JPMaximilian said:
Unless I am mistaken, five
Istari were sent to
Middle Earth.
Gandalf and
Saruman make two,
Radagast, who is barely mentioned, three. I recall
Tolkien writing that the other Istari go into
the East and do not come into these
tales. What becomes of Radagast? Would not the other Istari, with their power, play a part in the
War of the Ring?
Here is what I have from
A Guide to Tolkien by David Day:
===============================
"Many of the
Ainur were counted among the
Maiar, but only a few are named in the histories that have come down to
Men:
Eönwë, Herald of
Manwë; Ilmarë, Maid of
Varda; Ossë, of the Waves; Uinen, of the Calm Seas;
Melian, Queen of the
Sindar; Arien, the Sun; Tilion, the Moon;
Sauron, the Sorcerer; Gothmog, Lord of the
Balrogs; and
Olórin (Gandalf),
Aiwendil (Radagast),
Curunír (Saruman),
Alatar and
Pallando – the
Wizards. In the histories of Middle-earth there also appear others who may have been Maiar: Thuringwethil, the Vampire;
Ungoliant, the Spider; Draugluin the Werewolf;
Goldberry,
the River-daughter; and
Iarwain Ben-adar (
Tom Bombadil). ...
"Although five Istari are said to have come to Middle-earth, two play no part in the histories of the Westlands that have come to Men, for the others were said to have gone to the far east of Middle-earth. These two were the
Ithryn Luin, the "
Blue Wizards", and though it is known that they were called Alatar and Pallando in the
Undying Lands and were chosen by the
Vala Oromë the Horseman, nothing else is known of their lives and deeds. ...
"At the end of the first millennium of
the Third Age of the Sun, it is told that five Maiar came to Middle-earth. They came not in grand forms but in the shape of ancient Men. Each was white-bearded and wore a traveller's cape, a beaked hat, and carried a long staff. These were the Istari, whom Men called the Wizards and much of their tale is told in the "Red Book of Westmarch". Yet only three of the five are named in the histories.
Radagast the Brown was a master of
birds and
animals of the forest and lived near
Mirkwood in
Rhosgobel. Saruman
the White was in the arising of the Istari Order counted the greatest, and for a time he was indeed skilful and wise, but he fell into
evil ways, brought ruin down upon many and was himself completely destroyed in his efforts to make himself a great power.
Gandalf the Grey was most famous of the Istari. In the beginning he was called Olórin and he served both
Lórien the Master of Dreams and
Nienna the Weeper; he was acknowledged the wisest of the Maiar
race. The last two of the Istari were Alatar and Pallando, called the Blue Wizards and servants of Oromë, the Horseman. Of their fate and deeds upon Middle-earth little is told."
===============================
Barley
