A Wizard's Errand

[Gurthang]

I was glancing through the description of Gandalf on the home page of the Downs, and I noticed this at the bottom:

Gandalf was the only one of the five wizards who remained true to his mission.

I don't agree with this statement. Or at least there is not sufficient evidence to say it is true or not.

Here's what we know about the Istari's choices:

• Gandalf--Stayed with his task, through betrayal and death, and saw it to completion.
  
  
• Saruman--Obviously, denied his assignment and set out on a path to gain power.
  
  
• Radagast--Befriended the birds and the beasts of Middle-Earth. He seemed to neither give up nor further his purpose.
  
  
• Morinehtar and Romestamo--Not much is known about the Blue Wizards, but here is a quote from HoME XII that Legolas originally posted:
  
  

  But the other two Istari were sent for a different purpose. Morinehtar and Romestamo. Darkness-slayer and East-helper. Their task was to circumvent Sauron: to bring help to the few tribes of Men that had rebelled from Melkor-worship, to stir up rebellion ... and after his first fall to search out his hiding (in which they failed) and to cause [? dissension and disarray] among the dark East ... They must have had very great influence on the history of the Second Age and Third Age in weakening and disarraying the forces of East ... who would both in the Second Age and Third Age otherwise have ... outnumbered the West.

So Gandalf and Saruman made definite decisions. But did the others really forsake the reason they were sent?

I, for one, don't really think so.

[Legolas]

The difference is the manner in which they failed. Saruman not only abandoned the mission, he turned against it - i.e. taking an active part for the opposite side. The other three simply ignored their mission (unless the Blue Wizards turned evil also).

Tolkien is actually the one who said that:

Indeed, of all the Istari, one only remained faithful.

Hard to argue with him

[Gurthang]

Ah..... Very true. Thank you.

[Boromir88]

Maybe this belongs in the thread about Fate, but you can argue each Istari also had it's own personal quest, or maybe not "personal" maybe, it was just "fate" that it happened the way it did.

For example, Saruman represented Aule, and of course, he got greedy, and it's only natural he would lust for power, or money...etc. I mean Dwarves and Noldor both also from Aule, would greed for power or money, then we have Sauron, most like Aule, greedy. So if you get the point, I think "fate" is definately playing a role with the Istari.

Then we have Radagast, representing Yavanna, so it's only natural that Radagast would fall in love with the birds and nature. Again, is this fate? Or did Yavanna tell Radagast to tend the birds/nature of Middle-Earth.

Lastly, Gandalf, not really representing any Valar, but most closely represents Manwe, so it's only natural that he would succeed in the Istari's "task."

[Gothbogg the Ripper]

Did Radagast not fufil his mission because he sent Gandalf to Saruman? Does this count as an act of treachery?

[Boromir88]

I wouldn't say so, Radagast did not know that Saruman had turned evil, all he knew is that Saruman wanted to see Gandalf, Saruman is a persuasive talker after all. Gandalf said if he had sensed something wrong with Radagast he wouldn't have gone, or would have went to Orthanc more warily, so Radagast was just relaying a message, wasn't trying to get Gandalf killed.

[radagastly]

I think my living namesake (Radagast) failed because he did not actively campaign against Sauron. Yes, he probably sent the Eagle Gwaihir to Orthanc when Gandalf was there, but it was not intended as a rescue because he did not know that Gandalf was in trouble. He may also have sent them to the battle before the Black Gate, if he even knew about it, but they may well have gone there on their own, seeing the battle from high above and joining in. Regardless, Radagast would have been considered a failure in his mission because he did not go himself, he took no active steps against Sauron.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

I did a lot of thinking on this topic back in my post, "Of Radagast" or "Radagast the Brown" or whatever I named it. "Success of the Wizards", that's what it was called.

I've always, ALWAYS been under the assumption that Radagast wasn't exactly idle over there in Wilderland, and almost certainly (living so near) played a large role in the rise of the Beornings, keeping the Misty Mountains goblin-free, spying on Dol Goldur (also something he was quite close to), communicating with the elven wardens on the borders of Lothlorien, maintaining the levels of spiders in the forest and preventing them from spreading as much as possible, helping the woodmen, lakemen, Dale-men, and dwarves of the mountain as much as possible.

It's pretty clear that he kept his ears open and relayed a lot of information back and forth via his friendship with all the eagles and other birds (ravens, thrushes), thereby preparing the whole of Wilderland for war (which did indeed come to them).

