Where's 🧙Radagast? Anyone?

i guess you dont like Radagast then?! he acted how his leader told him and seeing as radaagst gave up his powers a long time ago of being a Maia, he could easly be sweet talked (if that is the correct term) by Saruman even Gandalf was when he came to see Saruman, also Radagast was told by Gandalf to let Gandalf and Saruman use his animals etc, and why shoud he think that Saruman was different he was probibly acting to get Gnadalf his second greatest threat out of tht way (his first being Sauron)!

Thôl

Originally posted by Celebthôl
and seeing as radaagst gave up his powers a long time ago of being a Maia,

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What are you talking about? Radagast never "gave up" his powers!

well he didnt use them to the proper corz (sp) and aparently they were taken away (i may be wrong i heard it along time ago), that is why Gandalf was the only member of the Istraí to accomplish the mission i.e the destruction of Sauron.

Thôl

Radagast failed his mission,yes; but in a much different way than Saruman did. He simply "forgot" his mission and forsook men and elves to tend wild beasts and birds. However,he did not lose his powers, at least not to our knowledge.

Originally posted by Lantarion

But: I think Radagast did not actually accomplish anything very contributing to the downfall of Sauron, althuogh this was his task. Even in UT his deeds before he strayed off the actively oppositional path are not even mentioned! But I suppose, or I guess, that his close contact with animals all over M-E might have kept the bird and beast-spies of Saruman and Sauron at bay.
But I would not have him be discluded from the book; his part is miniscule, but still good.

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If I may disagree slightly here, although I admit that Radagast failed in his overall mission to oppose Sauron, I would say that he had a quite significant, if small part to play. When he passed Saruman's treacherous message to Gandalf, in response, Gandalf asked him to send word out to the beasts and birds of any news, and to bring that news to him at Isengard. Thus it was that Gwaihir came to Orthanc and was than able to rescue Gandalf from his imprisonment. Without that single act, how far would the opposition to Sauron have really got, since Gandalf is the driving force behind all the efforts directed to that end.

I must agree with Ravenna...
Yes, Radagast has a very little part in the whole story, even minimalist, but consider that everyone in the LOTR participated according his own capabilities and potentialities against Mordor and Sauron.

I don't think Tolkien add this character for nothing, remember, it's a narrative, wich is enriched with "details" or "side stories" that help to configure a complete picture.



C U

I didn't recall Radagast being mentioned in The Hobbit, though I don't think I read it again after reading The Lord of the Rings...no surprise that I forgot.
Anyhow, if Radagast is mentioned in The Hobbit then he had to be mentioned in The Lord of the Rings otherwise everyone would be asking "Why didn't that other wizard from The Hobbit help?"
Surely Tolkien could have worked the story out without Nob the Hobbit too and many other charactors. To have a wizard running loose in Middle-earth go unmentioned would not sit well.

As for the specific part that he played, Tolkien surely could have worked the story out without Radagast, but that was not your question was it?

I wonder was it really necessary to bring him into the story?

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And I gave my opinion above.

Radagast gets only a very little mention in the Hobbit- Gandalf mentions him to Beorn and says that his dwelling is nearby, and Beorn replies that R is not such a bad fellow, as far as wizards go. This was all written long before Tolkien had any idea what the wizards were- while inventing 'The Hobbit' for his children Tolkien would include bits from his greater history of the Elves, but he had not at the time (~1920-1936) firmly defined the relation between 1st and 3rd Age Middle-Earth. While writing the first chapters of The Lord of the Rings (up to Moria) Tolkien was sticking more closely to the formula of the Hobbit, which is why some of the earlier episodes might seem reminiscent of the earlier book- Mirkwood and the Old Forest, the Wargs and the other Wargs, Rivendell, etc. In this setting Radagast makes his onely appearance in LotR, and I must say he looks a little weak for one of the Ainur. In my opinion JRRT seems to forget Radagast later on in the tale- in fact he has Treebeard make the improbable statement that Gandalf is the only Wizard who ever cared for trees and plants! To me (and apparently to CT as well) Radagast wasn't so much a failure- while the other Istari were sent more explicitly to help Elves and Men, Radagast was sent by the urging of Yavanna to help the olvar and the kelvar, a job which I think he accomplished quite well. Why was he a failure? CT asks much the same question in Unfinished Tales, and I don't think there is a satisfactory answer. Was he necessary? Not exactly- but I think the mis-balance in the story created by his actions is far less than the ones introduced with (say) a Glorfindel or the Eagles.

Originally posted by aragil
Radagast gets only a very little mention in the Hobbit- Gandalf mentions him to Beorn and says that his dwelling is nearby, and Beorn replies that R is not such a bad fellow, as far as wizards go. This was all written long before Tolkien had any idea what the wizards were- while inventing 'The Hobbit' for his children Tolkien would include bits from his greater history of the Elves, but he had not at the time (~1920-1936) firmly defined the relation between 1st and 3rd Age Middle-Earth. While writing the first chapters of The Lord of the Rings (up to Moria) Tolkien was sticking more closely to the formula of the Hobbit, which is why some of the earlier episodes might seem reminiscent of the earlier book- Mirkwood and the Old Forest, the Wargs and the other Wargs, Rivendell, etc. In this setting Radagast makes his onely appearance in LotR, and I must say he looks a little weak for one of the Ainur. In my opinion JRRT seems to forget Radagast later on in the tale- in fact he has Treebeard make the improbable statement that Gandalf is the only Wizard who ever cared for trees and plants! To me (and apparently to CT as well) Radagast wasn't so much a failure- while the other Istari were sent more explicitly to help Elves and Men, Radagast was sent by the urging of Yavanna to help the olvar and the kelvar, a job which I think he accomplished quite well. Why was he a failure? CT asks much the same question in Unfinished Tales, and I don't think there is a satisfactory answer. Was he necessary? Not exactly- but I think the mis-balance in the story created by his actions is far less than the ones introduced with (say) a Glorfindel or the Eagles.

