The Istari and Arnor's fall

[Aiwendil]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I don't think Sauron was a consideration, due to the fact that they had no idea he had returned. As noted, they thought the power in Dol Guldur was one of the Nazgûl.

They thought the power in Dol Guldur was a Nazgul, but is it certain that the Istari thought Sauron was gone for good? I honestly can't recall. In any case, my speculation that they might have preferred to keep a low profile at first is equally plausible, whether it was Sauron or the Nazgul to whom they were wary of revealing themselves.

Originally Posted by Boromir88

I'm not so sure on this. Cirdan foresaw their arrival and seemed to hand his ring off to Gandalf as soon as he came from the West. Now, this was the oldest, and one of the wisest remaining Elves in Middle-earth. However, I think the image of old men arriving and tall but bent on staffs would be noticed almost immediately. Maybe the Istari had been travelling elsewhere at the time, but I would still think whenever the Middle-earth people became acquainted with them, and having a peculiar nature around them they would be chronicled. Thus the "wizard" myth was born, so to say.

My impression is that even at the end of the Third Age, knowledge about the Istari was fairly limited. Their true nature seems to have been known only among the wise. Even many of those who had dealings with them thought they were only very learned Men who had studied magic. I believe Tolkien speculated in the Istari notes in UT that when Saruman mentioned that the number of wizards was five he was letting slip a fact not known outside of the order. So it seems to me altogether likely that if they had taken part in the war against Angmar, they might have been thought of just as strange wandering sages and magicians who helped out when they could. I don't see that their presence would have been thought of as vital historical information by the chroniclers.

So I still don't see any convincing evidence that the Istari played no part at all in the war with Angmar.