Editing Radagast (section)

== Etymology and origins ==

The in-fiction etymology, according to the essay "The [[Istari]]" in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'', is that the name ''Radagast'' means "tender of beasts" in [[Adûnaic]], one of Tolkien's fictional languages. However, [[Christopher Tolkien]] says that his father intended to change this derivation and bring Radagast in line with the other wizard-names, Gandalf and Saruman, by associating it with [[Languages constructed by Tolkien#Linguistic mapping|the old language of the Men of the Vales of Anduin]]. No alternative meaning is provided with this new association; indeed, Tolkien stated that the name was "not now clearly interpretable". His title ''the Brown'' is simply a reference to his earth-brown robes; each of the wizards has a cloak of a different colour.<ref name="ut" group=T/>

The name Radagast is found in [[Edward Gibbon]]'s 1776–1789 ''[[Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]'', in the form "[[Radagaisus]]", the name of a [[Goths|Gothic]] king.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=396}} [[Slavic mythology]] contains a [[Radegast (god)|god named Radegast]]; this has been interpreted as "welcome guest", making him the god of hospitality.<ref name="Aitamurto Simpson 2014">{{cite book |title=Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe |last1=Aitamurto |first1=Kaarina |last2=Simpson |first2=Scott |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2014 |page=356 |isbn=9781317544623 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2L3oBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA356}}</ref> Tolkien's wizard may represent an echo of this Slavic tradition,<ref name="Orr 1994">{{cite journal |last=Orr |first=Robert |title=Some Slavic Echos in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth |journal=Germano-Slavica |volume=8 |year=1994 |pages=23–34}}</ref> a rare source among all the diverse [[J. R. R. Tolkien's influences#Mythology|influences on Tolkien's writings]].<ref name="Birns 2007"/>

Tolkien wrote that [[Josef Madlener]]'s "''Der Berggeist''", which shows a man in a hat seated in a forest, communing with a wild deer, inspired his Gandalf<ref name="Carpenter 1977">{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography]] |date=1977 |publisher=[[Allen & Unwin]] |location=London |isbn=978-0049280373 |page=51}}</ref> and set him thinking about the wizards Gandalf, [[Saruman]], and Radagast.{{sfn|Hammond |Scull |2005|pp=240-245}}