I think he was probably asked to join the White Council, even if he declined, but as such, I think he completed his task as far as combatting Sauron.

It seems like each wizard sort of picked an area, or group to assist in their cunning, wizardly ways, and stuck with them using the best means to do so depending on each area of the map.

Gandalf went big name, acting as counsellor to all Numenor related lands (Gondor, Arnor) and was associated frequently with elves of all variety, but none more than the Deep Elves, lords like Elrond.

The other two wizards went east.

Radagast set up shop in Wilderland.

Anyway, it seems clear that being a sort of 'cousin' to Radagast was how Gandalf thought he could earn the alliance of Beorn - a chief among Wilderland's people. Which would mean, that Radagast's name precedes him in those lands as a reliable counsellor and ally, much like Gandalf's did all over his territories (of course, like Eomer mentioned, it was no longer the key to Theoden's favor).

I covered it VERY extensively in my Radagast topic, which can be found here;

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=2094

[Gurthang]

I'm still not sure that all that means he was successful in his task. Although he did do that, I'm not sure that was exactly as he was supposed to do.

His task was not to prepare the things of the wild for the attack of Sauron, but to rally men to defeat the dark lord. He did aid the men, but not directly. I don't think his role is active enough to say he can take any credit for the victory.

Gandalf is the only Istari who took an active role to rally the forces of the West and defeat the threat of Sauron.

[Fingolfin II]

This is a very interesting question, because while Radagast was supposed to help unite the 'good' forces against Sauron along with the other Istari as ordained by Manwe and Varda, he was not originally included in the Five and was only taken by Curumo (Saruman) because Yavanna begged him to take someone with her own interests at heart. Christopher Tolkien stated in Unfinished Tales that it was a bit unfair of his father to say that Radagast failed in his mission, because his purpose was different from the others.

However, my interpretation of this is that he had two purposes; one, declared by Manwe, to help defeat Sauron and unite the free peoples of Middle-Earth and the other, to look after the trees and nature in ME, as requested by Yavanna. So we could say that while he failed in one mission - to defeat Sauron - this was due to paying too much attention to his other mission and becoming enamoured of the birds and beasts.

Keeper of Dol Guldur said:

Anyway, it seems clear that being a sort of 'cousin' to Radagast was how Gandalf thought he could earn the alliance of Beorn - a chief among Wilderland's people. Which would mean, that Radagast's name precedes him in those lands as a reliable counsellor and ally, much like Gandalf's did all over his territories (of course, like Eomer mentioned, it was no longer the key to Theoden's favor).

This is an interesting point and I agree with you that it does signify that Radagast had some impact in his 'area'; enough to even be in favour with Beorn. However, this could simply be a devout love for nature, and so therefore maybe his mission was a bit different from the others- while they were supposed to be protecting the people of Middle-Earth from Sauron, he was on the other hand protecting the birds and beasts from Sauron, which was neglected by the rest of the Wizards (except maybe for Gandalf).

Alatar and Pallando- Not much can be ascertained about their fate, but it seems unlikely that they cared for the birds and beasts of ME.

Gandalf- Close in friendship with Gwaihir and respectful and caring of all birds/beasts in ME, though focussed more on the embattled people of Middle-Earth.

Saruman- No respect whatsoever for animals and nature in Middle-Earth (look what he did to the Ents and Fangorn Forest), unless they served his purpose.

Radagast- Set out with two purposes; close in friendship with all birds and beasts; without this friendship old Gandalf would not have escaped Orthanc and the Quest would be in a bit of strife.

Also, Tolkien said that while they stayed true to their mission they always longed for Valinor. However, Gandalf had no lasting abode and this is a very key point in this. Saruman settled in Isengard, Radagast in Rhasgobel, Alatar and Pallando somewhere in the East (their fate is not known), but Gandalf had no lasting place to call home and thus his true 'home' of Valinor stayed in his mind, so Radagast 'failed' in the respect that he adopted a home other than the Blessed Realm.

So on the balance, I believe that Radagast succeeded in one mission - to protect the trees and nature in Middle-Earth - but he failed in the other, which was to protect and unite the people of Middle-Earth against Sauron.

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P.S. A bit off-topic, but for some reason, Radagast reminds me of a more 'active' Tom Bombadil, who has an affinity with nature, yet he is more willing to work outside the boundaries of his own designated area.

[Legolas]

Despite any good Radagast did, he largely ignored the mission he was assigned and could have taken a much more active role.