Not just a 'tender of beasts' : Radagast's connection to Slavic Mythology

[jallanite]

Originally Posted by Galin

JRRT once noted that in the tongue of Numenor of old, Radagast (it was said) meant 'tender of beasts', but in a late note 'Radagast is said to be a name deriving from the Men of the Vales of Anduin, 'not now clearly interpretable'.

I had forgotten that, till your mention reminded me.

My guess is that the meaning of the Quenya name Aiwendil was not in play in both cases. And sometimes it can be difficult to say if a name is intended to be a substitution or not: Gandalf and Saruman are substitutions, and Incánus might seem to be another substitution by Tolkien as the fictive translator for example, but in another late note Tolkien at least considers a possible Quenya derivation, as he had considered earlier as well.

Apparently I was not clear in my intention. I see Gandalf and Mithrandir and other names given to Gandalf in various languages as unrelated to the Quenya name Olórin in meaning. While Saruman appears to be a translation of that wizard’s Quenya and Sindarin into Old English, presumably representing a form originally in true Rohirric.