Of Radagast, Friend of Wild Beasts

“Well, I think he is a very great Wizard… in his own way. He’s a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals for others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the east, and a good thing too. For always evil will look to find a foothold in this world.”

Gandalf the Grey has many friends among the wild things of nature, such as Gwaihir, “Lord of the Eagles of the Misty Mountains”, yet, Radagast the Brown, is the only one of the Five Istari (Wizards) to have “devoted himself entirely to the welfare of birds and beasts”.  It is for this reason that the Elves called him: Aiwendil (tr. Quenyan Elvish: ‘Lover of Birds’) and Hrávandil (tr. Quenyan Elvish ‘Wild beast friend’).

A name for the Brown Wizard

“In a very late note on the names of the Istari Radagast is said to be a name deriving from the Men of the Vales of Anduin, ‘not now clearly interpretable’.” 

That is the in-universe origin of the Brown Wizard’s name. ( J.R.R. Tolkien briefly considered that the name was in “the tongue of Númenor of old”) Given that Tolkien equated each of his languages – including the tongues of Men – with real-world languages, mainly from the European category, the question is: What is the actual origin of Radagast’s name?

Tolkien scholar John D. Rateliff admitted that, at first glance, Old English might seem to be a good enough etymological fit, with ‘rad’ meaning ‘road’ and ‘gast’ (“direct ancestor of [the] modern ghost”) meaning ‘spirit’, but he dismissed it in favor of another more plausible candidate. He then pointed out that Medwed, the original name of the skin-changer Beorn who made his first appearance in The Hobbit just like Radagast, is derived from the Slavic word ‘medved’, meaning ‘bear’. And recalling that Tolkien devised the name of Radagast during the writing stage when Beorn still went by Medwed, Rateliff stated:

“We must therefore consider the possibility that the name is not Germanic at all but rather Slavic, and in fact the evidence for a Slavic Radagast is surprisingly strong, given how little role the Slavic languages played in Tolkien’s legendarium overall.”

According to the Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Anglicized: ‘Deeds of the Bishops of the Hamburg Church’) by Adam of Bremen, the West Slavic people known as the Wends had a great temple “devoted to the god Radegast”. Jacob Grimm compared this deity to Hermes/Mercury from the classical Greek-Roman pantheon. Rateliff noted that Tolkien might have been drawn to the Slavic god Radegast precisely because of the allusions made by Grimm, “an author for whom [Tolkien] had a great deal of respect and with whom he identified in some respects”. Other attempts at the reconstruction of pre-Christian Slavic mythology in the 19th and 20th century, however, proposed that Radegast was the god of crops, harvest, abundance and hospitality. This is of particular interest given the connection between Radagast the Brown and the Valië Yavanna, the Queen of Earth and Giver of Fruits within J.R.R. Tolkien’s works – a connection which we will soon discuss.

Stalwart of the natural realm of Middle-earth

“Radagast never supported Sauron in any way, and other indications suggest that defending birds and beasts against the earth-destroying Darkness that had ravaged the Brown Lands (once the Garden of the Entwives), desecrated the landscape before the Black Gate (‘Here neither spring nor summer would ever come again […]  a land defiled, diseased beyond all healing’ – LotR.657), and left Mordor a dying land (cf. LotR.956) was in fact part of Radagast’s mission – his special brief, as it were.”

It is true that the Brown Wizard had largely neglected Elves, Dwarves and Men, but that does not mean that he strayed from his mission.  John D. Rateliff noted that Radagast’s fondness for “birds and beasts can be seen as parallel to Gandalf’s fondness for Hobbits”. And Tolkien himself revealed that Radagast belonged to the household of Yavanna, whose province as one of the Valar was the nature of Middle-earth, and so Radagast had an innate “love of the things of her making”. In fact, it was Yavanna who insisted that Radagast should join the Order of Istari in the first place. Ratcliffe felt that this confirmed that Radagast’s appointed task to begin with had been to stand watch over the denizens of forest lands of Middle-earth: to be the stalwart of Yavanna’s natural realm against Sauron. After all, animals and plants were still a part of the world that the Dark Lord sought dominion of. And many an unfortunate creature had been tainted by Sauron, and by his former master, Morgoth, before him: corrupted in mind, “nursed with fell meats” and twisted in shape until the wretched creature became a “beast spell-enslaved“.

“You must summon our friends, bird and beast.”

The wisdom of Yavanna in sending Radagast was also proven in Radagast’s “talent for gathering and sending news quickly” thanks to his wild allies, including the Great Eagles. In fact, his friendship with the Great Eagles, depicted in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium as “the noblest of all creatures and the representatives of Manwë”, vice-regent of Eru (the One/God) and King of the Valar, speaks well of his overall character. Radagast also often acts as the go-between Gandalf and birds and beasts. In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Peter Jackson credits Radagast for bringing the Great Eagles to the Free Peoples’ aid at Gandalf’s behest. And in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf charges Radagast with having his birds report any findings to him at Isengard, where he was bound for to take counsel with Saruman.

