Radagast

Radagast the Brown is one of the five Istari, the order of Wizards sent to Middle-earth in the Third Age to oppose the growing shadow of Sauron. He is a member of Gandalf's order, though a reclusive one, having dwelt at Rhosgobel near the borders of Mirkwood for many years. Unlike Gandalf, who wanders among the free peoples, Radagast is a stranger to the lands of the West, and his knowledge is of a different kind: he is a master of shapes and changes of hue, with much lore of herbs and beasts, and birds are especially his friends. This affinity for the natural world, and his distance from the councils of the Wise, shapes his brief but consequential appearance in the story of the War of the Ring.

The Messenger at the Greenway

Radagast enters the narrative through Gandalf's account at the Council of Elrond, a tale that begins in late June when Gandalf, troubled by a foreboding of hidden danger, rides to the southern borders of the Shire. There he receives messages of war and defeat in Gondor, and the news of the Black Shadow chills his heart. Turning east and north along the Greenway, not far from Bree, he comes upon a traveller sitting on a bank beside the road with his grazing horse beside him. It is Radagast, who has been seeking Gandalf, though he confesses he is a stranger in these parts and knew only that Gandalf might be found in a wild region with the uncouth name of Shire. Gandalf, noting that Radagast was never a traveller unless driven by great need, presses him for his purpose. Radagast reveals that he has been told that wherever the Riders go, they ask for news of a land called Shire—news that makes Gandalf's heart sink, for even the Wise might fear to withstand the Nine when they are gathered together under their fell chieftain.

The Unwitting Agent of Saruman

Radagast's message comes from Saruman the White, the greatest of Gandalf's order, who has sent word that if Gandalf feels the need, he will help—but Gandalf must seek his aid at once, or it will be too late. This message brings Gandalf hope, for Saruman has long studied the arts of the Enemy himself, and it was by Saruman's devices that the White Council drove Sauron from Dol Guldur. Gandalf resolves to go to Saruman, and so Radagast, in his simple honesty, becomes the unwitting instrument of a trap. When Gandalf arrives at Orthanc, Saruman reveals his treachery, laughing at Radagast with open scorn: "Radagast the Brown! Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool!" Saruman boasts that Radagast had just the wit to play the part set for him, for the purpose of the message was solely to bring Gandalf to Orthanc, where he is to be held prisoner. Radagast, who believed he was carrying a genuine offer of aid, is thus revealed as a pawn in Saruman's scheme, his trust in his fellow Wizard exploited to deliver Gandalf into captivity.

The Dismissed and the Diminished

The irony of Radagast's role is sharpened by Saruman's mockery, which contrasts the two Wizards' fates. Saruman, who has studied the arts of the Enemy, has become Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours, his robes woven of all colours that shimmer and change hue as he moves. Radagast, by contrast, remains what he always was: a worthy Wizard, but one whose concerns are the simple, natural things of the world—herbs, beasts, and birds. Saruman's contempt for Radagast's simplicity is the contempt of the corrupted for the innocent, and it marks the point of no return in Gandalf's relationship with his former superior. Gandalf's reply, "I liked white better," is a quiet judgment not only of Saruman's new colours but of the path that led him there—a path that Radagast, in his simplicity, could never have walked. Radagast himself does not appear again in the narrative, and his fate is left untold, but his single act of service, intended as help, becomes one of the hinges on which the whole war turns.

Narrative Role and Significance

Radagast's function in the story is that of a messenger and a foil. He is the means by which Gandalf is drawn into Saruman's power, and thus the indirect cause of Gandalf's imprisonment on the pinnacle of Orthanc, his rescue by the Eagle Gwaihir, and his eventual transformation into Gandalf the White. Without Radagast's innocent errand, Saruman's betrayal might have taken a different form, and the course of the War of the Ring would have been altered. Radagast also serves as a measure of the Wizards' vulnerability: even a member of the Istari, with his deep lore of the natural world, can be deceived and used by a greater will. His love of birds, which Saruman mocks, is itself a reminder of the humble, unglamorous forms of wisdom that the Wise are meant to protect—and that Saruman, in his ambition, has abandoned. Radagast the Brown, the Bird-tamer, the Simple, the Fool, is thus a figure of quiet tragedy: a good Wizard whose goodness makes him easy to exploit, and whose brief appearance sets in motion the fall of one Wizard and the rise of another.