The Wizards, commonly known as the Istari (Quenya) and the Ithryn (Sindarin) was the title assigned to five Maiar in the Third Age of Middle-earth. They formed the Order of Wizards (Q.Heren Istarion) .[2]
Among Men it was initially assumed that the Wizards were also men who, by long and secret study, had acquired great knowledge of lore and arts. However, as the Third Age passed it was marked that the Wizards did not die, so Men began to believe that they were of Elven-kind. However, none except Elrond, Círdan, and Galadriel knew that, in actuality, the Wizards were vassals of the Valar who were sent to assist the Free peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron as he gathered his forces during the Third Age.[2]
Two Wizards who went into the East and South, and do not appear in any of the main tales of Middle-earth. The names Alatar and Pallando, both Maiar of Oromë are known.[4] However there are tales about two Wizards, perhaps the same two, called Rómestámo and Morinehtar who operated during the Second Age.[6] It is not known whether they are the same spirits as Palacendo and Haimenar.[5]
The precursor of the Heren Istarion were perhaps the Five Guardians, who, under Melian, were tasked by the Valar to protect the first Elves during the Battle of the Powers; the spirits assigned for this corresponded more or less to the Maiar who were sent millennia later.[5]
The Heren Istarion had been created in Valinor. A council of the Valar was called by Manwë which resolved to send three emissaries. Initially only Curumo, chosen by Aulë, and Alatar, chosen by Oromë, stepped forward. Manwë then asked for Olórin and commanded him to go. Curumo took Aiwendil with him because Yavanna begged him to do so and Alatar took along his friend Pallando.[4]
They were clothed in the bodies of old men, restricting their powers so that they would only assist the peoples of Middle-earth and not seek dominion like Sauron, who was also a Maia. They were charged by the Valar to assist the people of Middle-earth through persuasion and encouragement, not force or fear. By inhabiting the bodies of Men they also became susceptible to all of the weaknesses of a physical body: they felt hunger, pain, greed, sorrow, joy, and all other emotions and pains of Men. While they were vulnerable and they could be killed, they aged only very slowly and were immortal.[2]
Arrival in Middle-earth
Círdan witnessed the arrival of the Order in Middle-earth around the year c. T.A.1000 (though the two Wizards may have arrived much earlier). Their "mission" was to advise and persuade Men and Elves to resist Sauron. Each wizard was assigned a colour for his clothes. The wizard in white was Saruman, regarded by all as the leader of the order, with white being indicative of the chief. The Wizard clad in brown was Radagast and the one clad in grey was Gandalf, seemingly the oldest and the least of the Order. The other two who travelled to the East and South were sometimes said to clad themselves in robes of sea-blue and were known as the Blue Wizards.[2] It is not known if the colour had any special meaning concerning their rank, abilities or nature.
In the northwest of Middle-earth Curumo became known as Saruman to Men and Curunír to Elves; Olórin was known as Gandalf to Men and Mithrandir to Elves;[7] while Aiwendil became known as Radagast.
In spite of their specific and unambiguous goal, the Wizards were nevertheless capable of mortal, even negative feelings. Thus, Gandalf felt great affection for the Hobbits and Radagast for the animals. On the other hand, Saruman fell victim to greed, jealousy, and lust for power; the other two Wizards may have also fallen prey to these temptations during their journeys in the East.
Very few of Middle-earth's inhabitants knew who the Wizards really were, as the Istari did not share this information. Most believed they were Elves or wise Men; the name Gandalf represents this interpretation, meaning Wand-elf, because the Men who gave him the nickname believed he was an Elf. They attracted few questions due to their gentle nature and dislike of direct interference with other people's affairs.
