lord of the Rings: War in the North after Eredan, Andriel and Farin defeat Bargrisar.
Gallery[]
.JPG "Gwaihir - LOTR The Card Game (ally).JPG (26 KB)")
.JPG "Gwaihir - LOTR The Card Game (Hero).JPG (48 KB)")
.JPG "Gwaihir - LOTR The Card Game (Objective-ally).JPG (17 KB)")
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ጓሂር |
| Arabic | جوير |
| Armenian | Գվայհիր |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Гвайхіра |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 關赫 |
| French | Gwaihir le Seigneur des Vents |
| Georgian | გვაიჰირი |
| Gujarati | ગ્વાઇહર |
| Hebrew | גואיהיר |
| Japanese | グワイヒア |
| Kannada | ಗ್ವೈಹೀರ್ |
| Malayalam | ഗ്വായിർ |
| Marathi | ग्वाहीर |
| Nepalese | ग्वाहिर |
| Persian | گواهیر (Gwaihir)
گواهیر ارباب بادها (Gwaihir the Windlord) |
| Russian | Гваихир |
| Serbian | Гваихир (Cyrillic) Gwaihir (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ග්වෛහිර් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Гwаиҳир |
| Tamil | கிவைஹிர் |
| Tatar | Гвайхир |
| Telugu | గ్వాఇహిర్ |
| Thai | ไกวเฮียร์ |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Гвайгір (Боривітер) |
| Urdu | گوایہیر |
| Yiddish | גוואַיהיר |
References[]
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part One. The Grey Annals
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Two: "Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IX: Sauron Defeated, Part One: The End of the Third Age, V: "The Field of Kormallen"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Ch. IV, "The Field of Cormallen"