Reading HotW and read about Lorfd of the Eagles

[Khamul]

It says that Gwaihir is not the Lord of the Eagle, last I read he sure was, this must be an error right?

[zedturtle]

The trouble comes from Gandalf and Gwaihir's conversation about having not carried Gandalf more than twice (which he does during LotR). But in The Hobbit, the Lord of the Eagles explictly grabs Gandalf and carries him off. Thus, Gwaihir could not have been the Lord of the Eagles (at least in 2941).

So maybe the Lord of the Eagles is Gwaihir's father. At some point before the Lord of the Rings he leaves for Aman (why? adventure idea right there...) and Gwaihir is then the Lord of the Eagles.

[Earendil]

Gwaihir is called "The Windlord", but Tolkien never says he's the same character as the Lord of the Eagles. He is not stated to be the ruler/leader of the Eagles; "Windlord" may not be meant to indicate he's the Lord of the Eagles. Maybe he's a "lesser lord" -- his son or something.

There's a page on Tolkien gateway which says they're not the same character, because the Lord of the Eagles is given a golden crown in The Hobbit which he wears thereafter, and no such crown is mentioned in LOTR. http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Great_Eagle

And then there's the point about how many times he's carried Gandalf, as zedturtle mentioned. Personally, I think it's ambiguous, but the game's writers, forced to choose one way or the other, have made them different characters and I'm fine with that.