Saruman was originally gifted with the greatest power of the five Istari and was named the head of the White Council, a group of the Wise in opposition to Sauron. In T.A.2759[8], he was invited by the rulers of Gondor and Rohan to settle in Isengard and the impenetrable tower of Orthanc. Saruman was learned in the lore of the Rings of Power[9] and, by T.A. 3000, he had become corrupted by the desire for the Rings and by Sauron's direct influence on him through the palantír of Orthanc.[10] Eventually, he became ensnared in Sauron's power, and assisted him in the War of the Ring. He was later defeated by the Ents and Gandalf (then called "Gandalf the White" after his defeat of the Durin's Bane, the Balrog of Moria) who broke his staff and cast him from the Order of Wizards and from the Council.[11] Saruman's death came later at the hands of his servant Wormtongue in The Shire, after the destruction of the One Ring and the Battle of Bywater. His spirit was then dispersed by a wind from the West,[12] becoming similar to Sauron in his destruction.[13]
Radagast
Radagast the Brown by Matt DeMino
Radagast stayed true to his mission for a while, even serving as a messenger to Gandalf from Saruman, convincing Gandalf to meet with Saruman. He also instructed the birds in his service to assist Saruman and Gandalf. Radagast dwelt at Rhosgobel[14] near the borders of Mirkwood. Eventually, Radagast is said to have become enamoured of the beasts and birds and to have ultimately failed to complete his mission. Later writings are less critical of Radagast, arguing that he did not fail at his mission as much as simply choose a tactic - working with the animal world - that ultimately proved less directly effective than working with Men and Elves.
Gandalf arrived in the Grey Havens shortly after Radagast and Saruman. He was welcomed by Círdan the shipwright, who gave him Narya, one of the Three Elven Rings, to support him in the weariness that he had taken upon himself.[7] He then wandered Middle-earth for many years, serving as a counselor to many while being known by many names, though his sojourns were limited to the West and he never went East.[15] He held a seat in the White Council along with fellow Wizard Saruman (who led the Council in spite of Galadriel wanting Gandalf to lead it),[16] going on to expose the presence of Sauron in Dol Guldur in T.A. 2063.[17] He then went on to be pivotal in the success of the Quest of Erebor and the defeat of Smaug in T.A. 2941.[18] After this, he was instrumental in the success of the Fellowship during the Quest of the Ring, wherein he defeated the Balrog of Moria and was reborn as Gandalf the White.[19] After donning this new title, he cast Saruman from the Order of Wizards[11] and went on to lead the West in their victory over Sauron and the establishment of the heir of Elendil, Aragorn Elessar, as rightful king of Gondor in T.A. 3019.[20] Having been successful in his mission, he sailed West and returned to Valinor in T.A. 3021[21].
Those who went East
The Blue Wizards by Daniel Pilla
The other two Wizards went into the East and South and did not enter the tales of the Westlands. Some came to call them the Ithryn Luin, or "Blue Wizards," and some thought that they also failed in their mission and fell to the temptations that had corrupted Saruman, and that their fall gave rise to magical cults in the East and South.[22] However, other tales suggest otherwise, even that two Wizards had successful influence in the East and South ensuring the victories of the West.[1]
End of The Order
The Order of Wizards came to an end with the passing of Sauron. After being killed by Grima Wormtongue, it is probable that the spirit of Saruman was not allowed to return to the Aman, because the grey mist that rose from his body and that lingered as a pale shrouded figure dissolved into nothing when a cold wind came from the West.[12] Gandalf, previously mentioned, was successful in his mission and returned to Aman alongside the Ring-bearerFrodo Baggins. The fate of Radagast and the other Wizards who landed in the North is unknown, as one verse mentions that only Gandalf returned to the West.[2]
Etymology
The name Wizards, which means "wise" (in the sense of "Wise Men"[23]) rather than "sorcerer" or "magician"[24][25] is a translation of the Quenya name Istari.[26]
The Sindarin name Ithryn (singular Ithron) means "wizards".[30]
Other versions of the legendarium
In Gnomish, one of Tolkien's early conceptions of an Elven language, the word for "wizard" is curug (and "witch" is curus). An alternative word is thothweg, also translated as "wizard".[31]
J.R.R. Tolkien mentioned in a letter to Rhona Beare in 1958 that he did not know the colours of the two Wizards whose names did not appear in The Lord of the Rings and that he did not know anything clearly about them. He wrote that he thought that they went to distant regions, East and South, far out of Númenórean range, that he feared that they failed in different ways and suspected that they founded and began secret cults and magic traditions that lasted longer than the fall of Sauron. He also mentioned that the names of the "Istari" were nicknames that they received from the Elves for a peculiarity, function, or deed.[35]
