# Yavanna's chosen



## Ancalagon (Nov 9, 2009)

> Indeed, of all the Istari, one only remained faithful, and he was the last-comer. For Radagast, the fourth, became enamoured of the many beasts and birds that dwelt in Middle-earth, and forsook Elves and Men, and spent his days among the wild creatures. Thus he got his name (which is in the tongue of Numenor of old, and signifies, it is said, "tender of beasts").


_*Unfinished Tales - The Istari*_



> There is no hint of an explanation of why Yavanna's evident desire that the Istari should include in their number one with particular love of the things of her making could only be achieved by imposing Radagast's company on Saruman; while the suggestion in the essay on the Istari (p.407) that in becoming enamoured of the wild creatures of Middle-earth Radagast neglected the purpose for which he was sent if perhaps not perfectly in accord with the idea of his being specially chosen by Yavanna.


_*Unfinished Tales - The Istari*_

It is said that of all the Istari Gandalf was the only one to have remained faithful to the task set by the Valar. I wonder then was Yavanna's choice of Aiwendil specific to her purpose and if so did he in fact remain faithful to her and ultimately succeed in Middle-Earth?


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## Bucky (Nov 9, 2009)

Ancalagon said:


> _*Unfinished Tales - The Istari*_
> 
> I wonder then was Yavanna's choice of Aiwendil specific to her purpose and if so did he in fact remain faithful to her and ultimately succeed in Middle-Earth?



*Nope........

The first quote is JRR Tolkien's writing, the second, his son's mere speculation.*


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## Aernil (Jan 7, 2010)

> There is no hint of an explanation of why Yavanna's evident desire that the Istari should include in their number one with particular love of the things of her making could only be achieved by imposing Radagast's company on Saruman; while the suggestion in the essay on the Istari (p.407) that in becoming enamoured of the wild creatures of Middle-earth Radagast neglected the purpose for which he was sent if perhaps not perfectly in accord with the idea of his being specially chosen by Yavanna.



I think there is more than a "hint of an explanation". There are passages in the Silmarillion where Yavanna desires and devises some protection for her creations against the "consumption" of these by Men:

_Now when Aulë laboured in the making of the Dwarves he kept this work hidden from the other Valar; but at last he opened his mind to Yavanna and told her of all that had come to pass. Then Yavanna said to him: 'Eru is merciful. Now I see that thy heart rejoiceth, as indeed it may; for thou hast received not only forgiveness but bounty. Yet because thou hiddest this thought from me until its achievement, thy children will have little love for the things of my love. They will love first the things made by their own hands, as doth their father. They will delve in the earth, and the things that grow and live upon the earth they will not heed. Many a tree shall feel the bite of their iron without pity.'

But Aulë answered: 'That shall also be true of the Children of Ilúvatar; for they will eat and they will build. And though the things of thy realm have worth in themselves, and would have worth if no Children were to come, yet Eru will give them dominion, and they shall use all that they find in Arda: though not, by the purpose of Eru, without respect or without gratitude.'

'Not unless Melkor darken their hearts,' said Yavanna. And she was not appeased, but grieved in heart, fearing what might be done upon Middle-earth in days to come. 

Therefore she went before Manwë, and she did not betray the counsel of Aulë, but she said: 'King of Arda, is it true, as Aulë hath said to me, that the Children when they come shall have dominion over all the things of my labour, to do as they will therewith?'

'It is true,' said Manwë. 'But why dost thou ask, for thou hadst no need of the teaching of Aulë?'

Then Yavanna was silent and looked into her own thought. And she answered: 'Because my heart is anxious, thinking of the days to come. All my works are dear to me. Is it not enough that Melkor should have marred so many? Shall nothing that I have devised be free from the dominion of others?'

'If thou hadst thy will what wouldst thou reserve?' said Manwë. 'Of all thy realm what dost thou hold dearest?'

'All have their worth,' said Yavanna, 'and each contributes to the worth of the others. But the kelvar can flee or defend themselves, whereas the olvar that grow cannot. And among these I hold trees dear. Long in the growing, swift shall they be in the felling, and unless they pay toll with fruit upon bough little mourned in their passing. So I see in my thought. Would that the trees might speak on behalf of all things that have roots, and punish those that wrong them!'

'This is a strange thought,' said Manwë.

'Yet it was in the Song,' said Yavanna. 

_Much depends on how you read Yavanna's statement _"Yet it was in the Song". _Maybe not at that moment, but think of how much of her part of the Song was already destroyed. I believe in her heart she would desire to protect what remains of her music in the _entire_ Song, not just her theme that sings of the olvar. It is clear that the Ents are the guardians of the olvar, and even though Radagast's affinity for the creatures of the wild was shared by the other Wizards (Gandalf could communicate with birds and animals, and Saruman used birds as his spies.), Radagast is the only Istari that she could have entrusted the task to protect the kelvar. (all the other Istari being servants of Manwe, Aule and Orome).

A major factor in Radagast's "change of allegiance" may also be that there was very little valour left in the Race Of Men, a though shared by many Elves, as Elrond put it "the blood of Numenor is all but spent".

