J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord Of The Rings

[OurLungs]

This is a silly lord of the rings question, but ill ask anyway

There might be a really obvious answer for this, and if there is, please be nice!!!
But, in Lord of the Rings, they mention other wizards, besides the obvious ones,living In Middle Earth, i have always wondered why they did not join in on the fight. I mean what could be more important?

 

[KristoCat]

Honestly I'm not sure, but I bet that question is addressed in one of Tolkien's other books concerning Middle Earth: The Silmarillion. It gives the history and background of Middle Earth and its peoples.

 

[chop_chop]

If I remember rightly there is only one other Wizard named in Lord of the Rings - Radagast the Brown. Gandalf meets him when he leaves the Shire the summer before Frodo does. I believe that Radagast was under the power of Saruman at the time Gandalf met him, so he wouldn't have helped Gandalf and the fellowship anyway. I'm not sure why he isn't mentioned again after - I think he may have been more interested in different areas, like herbs and animals.
There were other wizards in Middle Earth - there are references to the Five Wizards and battles of an earlier time, but these are not really included in Lord of the Rings.

Hope this helps a bit -

 

[Ainulindale]

the answer

There might be a really obvious answer for this, and if there is, please be nice!!!
But, in Lord of the Rings, they mention other wizards, besides the obvious ones,living In Middle Earth, i have always wondered why they did not join in on the fight. I mean what could be more important?

Radagast (or Aiwendil) is noted in Unfinished Tales here:

"Indeed, of all the Istari, only one remained faithful, and he was the last-comer. For Radagast, the fourth, became enamoured of the many beasts and birds that dwelt in Middle-earth, and forsook Elves and Men, and spent his days among the wild creatures. Thus he got his name (which is in the tongue of Númenor of old, and signifies, it is said, 'tender of beasts" - ']Unfinished Tales'


There are also the Blue Wizard In Unfinished Tales they are named Alatar and Pallando and later on Tolkien namd them in Peoples of Middle Earth (History of Middle Earth vol.12) Romestamo and Morinehta, the former which are most likely the names associated with them in Valinor.

There was also thought that one might have indeed been Glorfindel (whose fea was returned to theThird Age). This is an idea Tolkien toyed with, but to my knowledge never confirmed totally or ruled it out in its entirety either.

Here areTolkien's word regarding the Blue Wizards:

"The "other two" came much earlier at the same time probably as Glorfindel, when matters became very dangerous in the second age. Glorfindel was sent to aid Elrond and was (though not yet said) pre-eminent in the war in Eriador. But the other two Istari were sent for a different purpose. Morinehtar and Romestamo. Darkness-slayer and EAst-helper. Their task was to circumvent Sauron: to bring help to the few tribes of Men that had rebelled from Melkor-worship, to stir up rebellion...and after his first fall to search out his hiding (in which they failed) and to cause[?dissension and disarray] among the dark East...They must have had very great influence on the history of the Second Age and third age in weakening and dis-arraying the forces of East...who would both in the Second Age and Third Age otherwise have...outnumbered the West" - 'People's of Middle Earth' (HoME12)

and in from his Letters (#211):

"I think they[(the other two wizards)] went as emissaries to distant regions, East and South, far out of Numenórean range: missionaries to "enemy-occupied" lands, as it were. What success they had I do not know; but I faer that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtlesss in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret clts and "magic" traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron." - Letter #211 - JRR Tolkien

 

[crab3]

Also, if you read the Return of the Shadow, and the other books that cover the creative proccess of the 3 books, you'll find that the final story started very much farther from where it ended than you would think. The fact that it came so far from where it started and didn't end up a mess is one reason i'm glad that there wern't many other 'wizards' in the story, i think it would have taken from Gandalf's character as well. Thats my opinion on it, but the above answered it as well as anyone could.

crabs><>

 

[jaynebosco]

I have always considered them to be three seperate books, but then I grew up with them as three seperate books, with The Hobbit being an addition to the series that gives the trilogy some background, to a degree

 

[Vanilla]

Favourite Lord of the Rings Novel

Which novel in The Lord of the Rings series did you like best, and what movie? I liked The Hobbit best as a novel, and The Lord of the Rings III, The Return of the King best.

 

[FrodoLIVES]

For my favorite book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I'd have to say it's probably the first one, The Fellowship of the Ring. But for the movies, Return of the King is probably my favorite. I adore them all though

 

[sirmyk]

I would have to say Lord of the Rings , since the entire work is simply a single novel, broken into three volumes. All the other Tolkien stuff is rubbish, although The Hobbit has merit.

 

[Occlith]

All the other Tolkien stuff is rubbish

Are you referring to other Middle Earth related titles or do you think that of all of his writing, including essays, poems, and stories?

 

[sirmyk]

Are you referring to other Middle Earth related titles or do you think that of all of his writing, including essays, poems, and stories?

Most of it, yeah. There's some good stuff in there, though.

 

[dizzyshelly]

I think the 2nd and 3rd films were the best, just for the special effects! I think probably the second book in the three LOTR trilogy was my favourite. I havent yet read the Hobbit but its on my never ending list of things to read!

 

[Peronel]

I really enjoyed TTT best of the books. I think Tolkien wrote battle sequences particularly well, since these usually put me off a book but Helm's Deep had me enthralled. Treebeard was a great character, the reintroduction of Gandalf, the Rohirrim, Faramir (hooray!!!) etc, etc. I was a bit jack of the whole thing by the time I finished ROTK for the first time.

Of the films, I don't think you can go past ROTK. Bawled my eyes out in the cinema, highly embarassing.

 

[FrodoLIVES]

Bawled my eyes out in the cinema, highly embarassing.

Hey, same here. Glad to know I'm not the only one

 

[veniqe]

I think Tolkein must be one of the most overrated writers alive.

LOTR failed to entrance me. The battle scenes were a torture to read. There were too many long winded descriptive passages. I didn't really feel empathy for a particular character.

The movies weren't much better. I fell asleep during some!

 

[Midnight]

I have read the 3 books of the LOTR, but is it a trilogy, or was it just too big to put it in one book so they split it into 3? They released the LOTR in 3 separate books first, then they decided to release it in one big volume. So I'm confused, whether it is a trilogy or just one volume. But the LOTR series/volume is great and by far the best 3 books I've read so far. Tolkien's way of writing makes everything descriptive and long, no wonder the publishers had to put it into 3 separate books!!

~Midnight~

 

[Occlith]

was it just too big to put it in one book so they split it into 3?

Yes, I think it was the publisher's idea to split it. LOTR is one book.

 

[chop_chop]

I think Tolkein must be one of the most overrated writers alive.

He's dead now

 

[Peronel]

I think Tolkein must be one of the most overrated writers alive.

He's dead now

And most likely rolling about in his grave.

 

[TheMarine]

Looking through the single volume I have, it looks like one story split into three "parts", each of which takes up two "books." It's all marketing as to whether you get in one volume or three, anyways. Some people are more likely to want three small(er) volumes, while others want one <Scottish accent> freakin huge </accent> tome.