Editing Radagast (section)

== Analysis ==

Radagast appears so briefly that he has been described as a plot device for Saruman's treachery, rather than a genuine character. From the clues given, that he is a "master of shapes and a changer of hues", his friendship and communication with animals, and his skill in herbs, he resembles a [[shaman]].<ref name="Harvey 2011">{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=Greg |title=The Origins of Tolkien's Middle-earth For Dummies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MocR5l-N8xIC&pg=PT159 |date=2011 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-118-06898-4 |pages=159–160}}</ref><ref name="Birns 2007">{{cite journal |last=Birns  |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Birns |year=2007 |title=The Enigma of Radagast: Revision, Melodrama, and Depth |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=113–126 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol26/iss1/8}}</ref> He has been described as "one of the most interesting enigmas in Tolkien's writings"; given the treason of Saruman, he and Gandalf are the only two wizards available to counter [[Sauron]], but Radagast fails to answer [[Elrond]]'s call.<ref>{{cite news |last=Winick |first=Stephen |title=In Defense of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-hobbit-lotr_b_2399998 |access-date=4 June 2020 |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=5 March 2013}}</ref>

In a letter, Tolkien wrote that Radagast gave up his mission as a Wizard by becoming too obsessed with animals and plants, but stated that he did not believe that Radagast's failure was as great as Saruman's.<ref name="hiy" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=''[[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien|Letters]]'', #156 to [[Robert Murray (priest)|Robert Murray, S.J.]], 4 November 1954}}</ref> Christopher Tolkien commented that Radagast might not have failed completely, as he was specifically chosen by the Vala [[Yavanna]] for a mission to protect the plants and animals.<ref name="ut" group=T/>

The Tolkien scholar [[Patrick Curry (author)|Patrick Curry]] writes that the Slavic Radagast is the pagan patron of the Czech [[Beskids|Beskyd mountains]], depicted with a bird atop his [[horned helmet]]. In his view, this suggests that Tolkien's Radagast is one of many examples of [[paganism in Middle-earth]].{{sfn|Curry|1998|p=114}}