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Tcherepin
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Post Radagast
on: August 14, 2008 01:40
He's always interested me. It seemed to me that Gandalf was the Istar involved with the "People world" and Radagast was the Istar involved with the "Natural world".

Do I remember rightly that Gandalf was known as Olorin in Valinor, and spent much time with Nienna? Who then was Radagast, and which Vala is he associated with?

I would hope Ulmo...

Anyway, anything you can share in the Radagast thread, cool!
Tcherepin
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Post RE: Radagast
on: August 14, 2008 01:45
Wikipedia is your friend!

****from the Wiki****

Radagast, like the other Wizards, came from Valinor around the year 1000 of the Third Age of Middle-earth and was one of the Maiar. His original name was Aiwendil, meaning bird-friend in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya. The Vala Yavanna forced the wizard Saruman to accept Radagast as a companion, which, Tolken says, may have been one of the reasons Saruman was contemptuous of him, to the point of scornfully calling him "simple" and "a fool".[1] However, he was an ally and confidant of Gandalf, who describes him in The Hobbit as his "cousin".
EowynHopeful
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Post RE: Radagast
on: August 14, 2008 04:24
Everything Tcherepin said is correct, and I can only add a little more about Radagast's days among mortals. We know that he dwelt at Rhosgobel, but it's debated exactly where that was. We know it was somewhere in Mirkwood, but some sources/atlases place it awfully close to Dol Guldur in the south, while others locate it just off the Old Forest Road, closer to Beorn's, and still others try to split the difference. Maybe Rhosgobel was really an RV? (Hey, I've heard it's a good way to split the difference between the great outdoors and the comforts of home...) At any rate, we know that Radagast was well-acquainted with Beorn, not surprising with them being fellow nature lovers, even if they weren't quite neighbors after all.
Aran_Quendi
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Post RE: Radagast
on: August 14, 2008 05:56
As it is with all of the Istari, Radagast was given the title of "The Brown" he was the lowest of the wizards, yet he was strong in his craft, he could communicate with the birds and beasts, Gandalf said that he was "master of shapes and changes of hue". So it appears that he was very good at disguises. He is very learned in herb-lore and was said to be wiser than any man in this field. It was also said that he gave up his mission in the active fight against Sauron, because he became obsessed with the things of nature.
Ilandir
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Post RE: Radagast
on: August 14, 2008 05:59
I believe he was also Gandalf's cousin ... 'The Hobbit' names it .. But don't count on me! I still have to check it first ...
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Maedhros
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Post RE: Radagast
on: August 14, 2008 02:53
Ilandir,

I wouldn't take the "cousin" comment from The Hobbit in a literal sense. The Hobbit was originally a wholly separate work from Middle-earth, and written in a much more casual manner. I would suggest that the best way to read Gandalf's "cousin" comment is as Gandalf saying that Radagast is "of the same order" as Gandalf - that is: a Maia.
Ilandir
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Post RE: Radagast
on: August 14, 2008 10:55
That's what I thought aswell Maedhros. Thanks

(well, you may never know what Tolkien meant! )
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Passepartout
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Post RE: Radagast
on: August 19, 2008 04:12
I only wish that he was a bigger character in the books because, you know, he's an Istari!
Tcherepin
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Post RE: Radagast
on: November 07, 2008 08:31
You know, Radagast exercises a lot more influence in LOTR than it seems at first.

How did Gandalf get off of the tower of Orthanc? Because the Eagle flew him off... and how did the Eagle know to go there?

And how did the Eagles know to go to the Black Gate when Aragorn and all went there to challenge Sauron and distract him from Mount Doom?

both, I suspect, because Radagast SENT them...
NellasTaralom
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 06, 2008 02:41
I've always felt that the fact that Radagast became of enamored of the natural world and ceased to really have any contact with the peoples was a huge loss......I mean, to have another wizard during the War would have helped so much! He would have been a great ally.

But, as Yavanna was the one who influenced Saruman to take him, then perhaps he did what he was supposed to do, in a way. Perhaps he had a purpose that no one but Yavanna understood? Or maybe he did just wander into the wild and neglect everything else, including his tasks.
Calenhil
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 08, 2008 10:18
Yeah, I also wish you could se more of him.