Considering all fourteen Valar could see very little valour left in Men during the Akallabeth and acted accordingly, is it then so inconceivable that one Maia would do the same in another age?


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## Bucky (Jan 17, 2010)

Aernil said:


> as Elrond put it "the blood of Numenor is all but spent".



*I can still see Hugo Weaving saying that, but I don't recall it in Tolkien's writings....... *


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## Aernil (Jan 18, 2010)

It's abbreviated, but sufficiently accurate, and probably rings more familiar to most than this:



> "Fruitless did I call the victory of the Last Alliance? Not wholly so, yet it did not achieve its end. Sauron was diminished, but not destroyed. His Ring was lost but not unmade. The Dark Tower was broken, but its foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring, and while it remains they will endure. Many Elves and many mighty Men, and many of their friends had perished in the war. Anárion was slain, and Isildur was slain; and Gil-galad and Elendil were no more. Never again shall there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multiply and the Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. _*And ever since that day the race of Númenor has decayed, and the span of their years has lessened*_.


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## Bucky (Jan 18, 2010)

And since this is the BOOK section, can we safely assume that Legolas was a Prince because Gimli calls him a ''Princling" in PJ's movie too?



We are WAY too picky for that kind of thing around here...... 


Seriously though......

'has decayed' and 'all but spent' are two different things.

I also recall Boromir, soon after your quote, replied:

"Believe not that in the land of Gondor the blood of Numenor is spent, nor all it's dignity forgotten."


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## Alcuin (Jan 18, 2010)

“The span of their years” was decreasing during the Second Age. It was much slower among the Lords of Andúnië than with their cousins, the House of Elros (i.e., the Kings of Númenor). After the foundation of Arnor and Gondor, it was slower in Gondor than in Arnor: though the lifespan of Aragorn appears to mirror that of a king of Gondor, suitably shortened for his day. (I have an essay on that subject: have a look.) 

There is a concurrent thread about how many Númenóreans there were before the disaster at the end of the Second Age. I have a post there that describes the growth rate of a population with no war or disasters to reduce it. The Dúnedain of the Third Age began with a terrible, costly war against Sauron; then wars with their neighbors; bloody civil wars in both Arnor and Gondor; and unnatural pestilence fomented by Sauron. (Though the pestilence is reminiscent of the Black Death.) In his talk with Frodo and Sam, Faramir hints that the Dúnedain of Arnor had practiced Black arts (Morgul), though those in Gondor did not, which probably reduced fertility Tolkien’s world. (Cf. Queen Berúthiel and her childless marriage to King Tarannon Falastur of Gondor. Presumably Arnor, Rhudaur in particular, was influenced by Angmar and its notorious Witch-king, hastening the depopulation of Dúnedain in Rhudaur.) He also says that,


> Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars. And the last king of the line of Anárion had no heir.


So pretty clearly, the Dúnedain of Gondor, or at least the House of Anárion, was not averaging two children per generation. Aragorn had no brothers, and it would appear that neither did his father, and that is possibly true also for his grandfather. (In Tolkien’s other writings, Halbarad, who seems to have been Aragorn’s closest kinsman, was related to him on his mother’s side. I’d have to dig for the reference, so I beg you don’t press me on it: look for yourself in _History of Middle-earth_.)

As for Yavanna and her desire that Radagast accompany Saruman – well, had she not done so, how would Gandalf have escaped Orthanc? As for Radagast having “fallen” in the sense that Saruman did, Gandalf calls him, “the honest Radagast” at the Council of Elrond:


> At first I feared, as Saruman no doubt intended, that Radagast had also fallen. Yet I had caught no hint of anything wrong in his voice or in his eye at our meeting. If I had, I should never have gone to Isengard, or I should have gone more warily. So Saruman … concealed his mind and deceived his messenger. It would have been useless in any case to try and win over the honest Radagast to treachery. He sought me in good faith, and so persuaded me.
> 
> That was the undoing of Saruman's plot.


Radagast, of course, sent messages to his friends as Gandalf had asked, and the Eagle bringing news to Orthanc rescued Gandalf from its pinnacle. And the Ents defended defenseless Rohan from the Orcs that invaded across the Undeeps of Anduin: without them, Rohan would have been ravaged while its army was riding to the Battle of the Pelennor Field. They also assisted Beren in the First Age after the Dwarves of Nogrod killed Thingol and sacked Doriath. 

Radagast was not “true” to his mission in that he was distracted by other interests in Middle-earth; but he was not “fallen”. In fact, I think he’s running a Ben & Jerry’s in San Francisco, still wearing sandals, a brown robe and hat, and carrying a staff.


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## Bucky (Jan 18, 2010)

[Radagast was not “true” to his mission in that he was distracted by other interests in Middle-earth; but he was not “fallen”. In fact, I think he’s running a Ben & Jerry’s in San Francisco, still wearing sandals, a brown robe and hat, and carrying a staff.[/QUOTE]

*I thought that was him with a finger in the air looking for a 'miracle' at the last Dead show I went to! *


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