Istari

From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.

In the Undying Lands, the Istari were Maia spirits. When they were sent to aid the Free Peoples of Middle-earth against the return and rise of Sauron, most were given different names from before they had come and they arrived in different colours of clothing from each other. Many of these wizards came to the northwestern regions of Middle-earth. The chiefs of those that came to middle earth were five in number.

[edit] History

At about TA 1000, Manwë summoned a council of the Valar to send three messengers to Middle-earth. Two Maiar came, Curumo, sent by Aulë, and Alatar, sent by Oromë. Manwë asked where Olórin was, and he came, after returning from a journey. Manwë asked Olórin if he would go as the third messenger. Olórin said that he was too weak, and he was afraid of Sauron. Manwë said that that was all the more reason to go, and that he commanded Olórin to go as the third. Then Varda said "Not as the third." Yavanna begged Curumo to take Aiwendil, and Alatar took Pallando as a friend. They were forbidden to dominate the peoples of Middle-earth or to match Sauron's power with power. When Saruman, the greatest of the Wizards, disobeyed this injunction, he was cast from the order and banished from Valinor. At the end of the Third Age the Istari passed from sight, for with the fall of Sauron their work was done. Gandalf passed over Sea with the Last Riding of the Keepers of the Rings, and the other surviving Istari may also have returned to the West.

[edit] Appearance

The Istari bore the forms of old Men, although they were vigorous and aged very slowly. They possessed great skill of body and mind; their powers were focused through their staffs. Each of the Istari had his own color and grade within the Order. Saruman the White was the eldest and Gandalf the Grey second. The other Istari were Radagast the Brown and several, unnamed, who dwelt far in the east.

There are said to be at least five known Istari. They are called wizards by men.

These five are named below;

• Curumo, the white wizard, was more commonly known as Saruman. He later claimed the title "Saruman of the Many Colours", after he was seduced by the evil power of Sauron.

• Olórin, the grey wizard, was more commonly known as Gandalf. However, after dying at the hands of a Balrog, Gandalf was reborn as a white wizard.

• Aiwendil, the brown wizard, was more commonly known as Radagast.

• Alatar and Pallando, blue wizards, were not known by any other names.(Note: Later in his life, Tolkien wrote a note, suggesting that the names of the Blue Wizards were Morinehtar and Rómestámo. It is not clear whether these names were intended to replace the names Alatar and Pallando, or whether Morinehtar and Rómestámo were alternate names for the Blue Wizards, possibly those given to them by the peoples of Middle-earth.)

Saruman was killed by Grima following of the Battle of Bywater, and Gandalf returned to the Undying Lands in TA 3021. However, the fates of the three other Istari are relatively unknown. Alatar and Pallando disappeared in the east, while Radagast stayed in Middle-earth at least until TA 3018.

The only known "gathering" for the wizards is the Heren Istarion, or translated, the Order of Wizards.