Eagles' rescue

The Eagles' rescue is the pivotal aerial intervention by the Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains that saves Thorin and Company from death by fire and goblins in the wolf-glade, and later turns the tide of the Battle of Five Armies. This event marks the first major deus ex machina in the quest, establishes a lasting alliance between the eagles and the dwarves, and demonstrates the interconnectedness of the free peoples of the North against the forces of darkness.

First Rescue: The Wolf-Glade

After escaping the goblin tunnels, Thorin and Company found themselves surrounded by a pack of Wargs in a forest glade. The wolves, who had gathered for a meeting with goblins, trapped the dwarves and Bilbo in trees. Gandalf attempted to drive them off by throwing pine-cones that burst into blue, red, and green flames, setting several wolves alight and causing chaos. However, the goblins soon arrived and, laughing at the dwarves' predicament, piled brushwood around the trees and set it on fire. As the flames licked the fuel beneath them and the goblins sang a taunting song about roasting the "funny little birds," Gandalf prepared to leap down among the spears, a move that would have meant his death. At that critical moment, the Lord of the Eagles, who had been watching from a pinnacle of rock at the eastern edge of the mountains, swept down, seized Gandalf in his talons, and carried him away. Other eagles followed, snatching the dwarves from the treetops. Bilbo, nearly left behind, caught hold of Dori's legs as Dori was borne off, and swung in the air with his arms nearly breaking. The eagles carried the company to the Great Shelf, a wide rock on the mountain-side, where they were set down safely. The Lord of the Eagles, who had a prior friendship with Gandalf—the wizard had once healed him from an arrow-wound—agreed to carry the company far across the plains, though he refused to take them near human settlements for fear of being shot. The next morning, fifteen great birds rose from the mountain's side, carrying the dwarves and Bilbo on their backs, and flew them to the Carrock, a great rock in the middle of a river, where they were set down with the polite farewell, "Farewell! wherever you fare, till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!"

Second Rescue: The Battle of Five Armies

Months later, as the Battle of Five Armies raged in the valley before the Lonely Mountain, the tide turned against the combined forces of Elves, Men, and Dwarves. Goblins had scaled the Mountain from the other side and were attacking the spurs from above, while the bodyguard of Bolg drove into the defenders' ranks. Bilbo, watching from Ravenhill among the Elves, saw a sight that made his heart leap: the Eagles were coming down the wind, line after line, in such a host as must have gathered from all the eyries of the North. He shouted, "The Eagles! The Eagles!" and the cry echoed across the valley. The Eagles had long suspected the goblins' mustering and had gathered in great numbers under the great Eagle of the Misty Mountains. Smelling battle from afar, they came speeding down the gale in the nick of time. They dislodged the goblins from the mountain-slopes, casting them over precipices or driving them down shrieking among their foes, and freed the Lonely Mountain so that elves and men could come to the help of the battle below. Even with the Eagles, the defenders were still outnumbered until Beorn himself appeared in bear's shape and turned the battle.

Aftermath and Significance

The Eagles did not stay long after the battle. Most returned to their eyries with the first light of morning, though some joined the pursuit of the fleeing goblins. Dain, the new King under the Mountain, crowned the chief of the Eagles with gold and swore friendship with them forever. The Eagles' rescue thus served as a crucial turning point in both the journey and the final battle, reinforcing the theme that help can come from unexpected allies when the free peoples stand together against a common foe. The event also cemented the bond between the dwarves and the eagles, a relationship that would endure in the years of peace that followed.