A Wizard's Errand

[Legolas]

The difference is the manner in which they failed. Saruman not only abandoned the mission, he turned against it - i.e. taking an active part for the opposite side. The other three simply ignored their mission (unless the Blue Wizards turned evil also).

Tolkien is actually the one who said that:

Indeed, of all the Istari, one only remained faithful.

Hard to argue with him

[Gurthang]

Ah..... Very true. Thank you.

[Boromir88]

Maybe this belongs in the thread about Fate, but you can argue each Istari also had it's own personal quest, or maybe not "personal" maybe, it was just "fate" that it happened the way it did.

For example, Saruman represented Aule, and of course, he got greedy, and it's only natural he would lust for power, or money...etc. I mean Dwarves and Noldor both also from Aule, would greed for power or money, then we have Sauron, most like Aule, greedy. So if you get the point, I think "fate" is definately playing a role with the Istari.

Then we have Radagast, representing Yavanna, so it's only natural that Radagast would fall in love with the birds and nature. Again, is this fate? Or did Yavanna tell Radagast to tend the birds/nature of Middle-Earth.

Lastly, Gandalf, not really representing any Valar, but most closely represents Manwe, so it's only natural that he would succeed in the Istari's "task."

[Gothbogg the Ripper]

Did Radagast not fufil his mission because he sent Gandalf to Saruman? Does this count as an act of treachery?

[Boromir88]

I wouldn't say so, Radagast did not know that Saruman had turned evil, all he knew is that Saruman wanted to see Gandalf, Saruman is a persuasive talker after all. Gandalf said if he had sensed something wrong with Radagast he wouldn't have gone, or would have went to Orthanc more warily, so Radagast was just relaying a message, wasn't trying to get Gandalf killed.

[radagastly]

I think my living namesake (Radagast) failed because he did not actively campaign against Sauron. Yes, he probably sent the Eagle Gwaihir to Orthanc when Gandalf was there, but it was not intended as a rescue because he did not know that Gandalf was in trouble. He may also have sent them to the battle before the Black Gate, if he even knew about it, but they may well have gone there on their own, seeing the battle from high above and joining in. Regardless, Radagast would have been considered a failure in his mission because he did not go himself, he took no active steps against Sauron.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

I did a lot of thinking on this topic back in my post, "Of Radagast" or "Radagast the Brown" or whatever I named it. "Success of the Wizards", that's what it was called.

I've always, ALWAYS been under the assumption that Radagast wasn't exactly idle over there in Wilderland, and almost certainly (living so near) played a large role in the rise of the Beornings, keeping the Misty Mountains goblin-free, spying on Dol Goldur (also something he was quite close to), communicating with the elven wardens on the borders of Lothlorien, maintaining the levels of spiders in the forest and preventing them from spreading as much as possible, helping the woodmen, lakemen, Dale-men, and dwarves of the mountain as much as possible.

It's pretty clear that he kept his ears open and relayed a lot of information back and forth via his friendship with all the eagles and other birds (ravens, thrushes), thereby preparing the whole of Wilderland for war (which did indeed come to them).

I think he was probably asked to join the White Council, even if he declined, but as such, I think he completed his task as far as combatting Sauron.

It seems like each wizard sort of picked an area, or group to assist in their cunning, wizardly ways, and stuck with them using the best means to do so depending on each area of the map.

Gandalf went big name, acting as counsellor to all Numenor related lands (Gondor, Arnor) and was associated frequently with elves of all variety, but none more than the Deep Elves, lords like Elrond.

The other two wizards went east.

Radagast set up shop in Wilderland.

Anyway, it seems clear that being a sort of 'cousin' to Radagast was how Gandalf thought he could earn the alliance of Beorn - a chief among Wilderland's people. Which would mean, that Radagast's name precedes him in those lands as a reliable counsellor and ally, much like Gandalf's did all over his territories (of course, like Eomer mentioned, it was no longer the key to Theoden's favor).

I covered it VERY extensively in my Radagast topic, which can be found here;

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=2094