Quote:
Originally Posted by Bêthberry
Gandalf explicitly tell the hobbits (and us) that he is leaving them to spend some time chilling with Tom Bombadil. This might simply be a plot device to recall a minor character but at least Gandalf shows some strong sense of what the Bombadil household will have for him--it is something to which Gandalf clearly looks forward. There's no mention of Radagast that I can recall at the end of LotR, although readers with better memories than mine might recall better. If Radagast were to receive that task, surely he would be mentioned rather than Tom. (I've always felt uncomfortable with this point that Radagast failed--Tolkien says that Frodo did too I think--as if there's something inappropriate with his friendship with the animals. But perhaps his "failure" was to stray from the strict focus on the task at hand, to help destroy Sauron.)
Also, I'm not sure Gandalf himself would personally have the "authority" to "hand over" his own authority. His authority as I see it came to its rightful conclusion when the Ring was destroyed.
To return to a very old line from early years on the Downs, there's my two cents' worth.  |
I had not forgotten about Tom, I was simply assuming that The visit to him might not have beeen the ONLY thing Gandalf did in that time period (he said he was going to have a long talk with Tom, but a long talk might not have covered the whole period he was absent. As for why Radagast was not mentioned, it just may not have occured to Gandalf. The Hobbit's know and have met Tom, they do not know Radagast (Bilbo knows
of him (since it was through Radagast's reputation that Gandalf tried to secure lodging for the Dwarves at Beorn's house (or was that only in the BBC radio show?) but Bilbo isn't there. Whether Gandalf has ever spoken of his other fellow wizards in the Fellowship is not written.) At bare minumum I would imagine Gandalf might have thought it worthwile to find Radagast to simply say goodbye, he is Gandalf's brother wizard and unlike Saruman, Gandalf respects Radagast and is somewhat fond of him (though since Gandalf is as well versed, if not better at the language of bird and beast, he could also have simply dispacted such a fairwell by a trusted messenger, if time did not permit).
Mark me, I'm not saying you are wrong in any of your assumptions, just that, as it stands, Radagast is sort of a loose end as the third age comes to a close; not sucessful enough to reuturn home, not bad enough to die (that's another point, since the wizards have elf type immortality (slayable, but not subject to natural death or ageing) Unless someone actually kills Radagast (unlikey, given how reclusive he is and the fact that most people who do know him like him) he has a fatal accident, or the Valar rescind his immortality, he's basically in ME forever (or, at least, until Daor Dagorath)