Alatar Printable version

Alatar was a Maia from the Undying Lands and an Istari, a sorcerer with everlasting life. His name means “After Comer” in Quenya, and Morinehtar was his alternate name. During the Second Age, Alatar journeyed to Middle-earth together with Rómestámo, whose other name was Pallando. The two formed the Blue Wizards, also called Ithryn Luin. They journeyed to Arda’s eastern region, specifically to Khand and Rhûn in the far most east of Middle-earth. They arrived to incite an uprising versus the followers of Sauron. They triumphed in this undertaking. During the Third Age, they revisited Middle-earth and once more came to journey to the South and East. This time they traveled with Saruman and afterward did not come back to the West. Their fate was unknown, but J.R.R. Tolkien mentioned they must have remained in Middle-earth, bringing magic and sorcery to the realm.

Biography

Second Age

Alatar was formerly a Maia of Oromë, his name was Morinehtar the Huntsman. He inhabited the woods in the landmass of Aman, far west from Middle-earth. Oromë had different followers of which one was Rómestámo, afterward called Pallando. Rómestámo was a confidant of Morinehtar and his companion to the Middle-earth. During the creation of the Rings of Power in the Second Age, Mohrinehtar and Rómestámo were designated as the Istari. Before the Istari appeared in the West, Manwe rallied the Valar in a significant assembly. They all agreed to appoint three ambassadors for Middle-earth.

Manwe asked whom to send and merely two were willing for the task, Alatar, and Curumo. Alatar also chose Pallando to accompany him, thus the needed three were complete. The Istari were the Valar’s representatives to Middle-earth, sent forth to prompt a revolution versus Sauron and aid the tribes of Men who had rejected Morgoth idolatry since the First Age. According to J.R.R. Tolkien, the tasks of the Istari or wizards were to outwit Sauron. They ignited a rebellion and assisted the small number of Mannish tribes against him. Upon the first defeat of Sauron, they searched for his lurking-place. They stir up conflict and confusion upon the regions of his influence in the East.

Third Age

In the Third Age, the Valar chose Morinehtar, given the new name Alatar or after-comer, and Pallando to accompany him. They belong to a group of five Maiar to depart the Undying Lands for Middle-earth and designated as Istari wizards. Curumo (also named Saruman the White), Olórin (who was Gandalf the Grey), and Alatar were appointed the mission of supporting the citizens of the Middle-earth against Sauron.

But two more wizards joined the first three, thus there were five wizards in total. Yavanna assigned Aiwendil, also named Radagast the Brown, to journey with Curumo while Alatar chose Pallando the Blue to travel with him. When they arrived in Middle-earth, Alatar and Pallando adorned themselves with cloaks of the blue like the sea. For this reason, they received the name Blue Wizards, which in Sindarin is Ithryn Luin. They were influential and had an outstanding reputation during the Second through Third Age, therefore subduing and dismantling the armies in the East who have already exceeded those of the West.

Afterward, Saruman voyaged with the two towards the east to liberate the remaining Men of Númenor, then called Easterlings and Haradrim. However, when Saruman returned to the west, he was alone. Alatar and Pallando’s eventual fates were undetermined, and they never found both wizards. In Tolkien’s explanation, they sent the wizards as envoys to faraway lands in the south and east. They were commissioners to areas influenced by darkness. But the conclusion of this mission is undetermined. Either it was a failure just as Saruman was, or it was a victory as implied in many aspects. There was a suspicion that they founded or started occult arts and enchantment customs that endured after Sauron’s downfall.

Character

The first time Alatar arrived in Middle-earth, he wore a garment in flesh color. He appeared as an old man of wisdom, although he looked younger than Gandalf. On his second journey, Alatar and Pallando appeared in sea-colored clothing and therefore called the Blue Wizards. His beard was white and shorter than Saruman’s and Gandalf’s. He also wielded a staff to summon his magic just as the rest of the wizards.’

Etymology

The meaning of Alatar is “after-comer” from acquiring the mission of pursuing Sauron to the Middle-earth. This was the first and main purpose of the Maiar turned Istari or Wizards, of which he was one of the first two.

Second Name

Tolkien emphasized that Alatar and Pallando never had a new name in Western Middle-earth, even though the other wizards had alternative names. Tolkien’s intentions for their names were to imply designation and character. In Tolkien’s later years, he penned a remark proposing the names of the Blue Wizards as Morinehtar and Rómestámo. But he did not clarify if these were replacement names of Alatar and Pallando’s or if Morinehtar and Rómestámo were alternative names from citizens of Middle-earth.

Films

The Hobbit

In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, [1] Gandalf the Grey speaks of the Blue Wizards during a conversation with Bilbo. Bilbo inquires on the number of wizards that exist. Then Gandalf answered there was himself, Saruman, there were also two Blue Wizards but he cannot recall their names, and last is Radagast the Brown. Meanwhile, the Lord of the Rings movies does not reference the Blue Wizards. Though Saruman speaks of the staff of the five wizards in the extended version of Return of the King.

References

1. ^The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).