It is mentioned in an essay on the Istari, which according to Christopher Tolkien appeared to have been written in 1954, that the Valar sent the Wizards as emissaries to resist Sauron when the shadow of Sauron began to stir again. It is stated that the number of Wizards is unknown, but that the chief wizards of the wizards who came to the North of Middle-earth were five. The first Wizard who came was dressed in white, there were two dressed in sea-blue and one in earthen-brown. Last came a wizard who was dressed in grey. He wrote that the Blue Wizards did not have names in the West, except Ithryn Luin, the Blue Wizards, because they passed into the East with Saruman and never returned. He wrote that it is not now known if they pursued their purposes for which they were sent in the East or perished or were ensnared by Sauron and became his servants.[36]
In a sketch of a narrative it is told that Manwë summoned a council of the Valar in which it was asked who would got as emissaires to Middle-earth. Curumo who was chosen by Aulë and Alatar who was sent by Oromë came forward. Manwë chose Olórin. Yavanna asked Curumo to take Aiwendil with him and Alatar took Pallando as a friend with him. In tables from the same time period Curumo is associated with Aulë, Olórin with Manwë and Varda, Aiwendil with Yvanna and Alatar and Pallando with Oromë (replacing Pallando with Mandos and Nienna). Christopher Tolkien guesses that the reason why Alatar and Pallando are associated with Oromë was, because he had the greatest knowledge of the further parts of Middle-earth and that they were sent to travel in those regions.[37]
In notes that were written during the last year of his life[38] J.R.R. Tolkien mentioned that the Wizards did not come at the same time. Possibly Saruman, Gandalf and Radagast came at the same time.[39] He wrote that that Valinor received urgent messages and prayers in S.A. 1600 that asked for help when it became clear for all the leaders of Elves and Men that war against Sauron who was then unmasked as a new Dark Lord was inevitable. As a consequence, Glorfindel was sent back to Middle-earth to help Gil-galad and Elrond probably around S.A. 1600.[40]
The other two wizards probably came at the same time as Glorfindel. Their names were Morinehtar ("Darkness-slayer") and Rómestamo ("East-helper"). The were sent to help the few tribes of Men who had rebelled against the worship of Melkor, to stir up rebellion, to search for the hiding place of Sauron after his first fall (which they could not find) and to create dissension and disarray in the dark East. They had a big influence in the Second Age and the Third Age to weaken and disarray the forces of the East who would otherwise have outnumbered the forces of the West in both Ages. It is mentioned that a note about their names and functions seems lost, but their general history and effect on the Third Age except their names is clear. Christopher Tolkien thinks that this could refer to the sketch of a narrative about a council of the Valar in which the Wizards were chosen and where their names were Alatar and Pallando.[39]
A note on the delay of Gil-galad and the Númenóreans that was written around the same time mentions that emissaries of Sauron were busy among the tribes of eastern Men at this time. It took Sauron ninety years to gather and train armies. This gathering of armies had been opposed and Sauron had gathered much less than he hoped. The note mentions that notes about the Five Wizards cover this matter. Sauron had powerful enemies in the East and in the Southern lands about which he had not thought about sufficiently.[41] It is not stated who these enemies were and what the term "the Southern lands" means. However, it is mentioned before that the Númenóreans who occupied the Mouths of Anduin and the shorelands of Lebennin discovered the devices of Sauron and informed Gil-galad about it. It is possible that the Númenóreans were also active in the region of Umbar and Harad at that time, beause Aldarion had already sailed to Harad before. In contrast to the letter from 1958 the note on the Five Wizards from the last year of J.R.R. Tolkien's life does not mention that the other two wizards went to the South.
Other fiction
In Tolkien's Roverandom, an old wizard, Artaxerxes, uses a spell to bewitch Rover, a dog, into a toy for biting him.
Saruman as depicted by Christopher Lee in The Lord of the Rings (film series)In Peter Jackson's film version of The Lord of the Rings, two of the five Wizards (Saruman and Gandalf) were portrayed and featured heavily in the film trilogy (as the characters do in the books.)
In the set Tower of Orthanc, stickers depict portraits of five wizards, two of which are recognizable as Saruman and Gandalf. A third resembles Radagast as he appears in The Hobbit film trilogy.
Although Radagast has a small role in The Lord of the Rings, his role was omitted in Peter Jackson's film trilogy. However, Radagast had a substantial supporting role in The Hobbit films, and Saruman had a brief appearance. The Blue Wizards are also referenced in passing by Gandalf, although they make no appearance.
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