Why does Radagast have to have had a failing? Does he even appear in Lord of the Rings? He was mentioned only once in The Hobbit, when Gandalf used him as a reference when he introduced himself to Beorn.
I know he was mentioned also in LotR, but I don’t think we ever met him. Were we told that he went dark like Saruman did?
I was under the impression that Goldberry was some sort of water spirit, or sprite.
And totally hot, too, but maybe that’s just me.
We sort of met him, in a flashback with Gandalf. He brought news that Saruman wanted to talk to him about the ring and stuff, just before Gandalf was imprisoned in Orthanc.
I never had the impression that he had a failing, in fact, Gandalf says that he was honest and could not be corrupted by Saruman’s whisperings, which (from what I gathered) is why Saruman could use him to capture Gandalf-that any message coming from Radagast could be trusted.
Well, Radagast certainly didn’t turn to the dark side. But he wasn’t much help in the War of the Ring, was he? I suppose he kept his animals and such safe. “If I doan’ save tha’ wee tur’les…who will??? Ach! Save me from tha’ wee tur’les!!!”
But I don’t think that’s what the Valar had in mind when they sent the Istari to Middle Earth.
Maybe Radagast’s job was to protect the wee turtles and such–Gandalf saved the higher creatures. I don’t imagine that anything in Middle Earth would have survived intact if Sauron had won.
Some random thoughts and notes on Istari (wizards)
Radagast failed in his mission. If we look at The Letters of JRR Tolkien in #156 Tolkien discusses the Istari.
This is exactly what Radagast does not do. He instead disappears and becomes enamoured with the wild things. Here he is an angelic being with a high charge and he forgets that and instead communes with nature. Sounds like a significant failure to me.
As far as Galdalf’s ‘reincarnation’ as the White goes this is what Tolkien had to say (also from letter #156
So Galdalf’s change from Grey to White was much more than a change in office. On his return he was fundamentally different from the other Istari. In a way he was Eru’s (God’s) personal power ranger. Upgraded and sent back to resolve the issue once and for all.
Here is pretty much everything we know about the two blue wizards.
An older essay can be found in History of Middle Earth XII - Peoples of Middle Earth
This is an older essay however and seems to have been superceded by the following from Unfinished Tales
Later Tolkien names the blue wizards as Allatar, and Pallando. AFAIK no direct translation for these names are given. However Allatar is likely formed from Alata (glittering or radiant) and Pallando is identified by Christopher Tolkien as containing Palan (afar). So it seems likely that Alatar=Morinehtar and thus Pallando=Romestamo.
Bartman, I am impressed! I’ve got to re-read “letters”, it’s been at least 15 years since I last did so, and I’ve obviously forgotten a lot. Have you read all the HOMES, too?
QtM
Since nobody’s mentioned it yet, there’s more information on the founding of the White Council in Unfinished Tales, which I would highly recommend.
Nobody’s quite sure what, exactly, Bombadil is. The best guess is that he’s just in a category by himself (Who is Bobadil? He is.). Goldberry is what would have been called a “fey” in the earlier versions of Tolkien’s works, but she’s one of the last to show up in the five main books (one might argue that Ungoliant and Shelob are also of this category). Fey are as old as the World, but are part of it, being manifestations of nature.
Apropos of nothing, I’ve just received a handsome new hardcover boxed set of the trilogy. I’m determined to read The Fellowship of the Ring before the movie comes out December 19, which with this volume means I must read 4 pages a day between now and then.
I know that sounds like a light load, but with all my distractions that’s actually ambitious.