Radagast

Radagast the Brown was an Istari Wizard of Middle-earth. He was originally a Maia spirit of Yavanna and was called Aiwendil, meaning 'lover of birds'. He was chosen as one of the Istari who came to Middle-earth in the year TA 1000. He was little concerned with the affairs of Men and Elves but was far more knowledgeable in plants, birds and beasts. He lived at Rhosgobel, on the western eaves of Mirkwood, near the Gladden Fields on the Great River.

During the Council of Elrond, Gandalf refers to Radagast as "master of shapes and changes of hue". This implies that Radagast may have been a shape shifter not unlike Beorn.

Radagast, like the other wizards, came from Valinor around the year 1000 of the Third Age of Middle-earth and was one of the Maiar. His original name was Aiwendil, meaning bird-friend in Quenya (Tengwar: full spelling or vowel-abbreviated spelling ; IPA: ). The Vala Yavanna forced Saruman to accept Radagast as a companion, which may have been one of the reasons Saruman was contemptuous of him.

Radagast was unwittingly used by Saruman but unknown to Radagast 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. This was his only real contribution to the War of the Ring.

When messengers from Elrond tried to approach Radagast for his aid in the fight against Sauron, they found his dwellings at Rhosgobel empty. His fate after the War of the Ring is not known. It is possible he either fled into Mirkwood or was removed by the nearby fortress of Dol Guldur.

In The Hobbit, Gandalf says that Radagast is his cousin, though in an annotation of The Annotated Hobbit, it is said that this may be in fact just meaning friendship, and not actual close kinship.

Behind the Scenes
It is not known when or if he left Middle-earth. Tolkien writes that he forsook his mission as one of the Wizards by becoming too obsessed with animals and plants, so presumably he failed, and might not be allowed to return with honour. Tolkien also wrote that he did not believe that Radagast's failure was as great as Saruman's and that he may eventually have been allowed (or chose) to return to the Undying Lands. On the other hand, however, the primary mission of Radagast appointed by Yavanna may have actually been to watch over many of the flora and fauna of Middle-Earth and to insure their survival in the likely case if Sauron conquered Middle Earth, and in this he succeeded.

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 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, and could have several interpretations. The word gast, or gæst, or giest means guest. With a different inflection, gāst means "ghost, spirit, and angel." The element rad could be derived from rudu, meaning "ruddy, reddish", or from Hræd meaning quick, or nimble. So his name could either be read as "Swift Guest" (close to the Quenya meaning) or "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 Radegast for meaning of the name in Slavic languages from which Tolkien possibly drew the name.

The character Radagast and virtually all references to him (with the exception of the presence of benign Eagles directed by an unseen force) were not used in the film versions of The Lord of the Rings directed by Peter Jackson. However, he appears in the related trading card game.

He will be played by Sylvester McCoy in the two part film version of The Hobbit (films)