Soar

[gwaihir]

I am the eagle, I live in high countries
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky

Such powerful wind pulled on his feathers, blew above and below him and held his mighty wings up in the sky. In a certain sense, it was like dancing, dancing with someone unseeable, only whose strokes and gentle touches Gwaihir could feel. This hidden dance partner made him fly up even further, up into the clouds, and then let him slowly circle downwards in large curves. If Gwaihir had a human face and voice, he would be cheering and laughing all the while, and his eyes would be bright, expressing his great joy of something so wonderful as the wind and flying for everyone to see and hear.

But instead of a face, Gwaihir had a beak. He was an eagle, one of the mighty eagles. The mighty eagles were not comparable to common birds. They had no such singing voice as had the robin, were not as swift as the sparrow, as inconsiderable as the nightingale, or as trusting as merles. Instead, they were majestic creatures, huge in body, were sentient and capable of speech, and destined to keep an eye on the exiled Noldor elves, as Manwe had told them to. Thus, they often found themselves helping Men, Elves and even wizards.

Gwaihir lived high up in the Misty Mountains. There, only half an hour's soar away from the cloudyheaded peak, hidden in and behind great rocks, lay his aerie, his home. From there, he took his great flights all across the country. He flew to the north, up the Anduin valley, or to the east, crossing the mirkwood, or south to the golden woods of Lothlorien and even to Fangorn.

Most of the rime, Gwaihir spent alone, simply watching from above, as unnoticed shadow. But this did not mean that he was lonely. Many of his fellow eagles flew somewhere alongside him or crossed his way. And he enjoyed communicating with other birds and creatures as well. There was so much to learn from them, even although Gwaihir was not able to communicate correctly with them.


Lyrics: John Denver [The eagle and the hawk]