The Istari

The only wizards we ever hear about in the books and movies are Saruman the 'Wise', Gandalf the Gray/White, and Radagast the Brown. I'm wondering if there are other wizards (and I know there are).

Is there anywhere that we read about other Istari that live elsewhere that don't participate much in the War of the Ring?

No names given them in Middle-earth , just the title Ithryn Luin, 'The Blue Wizards' (their Valinor names were Alatar and Pallando)

'When the Istari first arrived in Middle-earth, Saruman and the Blue Wizards journeyed into the east, but only Saruman returned. The Essay on the Istari says: "whether they remained in the East, pursuing there the purposes for which they were sent; or perished; or as some hold were ensnared by Sauron and became his servants, is not not known."

question, do you think that perhaps when saruman went into the east with the blue wizards then he returned, but they didnt, he might have had something to do with it? i know saruman had not been corrupted by sauron and the lure of the ring yet, but there was still the arrogant attitude plus he was a very jelous wizard and i think it is kind of cool to think that he took out the blue wizards. maybe even they turned bad and he put a stop to them. just a thought, kind of fun to come up with stuff like that.

no, i highly doubt it

Remember, even Tolkien's own thoughts on the Blue Wizards were only ever half-formed.

ya, you dont know what tolkien had in store for the blue wizards, or if he had anything. but it is fun to think of what might have been....

Well, there's another thing for me to ask Tolkien when I kick the bucket decades from now...

Ya hopefully when we all reach that point we can sit down and go over it with him!

Won't that be fun...

doubt that too...he's pretty much dead

Ya, I know hes dead, died in 1973, but thats the whole discussion. Once we die hopefully we can ask him all these questions.

Can't you read Dexx? 🙄 j/k

oh, i can think of some better things to ask someone when i'm dead...🙂

Dexx: "So, how long have you been in line to go to heaven...or hell?"

"How old are you?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Boxers or briefs?"

😄

there must be others

yeah..."god, please rate my life from 1 to 10"

or "hey, nice cloud effect you have going here, dunno whether the purples work though and theres just way too much mdf. What do you mean "Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen got here first".

lol, im jebus😛

Those aren't questions. 😄

Yes, I read up a little on the Blue Wizards. I've found an excellent site called the Encyclopedia of Arda, and it hasn't a LOT of info about Middle-Earth and those who live in it and the things they own and etc...

I'll post the segment they said in a bit, though I think it was basically the same thing that Ush said.

Okay, now that I have read a little, I think I understand the Istari more.

Since I cannot just post a link because the whole site uses the same address, I'll quote it. Here's what they said about the Blue Wizards in general:

The two Wizards, Alatar and Pallando, who did not remain in the west of Middle-earth, but journeyed into its far eastern regions.

They said more when I clicked on the profile for Alatar.

One of the five Wizards who came to the northwest of Middle-earth in the Third Age; he journeyed into the east with Pallando, and never returned to the western lands. Alatar was one of the original three Wizards selected by the Valar for the journey from Valinor to Middle-earth (the other two being Curumo and Olórin - Saruman and Gandalf). Alatar and Pallando arrived in Middle-earth dressed in sea-blue. For this reason, they were together given the name Ithryn Luin, the Blue Wizards. With Saruman, they journeyed into the far east of Middle-earth, but while Saruman returned to the west, Alatar and Pallando did not. Of their fate, we know almost nothing.

What I also find interesting is that they take notes and use speculation and things Tolkien has said, as well as translation for names. One note is that Alatar and Pallando were not well known to men, thus they never gained names like Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast had. Their names are more like meanings. Alatar roughly translates to 'after-comer' and Pallando roughly to 'far-traveling one'.

Another note they stated was something Tolkien had said.

Tolkien tells us 'What success they [Alatar and Pallando] had I do not know; but I fear they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were the founders or beginners of secret cults and 'magic' traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron.' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, No. 211).

I also learned that the Valar were going to just send three Istari - Saruman, Gandalf, and Alatar - to Middle-Earth, but the Vala Yavanna added Radagast and Pallando was taken along as Alatar's friend.