View Full Version : Where did beorn and Radagast meet?
R.R.J Tolkien
01-19-2021, 07:55 PM
Beorn said radagast was not bad for a wizard, so they must have met, but where?
Kuruharan
01-19-2021, 09:36 PM
Beorn said radagast was not bad for a wizard, so they must have met, but where?
We can't know for sure.
They lived in the same general neighborhood for a long time so any number of places in western Mirkwood or the Anduin valley are possible.
Huinesoron
01-20-2021, 03:48 AM
Purest speculation, but given that we know of Radagast that he "became enamoured of the many beasts and birds that dwelt in Middle-earth, and forsook Elves and Men, and spent his days among wild creatures," it's entirely possible they only met while Beorn was a bear. I wouldn't go so far as to suggest Radagast didn't know he was also human, but the reason they got on might be that the wizard thought of him as a beast first and foremost.
Even more speculative: the idea of an immortal hermit who cares for all animals is pretty common in fiction (Medwyn (https://prydain.fandom.com/wiki/Medwyn) of Prydain was my first thought, but I ran across another instance in, of all things, Terry Pratchett's Carpet People recently), and I suspect it has mythic origins. Radagast would fit neatly into this category - the movies do so (hi Sebastian) - and so it would be plausible that Beorn was drawn to him after being injured in some way. Quite what could wound the Great Bear that badly, I'm not sure - though there were sorcerous powers at work in Dol Guldur...
...
Okay, no, I'm not writing a story about Radagast healing Beorn of a Morgul-wound. I refuse.
hS
Inziladun
01-20-2021, 10:20 AM
I'm inclined to agree with Kuru.
Probably just the nearness of Rhosgobel to Beorn would be enough to assure likely contact.
Also, presumably Radagast had made an abode there for quite some time, so Beorn's predecessors could have known of him as well.
Okay, no, I'm not writing a story about Radagast healing Beorn of a Morgul-wound. I refuse.
If you were doing that, you may as well go whole-hog and have Radagast be a forest-dwelling hippie riding on giant rabbits. (*cough*) ;)
Galadriel55
01-20-2021, 11:13 AM
If you were doing that, you may as well go whole-hog and have Radagast be a forest-dwelling hippie riding on giant rabbits. (*cough*) ;)
Look on the bright side. It could have been saber-toothed guinea pigs.
Morthoron
01-20-2021, 05:25 PM
Starbucks. They met at a Starbucks. I'm sure there was one in Rhosgobel and another by Carrock. And another in Laketown. The only one that closed was in the Withered Heath. The franchise just couldn't stay profitable there.
Inziladun
01-20-2021, 06:54 PM
The only one that closed was in the Withered Heath. The franchise just couldn't stay profitable there.
According to the Annals of Arabica, they made an impressive Worm-berry Frappuccino
Huinesoron
01-21-2021, 02:40 AM
If you were doing that, you may as well go whole-hog and have Radagast be a forest-dwelling hippie riding on giant rabbits. (*cough*) ;)
"Upon his greying head sat a wide-brimmed hat, and descending from it was a trail of bird poop; for this was Radagast the Brown, and birds used his head as a toilet." ~J.R.R. Tolkien, probably
According to the Annals of Arabica, they made an impressive Worm-berry Frappuccino
Bet that was popular with that one dwarf who practically drowned himself in coffee:
Some called for ale, and some for porter, and one for coffee, and all of them for cakes; so the hobbit was kept very busy for a while.
A big jug of coffee had just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone...
Since the cakes were gone, I assume that's his second jug of the stuff... :D
hS
Mithadan
02-03-2021, 04:47 PM
When I saw the title of this thread, I knew I would be laughing before I finished reading...
Mithalwen
02-05-2021, 05:42 PM
Starbucks. They met at a Starbucks. I'm sure there was one in Rhosgobel and another by Carrock. And another in Laketown. The only one that closed was in the Withered Heath. The franchise just couldn't stay profitable there.
No, no, no. They met in the pub. The ancient Pub name “The bear and ragged staff “ is evidence of this being a corruption of Beorn and Radagast’s staff”. The bear and Ragged Staff is also the crest of the county of Warwickshire. Tolkien grew up in Warwickshire. Tolkien likes pubs. It is all symbolic and a code indicating the origins of Tom Bombadil and the location of the Enwives and who Gil-galad’s daddy really was. But it is SECRET so I can’t tell you and only I have noticed.*nods wisely*
James the Just
01-27-2022, 03:11 PM
In the real world Beorn once lived in the Elm hills, which is north of the Harz mountains in Lower Saxony, Germany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm_(hills)
Radagast dwelt in Rhosgobel, near the Old Forest Road. Today this place is a small town named Radegast in Saxony-Anhalt., Germany
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radegast
Take a Tolkien Tour on the European Long Distance Paths and see it yourself.
https://i.imgur.com/KjXh3jX.png
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