Radagast

The brown wizard who befriends birds and beasts.

Radagast the Brown is a wizard in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, an associate of Gandalf who appears briefly in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

Quick Facts

Series: Middle-earth
Also known as: Aiwendil
Race: Maiar (wizards)

Facts from the source article.

Background

Unfinished Tales explains that, like the other Wizards, he came from Valinor around the year 1000 of the Third Age as one of the Maiar, and that his original name was Aiwendil, meaning bird-friend in Quenya. Yavanna forced Saruman to accept him as a companion, which may be one reason Saruman scorned him as simple and a fool. Gandalf, by contrast, treats him as an ally and calls him his cousin in The Hobbit.

He lives at Rhosgobel on the western eaves of Mirkwood and has a strong bond with wild animals; he speaks the tongues of birds and is called a master of shapes and changes of hue. He is a friend of the skin-changer Beorn, and Gandalf relies on that friendship to have his party of Dwarves and a hobbit accepted by Beorn.

At the Council of Elrond, Gandalf tells how Saruman unwittingly used Radagast to lure him to Orthanc, where he was captured. Radagast also sent the eagle Gwaihir to Orthanc with news of Sauron's forces, and Gwaihir carried Gandalf to safety from the top of the tower. The only other mention of him in The Lord of the Rings is that scouts find he is not at Rhosgobel.

His title the Brown refers to his earth-brown robes. He has a larger role in Peter Jackson's Hobbit film series, where he is played by Sylvester McCoy.