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Radagast

2008-01-25T07:31:45Z

24.21.68.176: /* History */

{{Istari infobox
| image=[[Image:Radagast (Decipher).JPG|250px]]
| name= Radagast
| othernames= The Brown, [[Aiwendil]], Bird Friend, Tender of Beasts, [[Bird-tamer]]
| coming=[[Third Age 1000]]
| duty=[[Istari]]
| death=Unknown
| gender=Male
| robes= Brown
| height=
| hair=White and Grey
| eyes=
| appearance=Old man cloaked in brown.
|}}
'''Radagast the Brown''' was one of the [[Wizards]], a good friend of [[Gandalf]], and had a strong affinity for animals. He lived at [[Rhosgobel]], on the western eaves of [[Mirkwood]], near the [[Gladden Fields]] on the [[Anduin|Great River]].

== History ==
Radagast, like the other Wizards, came from [[Valinor]] around the year [[Third Age 1000|1000]] of the [[Third Age]] and was one of the [[Maiar]]. His original name was [[Aiwendil]], meaning ''Bird Friend'' in [[Quenya]]. The [[Valar|Vala]] [[Yavanna]] forced [[Saruman]] to accept Radagast as a companion, which may have been one of the reasons Saruman was contemptuous of him.

The wizard's home was in [[Rhosgobel]] on the western borders of [[Mirkwood]]. He was a friend of [[Beorn]] as well as a friend to the forest's many creatures, especially birds whom he communicated with. Despite this, Gandalf will still more knowledgeable of the animals, and more respected by them than Radagast. Radagast spent most of his time with the wildlife instead of [[Men]] and [[Elves]], whom he found more difficult to deal with. Radagast grew neglectful and easygoing, and he lacked courage, however he remained of good will.

In the summer of [[Third Age 3018|3018]] Radagast was unwittingly used by Saruman to lure Gandalf to [[Orthanc]] , where Gandalf was captured. However, Radagast also unwittingly helped rescue the grey wizard by alerting the [[Eagles]] of Gandalf's journey there.

Radagast is without a doubt a mysterious character. While there is little doubt that his heart was in the right place, he did not possess that same selflessness that allowed Gandalf to fulfill the task set to him by the Valar,to aid the free people. Diegning to leave his wooded home, Radagast remained in Northern Mirkwood with the birds and the beasts and the trees.

So in the end, it seems that Radagast was among the four wizards who failed in their tasks to help fight against Sauron. While he was not ambitious and cruel like Saruman, he did not contribute to Sauron's downfall.

What became of Radagast the Brown in the [[Fourth Age]] is left to speculation. It is possible that he was allowed to return to Valinor, but this seems unlikely. Radagast may have left to wander [[Middle-earth]], or he may have stayed with his beloved birds and beasts, content to while away the days in Mirkwood until he himself withered away and became part of the forest he loved so much.

==Adaptations==
The character Radagast and virtually all references to him were removed in [[Peter Jackson]]'s film adaptation of [[Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings|The Lord of the Rings]].

==Other names==
[[Image:Angelo Montanini - Radagast.jpg|thumb|right|''Radagast'' by [[Angelo Montanini]]]]
* The Brown
* [[Aiwendil]]
* Bird Friend
* Tender of Beasts
* Radagast the Bird-tamer - a name mockingly given to Radagast by Saruman.
* Radagast the Simple - a name mockingly given to Radagast by Saruman.
* Radagast the Fool - a name mockingly given to Radagast by Saruman.

== Etymology ==

According to the essay "The Istari" from the ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'', the name ''Radagast'' means "tender of beasts" in [[Adûnaic]], the language of [[Númenor]]. However, in a later note [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] said that the name is in the language of the [[Men]] of the [[Vales of Anduin]], and that its meaning is not interpretable.

The name ''Radagast'' may actually be [[Anglo-Saxon]]. The word ''gast'' means "ghost, spirit, angel." The element ''rad'' could be derived from ''rudu'', meaning "ruddy, reddish." If this is the case, his name could be translated as "Ruddy Angel." Since the Maiar are Tolkien's 'lesser angels', Radagast would mean simply "Ruddy Maia", perhaps in reference to his cloak's color (brown, or perhaps ruddy brown). But this may be too much speculation. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radegast_%28god%29 Radagast (god)] for meaning of the name in Slavic languages from which Tolkien possibly drew the name.

==References==
* ''[[The Hobbit]]'', [[Queer Lodgings]]
* ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', [[The Council of Elrond]]
* ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'', [[The Istari]]
* ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]'', ''[[The Lost Road and Other Writings]]'' "The Etymologies," entries for aiwe and nil, ndil
* ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', [[Letter 156]]

==See also==
* [[:Category:Images of Radagast|Images of Radagast]]

{{istari}}

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[[Category:Wizards]]
[[Category:Maiar]]
[[Category:Characters in The Hobbit]]
[[Category:Characters in The Lord of the Rings]]
[[de:Radagast]]
[[fi:Radagast]]

Oliphaunts

2007-12-07T04:53:03Z

24.21.68.176:

[[Image:Alan Lee - An Oliphaunt.jpg|thumb|250px|An Oliphaunt by [[Alan Lee]].]]