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Good points aragil! I don't consider Radagast to be a failure either, definitely not to the same extent as Saruman for example. But please elaborate on the part I underlined - if you will. Why did the kelvar and the olvar require help from a Maia? Of course Sauron destroyed the Entwives in the Brown Lands and Radagast could have been sent for the purpose of preventing such catastrophies and atrocities from happening in the future, but why did he settle down at the Edge of Mirkwood? Was there need for his skills there? Did he heal the desolation of Dol Guldur maybe?

Well if I recall he had power of the beasts so maybe settling on the edge of Mirkwood was simply the best place in his opinion to communicate with as many beasts as he could. An unlikely scenario but still possible.

Originally posted by aragil
Radagast was sent by the urging of Yavanna to help the olvar and the kelvar, a job which I think he accomplished quite well.

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Ah, I had forgoten that! But you must admit that Radagast (or Aiwendil, whichever you prefer ) did contribute very little to the actual task of the Istari, of which he was a member. I'm saying he didn't complete the general task, ie. stopping Sauron, but he achieved his second priority.

ithrynluin- Lantarion is on the right track with the passage from Unfinished Tales. Unfortunately, it is much less clear than I had remembered it. All it says is that Yavanna begs that Radagast accompany Saruman, and later on CT questions how imposing Radagast on Saruman can be considered as the only way of helping out Yavanna's own creations (I thought that's what the Ents were for). In any case, my reading had always been that Radagast was operating under a seperate directive from the rest of the Istari- the other four were to help Elves and Men, Radagast was to help the creations of Yavanna. Having re-read the passage this morning, I see that the textual evidence to support this is fairly thin. Still, I hate to call Radagast a failure. My personal opinion is that Tolkien introduced him in the Hobbit, and then had to make him out to be a failure- otherwise he detracts from the personage of Gandalf as the only Istar to accomplish the appointed task. Too bad for Radagast, but really Gandalf is the more important character.

Yes, he remained in the woods and faded into them, as I was going to mention the Unfinished Tales but it has been mentioned. Radagast was cool I thought.

I'd say that he was a paralell to the ents who became more 'treeish.' He slowly faded and became sleepier and less concerned with what was going on around him... until he stopped caring all together and now sits in the middle of forest humming and smoking....

That I can see.

I'm being quite serious.

Elgee I agree with you.Radagast refused to continue his mission,I mean he loved animals and plants more than anything else and forgot the purpose of his coming in ME.So I think he had to decide what to do and probably he choosed to stay in ME,but I'm not sure whether he was still immortal or not.

I can't think of why or how he could be deprived of his immoratality. It would take a direct act from the Valar or Illuvatar, and I think his "crimes" weren't criminal enough for that... I prefer to think that he faded and faded until you wouldn't notice if he was in the same room as you... and whether or not he could use his powers wouldn't be an issue because he'd be too sleepy to think of it.

Tolkien said that he knew nothing clearly about the other two. (The Blue Wizards).

I suspect that they were founders or beginners of secret cults and "magic" traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron."The Istari (Unfinished Tales)

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From that and what we know of Radagast I suspect that he founded a cult of Druids.

who is he???

He's one of the five wizards, but a rather unimportant one. He plays message boy for Gandalf and Saruman and doesn't really do much...

Gandalf mentions him while telling the story of his capture by Sauraman. He was the one who brought the message to Gandalf that Sauraman wanted to see him and sent the eagle after Gandalf in the first place.

Here is what I found:

Radagast after arriving to Middle-Earth as the fourth of the wizards took home at Rhosgobel, He was mainly interested; and maybe his mission was, in the care of birds, beast and plants. At least he spend his days among the wild creatures. His name is said to be a name deriving / given from the men of the vales of Anduin, the ancestors of the Rohirrim and the name Radagast means in the tongue of Númenore Tender of Beasts. His "nick-name" the Brown indicates simply his clothing who were earthen brown. His name then indicates that the Men in the upper vales of Anduin once were under some influence of Númerore but that would not be unlikely looking on the history of those people.

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Radagast who was chosen by Yavanna for the task in Middle-earth. He did not contribute, as it look like, much to the overtrow of Sauron but it might be worth to remember that his task and love was for beast, birds and earth and in that strife he was not unsuccesful, he was sent out together with Curumo / Saruman but he left him right after the arrival to Middle-earth, maybe because he had a feeling that his and Sarumans will did not coop wery well and Saruman did never think higly about him, and as the only wizard besides Gandalf Radagast remained faithful to his task.

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Arrived at Middle-earth around Third age 1000, what happened after the fall of Sauron is not specified but it might be thought that now the task was ended he returned to his home in Valinor as Gandalf did.

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