By the way, I went through some Sindarinpapers and i found that "Radag" means animal.
cirdaneth
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 08, 2008 12:31
Not sure where you got that from, Calenhil. The sindarin for animal is "lavan"

"Rada" is a track or path and "gast" is the Void. That makes Radagast even more interesting doesn't it?
Calenhil
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 08, 2008 08:53
Wierd.

In my papers there is two words for animal, radag and lavan.
Morwinyoniel
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 10, 2008 06:10
I don't think that the name Radagast is a Sindarin name at all, but a name given to him by Men, like Gandalf to Olórin/Mithrandir and Saruman to Curumo/Curunír. His Quenya name Aiwendil means "Lover of Birds" and is very descriptive of the character.
cirdaneth
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 10, 2008 06:45
You are right, Morwin, we have been barking up the wrong tree. I find that Tolkien said later in life that Radagast was a name of Northern Mannish Origin, not now readily translatable.

Such Northern Mannish names as Tolkien uses in his work have links with Gothic, but the dictionary in my Gothic Primer has nothing I can relate to Radagast except that Gast = guest.
LadyBeruthiel
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 10, 2008 05:04
Hm. Maybe Radagast means "guest of animals?" Not that I"m an expert in Middle Earth languages.

I've always been fond of Radagast. Even though he doesn't have a huge role in the War of the Ring, it's an important one. I've always enjoyed the irony of Saruman's using Radagast's simplicity to trap Gandalf, only to have it backfire on him. I think that subtly underlines the values of honesty and integrity in simple folk like Radagast (and hobbits) that, in the end, are what save the world.

Not that Radagast is simple in the sense of naive or ignorant. There's a kind of spiritual simplicity, a humble integrity that you find in people like, say, the Dalai Lama or Mother Teresa. Quiet, saintly people who still get a lot done. It makes sense that such a figure would stay in the background, yet exercise a profound influence on the course of events in Middle Earth.
cirdaneth
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 10, 2008 10:45
I imagine him as being a bit like St Francis of Assissi.
LadyBeruthiel
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 16, 2008 04:22
I imagine him as being a bit like St Francis of Assissi.


That's it! Even down to the brown robes.:love:
Tcherepin
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 18, 2008 03:20
I imagine him as being a bit like St Francis of Assissi.


An excellent image, Lady! Yes!
LadyBeruthiel
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Post RE: Radagast
on: December 19, 2008 04:48
Glad you like it, Tcherepin, but it was actually cirdaneth's idea. I was merely applauding. Credit where credit is due.
NellasTaralom
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Post RE: Radagast
on: April 03, 2009 05:51
If Radagast is like St. Francis, then Gandalf would be like St. Paul I suppose A powerful orator and mover of hearts.

But aside from Radagast, I wish we knew more about the Blue Wizards, who went to the east. But they, alas, have become two of the many enigmas that inhabit Tolkien's world.
Harondor
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Post RE: Radagast
on: April 05, 2009 11:39
Radagast failed in his mission in the east, because finished dedicating his life only to the nature.

I think his connection in Valinor was with Yavanna and he (Radagast) was not cousin of Gandalf, but just a friend of the west. In that part that Gandalf says for Beorn that Radagast was his cousin, it was just a gentile form of referring to the friend from the west.

Hugs!

[Edited on 5/4/2009 by Harondor]

[Edited on 5/4/2009 by Harondor]
~nólemë~
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Post Re: Radagast
on: October 15, 2012 02:23
I've stumbled upon this thread when browsing for related info, and this caught my eye-

Quote from cirdaneth on December 10, 2008, 16:45
Such Northern Mannish names as Tolkien uses in his work have links with Gothic, but the dictionary in my Gothic Primer has nothing I can relate to Radagast except that Gast = guest.


I wonder if it's possible that JRRT actually got inspired by Slavic mythology there, if the Nordic one offers no clues. The West Slavic mythology has a deity, although probably invented only through a medieval scribal confusion, that is called 'Radegast'; he's supposed to be a deity of hospitality. The etymology given by Wikipedia says it meant roughly 'dear guest'; from the stems still in use in my mother-tongue I'd rather say 'one who likes guests', but I may be mistaken.
---------- Image "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit
Huin
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Post Re: Radagast
on: November 16, 2012 04:14
That's an interesting speculation, nólemë, thanks.
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