Radagast, Alatar and Pallando

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Alfirin

I have absolutely zero textual basis for this, but I've alwayls liked to think that, amongst the things that Gandalf did in his "last journey" (between when he parted from the Hobbits in Bree and showed up at the Grey Havens) was to have a meeting with Radagast again and to basically hand over to him what little authority over Middle earth would be left in the Fourth age to come (Even with the Elves leaving en masse and the upcoming age to be one dominated by the race that was not at all bound to the music. . . .

Gandalf explicitly tell the hobbits (and us) that he is leaving them to spend some time chilling with Tom Bombadil. This might simply be a plot device to recall a minor character but at least Gandalf shows some strong sense of what the Bombadil household will have for him--it is something to which Gandalf clearly looks forward. There's no mention of Radagast that I can recall at the end of LotR, although readers with better memories than mine might recall better. If Radagast were to receive that task, surely he would be mentioned rather than Tom. (I've always felt uncomfortable with this point that Radagast failed--Tolkien says that Frodo did too I think--as if there's something inappropriate with his friendship with the animals. But perhaps his "failure" was to stray from the strict focus on the task at hand, to help destroy Sauron.)

Also, I'm not sure Gandalf himself would personally have the "authority" to "hand over" his own authority. His authority as I see it came to its rightful conclusion when the Ring was destroyed.

To return to a very old line from early years on the Downs, there's my two cents' worth.