Radagast

[openidwouldwork]

I suppose being a veterinary is the reason I'm particularly offended by what they have done to Radagast...

Radagast in The Hobbit (that book by Tolkien, you know)

"I am a wizard," continued Gandalf. "I have heard of you, if you have not heard of me; but perhaps you have heard of my good cousin Radagast who lives near the Southern borders of Mirkwood?"

"Yes; not a bad fellow as wizards go, I believe. I used to see him now and again," said Beorn. "Well, now I know who you are, or who you say you are.

No, no further mention in The Hobbit.




In the Lord of the Rings...

Gandalf tells of Radagast at the Council of Elrond:

I turned then east and north and journeyed along the Greenway; and not far from Bree I came upon a traveller sitting on a bank beside the road with his grazing horse beside him. it was Radagast the Brown, who at one time dwelt at Rhosgobel, near the borders of Mirkwood. He is one of my order, but I had not seen him for many a year.

...

Gandalf: "... And what do you want with me? It must be pressing. You were never a traveller, unless driven by great need."
"I have an urgent errand," he said. "My news is evil." Then he looked about him, as if the hedges might have ears. "Nazgul," he whispered. "The Nine are abroad again. They have crossed the River secretly and are moving westward. They have taken the guise of riders in black."
I knew then what I had dreaded without knowing it.
"The enemy must have some great need or purpose," said Radagast; "but what it is that makes him look to these distant and desolate parts, I cannot guess."
"What do you mean?" said I.
"I have been told that wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a land called Shire."
"The Shire," I said; but my heart sank. For even the Wise might fear to withstand the Nine, when they are gathered together under their fell chieftain. A great king and sorcerer he was of old, and now he wields a deadly fear. "Who told you, and who send you?" I asked.
"Saruman the White," answered Radagast. "And he told me to say what if you feel the need, he will help; but you must seek his aid at once, or it will be too late."
And that message brought me hope. For Saruman the White is the greatest of my order. Radagast is, of course, a worthy Wizard, a master of shapes and changes of hue; and he has much lore of herbs and beasts, and birds are especially his friends. But Saruman has long studies the arts of the Enemy himself, and thius we have oftern been able to forestall him. It was by the devices of Saruman that we drove him from Dol Guldur. It might be that he had found some weapons that would drive back the Nine.
"I will go to Saruman," I said.
"Then you must go now," said Radagast; "for I have wasted time in looking for you, and the days are running short. I was told to find you before Midsummer, and that is now here. Even if you set out from this spot, you will hardly reach him before the Nine will discover the land that they seek. I myself shall turn back at once." And with that he mounted and would have ridden straigt off.
"Stay a moment!" I said. "We shall need your help, and the help of all thigns that will give it. Send out messages to all the beasts and birds that are your friends. Tell them to bring news of anything that bears on this matter to Saruman and Gandalf. Let messages be snd to Orthanc."
"I will do that," he said, and rode off as if the Nine were after him.


I suppose the movie people decided to adopt Saruman's view of Radagast...

"Radagast the Brown!" laughed Saruman, and he no longer concealed his scorn. "Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool! Yet he had just the wit to play the part that I set him.

...

Gandalf again:

At first I feared, as Saruman had no doubt intended, that Radagast had also fallen. Yet I had caught no hint of anything wrong in his voice or in his eye at our meeting. If I had, iI should never have gone to Isengard, or i should have gone more warily. So Saruman guesses, and he had concealed his mind and decieved his messenger, It would have been useless in any case to try and win over the honest Radagast to treachery, He sought me in good fath, and so persuaded me.
That was the undoing of Saruman's plot. For Radagast knew no reason why he should not do as I asked; and he rode away towards Mirkwood where he had many friends of old. And the Eagles of the Mountains went far and wide, and they saw many things: the gathering of wolves and the mustering of Orcs; and the Nine Riders going hither and thither in the lands,; and they heard news of the escape of Gollum. And they sent a messenger to bring these things to me.

So Radagast had a part in making it possible for Gandalf to escape from Orthanc.

Comments

[rosinarowantree.livejournal.com]

Does the Hobbit film have Radagast in it? I can't quite remember him in the LotR films. Although I suppose Gandalf might have mentioned him ... I have a memory of him galloping off to Isengard for some reason ...

[openidwouldwork.livejournal.com]

It does, more's the pity.

I son't really remember him from the LOTR film either... man in flowing brown robes on a horse?

[openidwouldwork.livejournal.com]

ah, no Radagast in LOTR movies...

2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:

Radagast was entirely omitted. Without Radagast's involvement, Gandalf goes to Isengard of his own accord (because he wanted council form Saruman) and is able to escape from the pinnacle of Orthanc by speaking to a moth who sends for the help of the eagles.