'''Oliphaunts''' were animals similar to -- but larger than -- [[Elephants|elephants]]. In Middle-earth they were called <i>mûmakil</i> (singular <i>mûmak</i>) by the [[Men]] of [[Gondor]]. The word "oliphaunt" was only used by [[Hobbits]].

==The animal==
Oliphaunts lived during the [[Third Age]] in the southern land of [[Harad]], and were notably used in the [[Siege of Gondor]] and the subsequent [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]] on March 15th, 3018 of the Third Age. They are said to be (according to the Middle-Earth world) an ancestor of today's elephants although many times their size. They were big enough to carry structures similar to towers on their backs. These beasts had skin so thick it was almost impenetrable making them almost invulnerable to arrow shots. The only known way to kill an Oliphaunt was to shoot it in the eye, which typically meant standing in front of it as it charged the archer, and thus a very difficult task to perform. In the film version they are much, much bigger than today's elephants with 2 sets of big tusks and one set of tiny tusks.

Mumakil came from somewhere in jungles of Far Harad, off any known maps of middle earth. Massive, often ferocious beasts, the Haradrim somehow tamed them to use as beasts of war. How this was done is never explained; it seems a feat tantamount to impossible. Yet it was done--and the result was possibly the most brutally effective beast of war the Middle Earth ever saw.

The Haradrim strapped a massive, carriage-like tiered tower the the backs of these beasts, and from here exper Haradrim archers and spearman hurled these deadly projectiles down upon their enemies. The mumak itslef, enraged and goaded by its cruel Haradrim masters, would charge through the enemy, trampling archer, swordsman and horse beneath its massive feet and sweeping aside men in its way with scything strokes of its great tusks.

Killing a Mumak was almost impossible--its rough, leathery hide made arrows realtively harmless, and any archers standing to take a shot would be an easy target for the archers on top of the Haradrim. Horses had a natural fear of the Mumak's so even the most skilled horsemen could not get close enough to strike at its great, trunk-like legs.

There are no known records of Mumakil in the Fourth Age.

The most famous use of the oliphant is in The Song of Roland "The oliphant is set to Roland's Lips;" Roland fails to call for help at the Battle of Roncevaux in 778 until it is too late for him and his comrades. The oliphant is echoed in The Lord of the Rings by [[Boromir]]'s horn and conterposed by [[Helm Hammerhand|Helm's]] horn and the horns of [[Buckland]].

==The poem==

''Oliphaunt'' is also the title of a short comic poem about the beast quoted by the hobbit [[Samwise Gamgee]], based on traditional bestiary lore.

<poem>
'''Oliphaunt'''
Grey as a mouse,
Big as a house,
Nose like a snake,
I make the earth shake,
As I tramp through the grass;
Trees crack as I pass.
With horns in my mouth
I walk in the South,
Flapping big ears.
Beyond count of years
I stump round and round,
Never lie on the ground,
Not even to die.
Oliphaunt am I,
Biggest of all,
Huge, old, and tall.
If ever you'd met me
You wouldn't forget me.
If you never do,
You won't think I'm true;
But old Oliphaunt am I,
And I never lie.
</poem>

[[Category:Animals]]

Dunlendings

2007-12-05T00:39:15Z

24.21.68.176: A summary of the history of the Dunlendings

Dunlendings were the ferocious, stunted and vicious men that lived in Dunland, close to Rohan. Also called the wild men of Dunland, they have long been enemies of the Rohirrim, although this hate is relatively baseless--it was the Numenoreans who had ruled them harshly in the past.
The Dunlendings were employed by the wizard Saruman to attack an raid the cites and settlements of Rohan. Since Grima Wormtongue had corrupted the mind of King Theoden, the Rohirrim were absent for the most part, and the farm boys and old men who picked up rusty swords proved to be little contest to the ferocious Dunlendings.
Wild Men were also present at the Battle of the Hornburg (Battle of Helm's Deep), as well as an odd breed of Half-Orcs, derived from Orcs and the Men of Dunland. They fought viciously against their old enemy, but when Gandalf stormed down the hill with a thousand Rohirrim at his back and his staff shining piercing light into the eyes of the Dunlendings, they dropped their weapons and surrendured. This proved to be a wise decision, as the Orcs who fled were killed by a massive forest of Hourns that blocked the entrance to the valley.
After Saruman's downfall, the Dunlendings retreated back into their homeland and did not trouble the people of Rohan.
When the wizard Saruman attemtped to take over the Shire, there were a number of Dunlendings with him. However, they were slain or driven away by Hobbits, and when Saruman died at the hands of his own servent, Sauron, the basis of all evil, had fallen, and King Elessar took the throne of Gondor, the Dunlendings agreed never to trouble the free peoples of Middle Earth again, and their old and evil power was finally broken