Editing Radagast (section)

== Appearances ==

[[File:SB - Altay shaman with drum.jpg|thumb|upright|Tolkien's Radagast, with his affinity for animals, knowledge of herbs, and shape-changing abilities, has been compared to a [[shaman]].<ref name="Harvey 2011"/> [[Altai people|Altai]] shaman pictured.]]

''[[Unfinished Tales]]'' explains that Radagast, like the other Wizards, came from [[Valinor]] around the year 1000 of the [[Third Age]] of Middle-earth and was one of the angelic [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maiar]]. His original name is said to have been ''Aiwendil'', meaning ''bird-friend'' in Tolkien's [[fictional language|invented language]] of [[Quenya]]. [[Yavanna]], one of the god-like [[Valar]], forces Radagast's fellow wizard [[Saruman]] to accept him as a companion, which, Tolkien says, may have been one of the reasons Saruman was contemptuous of him, to the point of scornfully calling him "simple" and "a fool".<ref name="ut" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980|loc=''[[Unfinished Tales]]'', part 4, ch. 2 "The Istari"}}</ref> However, he is an ally and confidant of [[Gandalf]], who describes him in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' as his "cousin". He is a friend of the [[shapeshifting|skin-changer]] [[Beorn]], something that Gandalf relies upon to get his party of [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]] and a [[Hobbit]] accepted by a sceptical Beorn.<ref name="Rad_Hob" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=''[[The Hobbit]],'' ch. 7 "Queer Lodgings"}}</ref><ref name="Birns 2007"/>

Radagast lives at Rhosgobel on the western eaves of [[Mirkwood]], its name deriving from [[Sindarin]] ''rhosc gobel'' meaning "brown village".<ref name="ut" group=T/> Radagast has a strong affinity for—and relationship with—wild animals.  It is said he speaks the many tongues of birds, and is a "master of shapes and changes of hue". Radagast is described by Gandalf as "never a traveller, unless driven by great need", "a worthy Wizard", and "honest".<ref name="fotr" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', book 2, ch. 2 "[[The Council of Elrond]]"}}</ref>

In ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', during the [[Council of Elrond]], Gandalf tells of a previous encounter with Radagast. Radagast was unwittingly used by Saruman to lure Gandalf to his tower of [[Orthanc]], where Gandalf was captured. Fortuitously, Radagast also helped rescue him by sending [[Gwaihir]] the eagle to Orthanc with news of the movements of [[Sauron]]'s forces. When Gwaihir saw that Gandalf was imprisoned on the top of the tower he carried him off to safety.<ref name="fotr" group=T/> The only other reference to Radagast in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' is after the Council of Elrond when scouts are sent out. It is reported that Radagast is not at his home at Rhosgobel.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', book 2, ch. 3 "The Ring Goes South"}}</ref>

''[[The Silmarillion]]'' briefly summarizes the same events in ''Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age'', stating that Radagast is "the friend of all birds and beasts",<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T/> and noting that he innocently helps Saruman to assemble "a great host of spies"<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T/> including many birds.<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=''[[The Silmarillion]]'', ''Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age''}}</ref>