The Brown Wizard’s choice of dwelling is also telling of his commitment to the fight against the Dark Lord. In the original draft of the map of Middle-earth, Radagast’s home in Rhosgobel was “roughly halfway between the Forest Road and Dol Guldur”, the ruined fortress where “Sauron Redivivus” (tr. Latin: ‘reborn’) was taking shape once more. And even in the published version Radagast clearly kept an eye on the growing Shadow of Dol Guldur, given that he aided Saruman in taming birds as “part of the watch upon the Enemy”. (Unfortunately, Saruman abused Radagast’s good faith, using the skills he had learned from the Brown Wizard to secretly enlist spies in his search for the Ring).

“Radagast? Do not speak to me of Radagast the Brown.”

“‘Radagast the Brown!’ laughed Saruman, and he no longer concealed his scorn. ‘Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool! “

Concerning Radagast’s poor relationship with Saruman, it is worth mentioning that one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s early accounts detailing the coming of the Five Istari suggested that Radagast had been assigned as the companion of Saruman. And according to this version of the story, Saruman had been obliged to take Radagast along “to please Yavanna”. Saruman’s disdain for him could thus be hinted at with this backstory of “Radagast’s unwelcome company”. The White Messenger, domineering and proud since his early days, dismissed the Brown Wizard as a “foolish fellow”. And yet Radagast did not forsake his task, whereas Saruman, once recognized by all as the greatest of the Five Istari, “fell under the domination of Sauron”. Saruman’s contemptuous attitude towards Radagast has another likely source as well: the Brown Wizard’s close association with the Grey Pilgrim, who the White Messenger deeply envied and who he “was ever ready to gainsay”.

Kindred spirit of the Grey Pilgrim

“[…] perhaps you have heard of my good cousin Radagast who lives near the borders of Mirkwood?”

Radagast’s quality can be easily gleaned from his friendship with Gandalf, the beginnings of which can be traced to the arrival of the Five Istari in Middle-earth. According to the later writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, “probably Gandalf and Radagast came together”, with Radagast being Gandalf’s assigned companion. Rateliff pointed out that this account further served to identify “the two as essentially kindred spirits”. And their long-standing bond also explains the Grey Pilgrim’s particular fondness of the Brown Wizard, to the point that he refers to Radagast as his “cousin” when talking with Beorn (The two Istari are indeed  ‘kinsmen’, in that both belong to the same “angelic people” of the Valar, the Maiar)

Of course, the friendship between the two also has to do with Gandalf’s capability to glimpse potential in others and bring out the best in them. Whereas most perceived the Brown Wizard as a fumbling and naïve hermit and frowned upon the wild ‘company’ he kept, the Grey Pilgrim did not see these traits as weaknesses. Rather, Gandalf, a humble soul himself, valued the kindness and compassion that Radagast had in plenty when it came to his wild charges. Even Beorn, who “used to see him now and again” acknowledged that Radagast was “not a bad fellow as wizards go”.

And the Grey Pilgrim’s trust in the Brown Wizard is repaid. Let us not forget the role Radagast played in the rescue of Gandalf from the clutches of the traitor Saruman, finally unmasked as “an ally or servant of Sauron”. It was “honest Radagast” who sent Gwaihir, lord and “swiftest of the Great Eagles”, to the Tower of Orthanc in the first place (albeit with the goal of delivering news to the Grey Pilgrim).

“For Radagast did as I bid. And the Eagles of the Misty Mountains kept watch and they saw the mustering of Orcs, and got news of the escape of Gollum, and they sent word to Orthanc of this to me. And so it was when the moon was still young on a night of autumn that Gwaewar [<Gwaihir] the Windlord chief of the Eagles came to me […]'” 

A worthy Wizard, in his own way

Radagast’s best quality is certainly his devotion to his friends, be they bird and beast or Gandalf. And as John D. Rateliff perfectly concluded,  “Radagast should probably be viewed as a good fellow and a worthy wizard” and his actions, although not as grand as those of his friend Gandalf, are “nonetheless worthy of praise” and ultimately contributed to the Free Peoples’ victory over Sauron in the War of the Ring. I like the fact that adaptations from the New Line Cinema continuity, such as The Lord of the Rings: War in the North video game (where he is voiced by actor Phil Proctor) and later Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit the motion picture trilogy (where he is portrayed by actor Silvester McCoy – a very good casting choice), seized on this and expanded upon the character’s role in the struggle against the “One Enemy”.

Sources

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, “Radagast the Brown”
• The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, “Gwaihir”, by Robert Foster
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, ”Úrgost’s Lair”
• Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, “The Istari”, J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
• The History of the Hobbit, “Radagast”, by John D. Rateliff
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “The Field of Cormallen”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, “Summon Our Friends”
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, ”Mirkwood”
• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, “Letter 131”, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Humphrey Carpenter)
• The Silmarillion, “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age”, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, “The White Council”
• Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, “The Palantíri”, J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
• The Hobbit, “Queer Lodgings”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion, “The Council of Elrond”, by Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull
• The Peoples of Middle-earth, “Last Writings”, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
• The Treason of Isengard, “The Council of Elrond (1)”, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, “Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit”, by J.R.R. Tolkien