Not just a 'tender of beasts' : Radagast's connection to Slavic Mythology - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

jallanite · 11-09-2013, 07:51 PM

Yes Aiwendil might mean the same as Radagast. Or it might not.

Olórin and other names ascribed to Gandalf do not all mean Elf with the Wand. Olórin is usually considered to be probably related to the Quenya word olos (pl. olori) ‘dream, vision’, this meaning being fully discussed by Christopher Tolkien in his treatment of his father’s essay on “The Istari” in Unfinished Tales.

Saruman appears to be Old English of Mercian form meaning searu, saru ‘skill, cunning, cunning device’ + mann ‘man’, derived from his original Quenya name Curumo, and also a translation of his Sindarin name Curunír, taken as a name of approximately the same meaning, from Sindarin curu ‘skill’ + -ndîr ‘-man’. See note 6 to the essay “The Istari” in Unfinished Tales, which oddly has no reference in the text in my edition.

In short, Tolkien gives no indication of what Radagast is supposed to mean anywhere and arguing by analogy with the names Gandalf (or Mithrandir) and Saruman leads nowhere.

11-09-2013, 07:51 PM	#13
jallanite Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 479	Yes Aiwendil might mean the same as Radagast. Or it might not. Olórin and other names ascribed to Gandalf do not all mean Elf with the Wand. Olórin is usually considered to be probably related to the Quenya word olos (pl. olori) ‘dream, vision’, this meaning being fully discussed by Christopher Tolkien in his treatment of his father’s essay on “The Istari” in Unfinished Tales. Saruman appears to be Old English of Mercian form meaning searu, saru ‘skill, cunning, cunning device’ + mann ‘man’, derived from his original Quenya name Curumo, and also a translation of his Sindarin name Curunír, taken as a name of approximately the same meaning, from Sindarin curu ‘skill’ + -ndîr ‘-man’. See note 6 to the essay “The Istari” in Unfinished Tales, which oddly has no reference in the text in my edition. In short, Tolkien gives no indication of what Radagast is supposed to mean anywhere and arguing by analogy with the names Gandalf (or Mithrandir) and Saruman leads nowhere.