Day One: Something about a very minor character
"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 just keep wondering why Yavanna sent Radagast. I mean, okay she sent someone, but why him? Did she really not have any more powerful Maiar at her command? I mean Melian was pretty powerful (super, super powerful in her Elven form, but that's different,) and she only served Vana and Estë, you would think Yavanna could have had more wise Maiar than Radagast to send?
It's generally accepted from canon that Radagast failed in his mission. I don't think his mission was to stop Sauron, though. Yavanna could have brought up sending Radagast at the Valar counsel, if that were the case, but instead she just sent him later.
He doesn't do much in the way of actually stopping Sauron. He aids the other wizards some, especially Gandalf, but on his own he doesn't do much unless he seems to accidentally gather information that he passes on to someone else. So either he really did suck at his mission to thwart Sauron, or Yavanna didn't want him to do that at all.
I think all she wanted was for her trees and animals to have protection against Sauron. She wasn't as concerned as Aulë and Manwë about actually stopping Sauron. She just- like in the beginning of the Silmarillion with Melkor- was upset that Sauron was messing with her work. Back with Melkor, in the beginning, she would go and heal the hurts that he caused to her works, but she wasn't really allowed to this time. So when Maiar were being sent, she would likely have been thrilled at the opportunity to send one to do that work for her, no? This could also explain why he settles near Mirkwood, where Sauron's influence is spreading and taking over forests- full of Yavanna's creations, right?
So she sends Radagast instructing him to keep her things as safe as he could. Maybe, like Manwë, she picked a Maia that she knew was not going to be tempted by power or be foolish in their ways of stopping Sauron. As Manwë chose Gandalf because Gandalf feared Sauron, which Manwë said was all the more reason he should go, Yavanna picked Radagast. Powerful enough to protect her creations, naive enough to not challenge or get in the way of the other Maiar there. And if he wasn't ambitious or especially wise, he was probably very loyal to her because he loved the same things she did.
Anyway, I just think Radagast as a Maia of Yavanna is a very interesting character. He definitely doesn't get enough attention; he's just seen as crazy and less wise than the other Wizards, when he probably could have a much more interesting background.
Radagast jumped, upsetting the birds about his hat and the mice under his feet, at a knock on his door. A knock? Here?
He was expecting a visit from Beorn soon, but Beorn did not knock. More likely he'd hear rabbits and deer running to tell them of a bear hunting in his part of the forest, and he would have to go track down Beorn himself.
The White! Saruman, Saruman the White! The mice squeaked as they ran for cover, and Radagast jumped back again with a slight gasp, before hurriedly opening the door.
"Saruman, it has been too long." Radagast bowed a little too low and then had to grab his hat when it flipped off his head and the birds that had been in it flew off. "Sorry, sorry. Do come in?"
"I would prefer not to." The White Wizard did not even attempt to be polite, giving Radagast's hut a disdainful glance and turning up his nose. "If you would join me out here I feel we could talk better."
"Certainly, certainly." Radagast jumped out and closed the door behind him, one brave bird landing on his shoulder for moral support. "Do sit." He told Saruman, offering a place beside him as he sat on a log he used as a bench, and Saruman ignored him.
"I have much to discuss with you." He started. "Firstly, I wish you would stay away from the Gladden Fields yourself. I wished for your spies to let me know what they found there, and now that that has been done, you have no reason to be there."
"Certainly, certainly." Radagast assured him, knowing full well that this would only increase his curiosity. Perhaps he should send out some foxes to discover why Saruman might be insisting he stay away…
"And this, as I have asked you before and you have not told me. As the head of your order, I demand you tell me why Yavanna begged me to take you with me in the first place! What is your mission in Middle-earth?"
"Who are you to demand something from me when Yavanna herself told me not to reveal it?" Radagast drew himself up to full height, something he rarely did, especially in the presence of Saruman.
The White Wizard growled, but Radagast's crow on his shoulder squawked at him and silenced Saruman's retort.
"I only wish to know. It may be important. Besides," He added threateningly. "Yavanna isn't here."
Radagast gulped. True, Yavanna was far away. He could only imagine her irritation if Radagast showed up back in Valinor having to admit that Aulë's servant had killed him before he could accomplish his tasks. But Saruman wouldn't kill him, right? Surely Saruman meant him no harm, however threatening he appeared.
"It is not of importance. Yavanna told you herself that it does not interfere with your doings, did she not? Otherwise, Aulë would not have consented."
"Did Aulë consent? I never heard." Saruman said, his eyes angry.
"Manwë, then. Yavanna would not have gone against him, do you think?"
"Do not distract me from my question, Radagast. I am waiting for an answer."
"Would you tell me of your mission? I can not say anything more than you already know." Radagast dared to say defiantly.
"Radagast the Brown!" Saruman drew himself up taller, the sky around him darkening and a cold wind whirling around them. Radagast grabbed his hat with both hands and cowered away. "We were once friends, tell me, old friend, what is your task?"
Were they? Were they friends? They hadn't been, but at Saruman's words it seemed almost as though they had, and Radagast wondered. Perhaps it would not hurt to say…
Yavanna's words came back to him then. She had come to find him where he dwelt in the Pastures of Yavanna, and she had asked him to go to Middle-earth for a time. At first he had refused, begged her leave to stay where he was and serve her there, but the pictures she painted of trees and animals over the sea had convinced him and he had consented in the end. Though she likely would have sent him even if he had not. Do not tell anyone of your mission, unless it must be Olórin, though I doubt he will ask. Your task is simply to heal the hurts to my creations that Sauron causes, be a friend to animals and plants alike, and keep them as safe as you can. Can you do this? Radagast had promised her he would do his best, as he loved her works nearly as much as she did herself. However, she would never answer him when he asked her why she had chosen him out of all her Maiar, and he had no ideas himself as to why.
No, it would hurt to say. Saruman was not Gandalf, and Yavanna clearly had not wanted him to know.
"I can not say- I will not say." Radagast told his "friend" finally.
"Then, Radagast, I have no choice but to not support you! I hope you have chosen your friends well!"
Radagast looked around at the animals all around his hut hiding from Saruman but staying close to his side, the rabbits under the porch, the birds in the rafters, the gophers peeking up from their holes. Indeed, he thought, he had.
