Posted by ArcusCalion:
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Are we claiming then that all the Istari arrived far earlier than the time of their first 'appearance' (albeit the Blue Wizards said to be earlier than the others)?
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To be first clear about this: I don't think that Saruman, Radagast and Gandalf came in the Second Age! It is clear that all the emessaries from the west (the Istari and Glrofindel) came by the propose of the Valar not as a group. My theory behind this, is that the events in Middle-earth were faster that the Valar expected and that when the Blue wizards and Glorfindel had been transported to, the intervention of the Númenoreans stopped the Valar from letting Saruman, Radagast and Gandalf go. Their journey was postponed until it made sense again in about 1000 Third Age.
I see the issue you have with the text as compiled by me, but I don't see a good solution that is not nearing fan-ficion as my theroy given above.
Posted by ArcusCalion:
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I wonder if it is best to put the narrative in the Third Age, but leave the mention that the Blue Wizards came in the Second Age. That way the majority of the wizards are left in the place they were meant to be, and we learn retroactively of the presence of the Blue Wizards in the Second Age.
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This is an option, but if we have as you observed dificulties to make clear that 3 of the 5 came much later, than we will in that way have dificulties to explaine that the choosing of the five was already in the Second Age. And we have in the chapter "Glrofindel" the mentioning of the arrival at the same time as the 2 wizards, which if we do not mention the wizards any more in the Second Age stuff would be a bit strange or not?
I am not so sure which dificulties are eassier to solve, and still tend to include the chapter here.
Gondowe, I couldn't find any thing in the
Letters that would add inside to our discussion.
BY-HL-11I can see the reasoning behind that change. I agree that 'Of the Five Wizards' should be enough.
FW-SL-16: Agreed, the changes might help to lessen the issue with the early choosing and later arivial.
FW-SL-00.5: I like that additon.
FW-SL-00.7: I don't think this change is necessary. Radagast is not reported to return. It is said explicitly that he became enamoured to the fauna of Middle-earth and that this prevented him of fullfilling his mission properly. And the two Blue Wizards, well they did a good job for a long time as it seems but that does not mean that they did not faile in the end. See Saruman for excample, he also did for a long time the best he could to promote the mission of the Istari.
Respectfully
Findegil