[Legolas]

The guideline about quoting is referring to excessively quoting others' post(s), i.e. dissecting a post by making each sentence of that post into a separate quote so that you can write a retort to every. single. word. someone. said.

It is not at all intended to place a limit on the amount of information you can place in a post, e.g. facts, quotes from actual books, etc. That sort of thing is actually valued in a discussion forum based on an author's extensive catalog of literature! As many of you have guessed, providing facts and textual support for opinions is encouraged. As with anything, there could be a line for overdoing it (like pasting two complete chapters in response to a single sentence), but I assure you that providing a single quote (as I did) does not come close to crossing that line.

I don't find it to be speculation that Rhadagast would've needed and had access to water. The Istari, Maiar in nature they may be, were subject to mortal needs during their incarnate period:

For [the Istari] must be mighty, peers of Sauron, but must forgo might, and clothe themselves in flesh so as to treat on equality and win the trust of Elves and Men. But this would imperil them, dimming their wisdom and knowledge, and confusing them with fears, cares, and weariness coming from the flesh. (Unfinished Tales)

He had to have water from somewhere. If nothing else, his home would not have been that far from the Anduin River. Rhadagast had no trouble with mobility - though I suspect his primary method of travel was his horse, not a sled pulled by rabbits (!).

...which reminds me of another problem I had with Rhadagast's portrayal - that his home, Rhosgobel, was shown as nothing more than a shack, a rather spontaneous looking heap of wood and foliage. Part of the name (-gobel) suggests it was protected by a wall, fence or hedge-like barrier (perhaps similar to Beorn's).

When Gandalf is telling the Council of Elrond about encountering Radagast on the road near Bree, he says:

It was Radagast the Brown, who at one time dwelt at Rhosgobel, near the borders of Mirkwood. (The Fellowship of the Ring)

The fact that Rhosgobel even has such a name makes me feel sure it was more than a dilapidated, gnarled tree house, but that choice of words - "at one time dwelt at Rhosgobel" - gives even more reason to suspect it was a respectable or at least notable place. Was it more than a house? A particularly large residence? A village? It's unfair to assume Gandalf is just namedropping for sake of doing so (or to inform readers). Why would he mention the name to the Council? He must have thought he was providing some frame of reference for at least some in his audience. Furthermore, it is mentioned in "The Ring Goes South" that some of Rivendell's scouts passed by Rhosgobel.

Originally Posted by Rhod the Red

Legloas, you could have just stated that Saruman was a snob towards Radagast even before they set out for Middle-earth and leave it at that.

Nor fling 'emissaries' like some kind of tennis ball you want to murder another player with.

My point was not that Saruman already disliked Rhadagast; it was that Saruman doesn't like anyone who doesn't serve him. He is dismissive all around.

I'm not sure how it comes across that I am flinging emissary as a euphemism, or that I am "exaggerating" it with "blatant overuse." Does it carry some other strong connotations that the rest of us don't always associate with the word? If so, that's understandable, but emissary here is the exact word Tolkien used when he wrote about the Valar selecting the Istari who were to stir Elves and Men against Sauron. Simply put, an emissary is "a representative sent on a mission." They were emissaries of the Valar.