The Other Child: A New Home
*Please note: I paraphrase a few of Tolkien's words here, when Radagast meets Gandalf (from Fellowship of the Ring - The Council of Elrond)
Radagast the Brown wiped his brow. He preferred the crispness of autumn to the damned muggy summer weather. It was unusually hot for Midsummer. As he sat by the roadside his horse grazed peacefully beside him. He was weary of traveling, having been on the dusty road for some time.
Suddenly he heard the steady clip-clop of a horse's hooves coming down the Greenway from the west. He paused and wondered if he should get off the road. Sniffing the air, he was relieved that the beast did not carry the scent of the Mordor horses he had narrowly avoided on his ride north from Isengard. The starlings had warned him of their proximity. It did not bode well and disturbed him. Considering the message he bore from Orthanc, something dreadful was afoot.
He decided to remain near the road and was glad he did as the horse and rider came into view. He could not believe his good fortune - it was Gandalf the Grey galloping towards him! As he had been sent to look for the wizard, he hailed him with delight. "Ho, Olorin! Well met indeed!"
Gandalf raised his bushy eyebrows in surprise. "Aiwendil, hail!" he returned and dismounted.
Radagast clapped him on his shoulder. "A star shines on our meeting, my friend, for I have been sent to seek you in a land called Shire. But I have not tread this road for many a year and find myself a stranger to it."
Gandalf smiled. "The Shire, if you please, and you are near its borders. Yet why do you seek me? It must be pressing, for you are not one to travel except in great need."
"Aye, the need is great for it is evil news that I bear." He looked about nervously before continuing in a whisper. "Nazgul are abroad once more, Gandalf. They have assumed the guise of black riders and have crossed the Great River, traveling with much speed and secrecy."
Gandalf's eyes opened wide; he shook his head in disbelief. "Speak plain, Radagast. How came you to know such dreadful news?"
"The enemy's purpose is unclear; I do not know why he looks to this distant corner of the world. But I have been told by my starlings that wherever the Nine ride they ask for news of Shire."
"The Shire," repeated Gandalf weakly. It was evident that he was deeply troubled by the news. "Who sent you to seek me, Radagast?"
"Saruman the White," replied the other wizard. "He told me to say that he will help, but you must seek his aid immediately, before it is too late."
Gandalf nodded. He agreed to go as Radagast directed.
"Then you must go now, Gandalf, for I have wasted much precious time in seeking you. It is Midsummer and you may not reach Orthanc before the Nine discover this Shire." So saying he mounted his steed. "I shall turn back at once."
"We shall need all the help we can muster, my friend," said Gandalf, laying a hand on the horse's muzzle to stay the eager wizard. "Send messages to your comrades - tell the beasts and birds to bring news of this matter to me at Orthanc."
"I shall do so," replied Radagast, who turned and rode off as if the Nine were trailing him. He led his steed up the Greenway, intending to ride directly to the Great East Road and his lodging in Mirkwood when he was struck by an idea. Gandalf had said to alert his comrades. He was near to the country of Tom Bombadil, his friend of old. They had not met for many years but Tom always had much to say. He decided he would pay a long overdue call to the House under the Hill. Bombadil, despite his confinement to his own corner of Eriador, had a vast knowledge of the lay and lore of Middle Earth. It was high time for Radagast to discuss current events with him; perhaps he would be more helpful than the head of his own Order had been. On his recent visit to Isengard, Radagast found Saruman to be unusually tight-lipped about the signs of the times, mentioning only that the Riders were abroad and that Gandalf, the more capable wizard, be summoned. Radagast was well aware that Saruman regarded him as a lesser Istari, just as he had always considered the wizard's affiliation with the natural world of little importance. He had no idea, smiled Radagast grimly as he followed the Greenway north.
Evening was falling by the time Radagast reached the edge of the Old Forest, with the Barrow-downs stretching their long fingers towards the east. With relief he discerned the twinkling lights of Tom's home. He longed for a light supper and a warm bed; he knew he would find both at the House under the Hill.
Radagast awoke refreshed and well rested. He found the mistress of the house in the kitchen, boiling water for her fragrant tea. The table was set with sweet honey, freshly baked scones and his favorite blackberry jam. He tucked in, much to Goldberry's delight and inquired as to the master of the house. Goldberry poured his tea and said that Tom had errands to run at the Withywindle. "My lilies, you know," she smiled.
Radagast remembered well. It was Tom's custom to bring as many water lilies as he could carry to his beloved Goldberry.
He decided to wait for Tom in the sunny courtyard, where hollyhocks grew high along the garden walls and daisies bobbed their white heads beside great spikes of colorful snapdragons. He took out his pipe and filled it with some of his favorite Old Toby, then lit it while surveying the fruits of Goldberry's horticultural labors.
Suddenly Radagast started. Staring at him from across the garden was a small girl. The hollyhock behind which she was hiding towered over her head. Her hair was the color of golden honey and caught the afternoon sunlight in its curls. Her eyes were a light grey, almost silver, and were round as saucers as she regarded him steadily.
Radagast grinned and held out his arms. "Hello, little one. Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."
The girl took several tentative steps in his direction but seemed reluctant to leave the safety of the hollyhocks. She played with several of the lower blossoms as she continued to stare at Radagast. "Your beard is grey," she declared in a soft, small voice.
He smiled encouragingly. "Yes. Yes, it is." He did not have much experience with children but he understood the young of Middle Earth's creatures. He sensed that he should treat the youngster with the same gentle manner as he would a fawn or a colt.
The girl looked down at the paving stones, tracing one with the toe of her slipper. "Tom's beard is brown, almost black, really."
The wizard was surprised that she used Bombadil's first name. "You mean your Daddy?"
For the first time the child smiled at him, reminding him of bright sunlight on clear water. "He's not my Daddy, he's Tom." She laughed a little then looked at him curiously. "Are you his Daddy?"
It was Radagast's turn to laugh. "Heavens no, I'm certainly not!"
She pushed past the flowers and sidled up to the stone bench. When Radagast patted it she slowly climbed up, then dangled her tiny legs and studied her shoes. She gave him a shy, sideways glance. "Then how do you know him?"
Radagast sighed and placed his hands on his knees. "Well, now, that's quite a long story, isn't it? We come from the same place you see, in the West, although Tom is older than I."
She looked puzzled and stared at him again. "Then why is your beard grey?"
Radagast laughed again. "Not everything is obvious to the eye, little one. What is your name?"
She lifted her chin and looked into his brown eyes. "Rebecca," she said simply. "What is your name?"
He bowed his head slightly. "I have many names, but you can call me Radagast the Brown. Or Radagast for short. It's my favorite."
The girl looked at him, puzzled. "Why the Brown? You are grey!"
"Only my beard, little one! I am wearing brown, you see."
"Oh. I see. Is brown your favorite?"
"Brown is mine, you might say. I have other friends who are grey and white and sea-blue, too."
"Oh. I like blue best of all," she confided seriously.
"Yes, blue is a very nice color," he agreed.
"You've never been here before," she stated firmly.
"Not while you have been here, perhaps, but there was a time when I spent many years in the House under the Hill."
This interested her. "Really? Why don't you come more often, then?"
He reflected for a moment. "Well, I suppose I have so many things to do. When I first came to Middle Earth I lived here with Tom and his Goldberry. He taught me many things."
She bounced slightly. "Me too! He's taught me how to speak to birds, and how to tell the flowers apart, and how to take care of Fatty Lumpkin. I like him best of all! He even lets me ride him, but I can't go past the Downs. They are frightening."
"Yes, they certainly are," agreed Radagast. He looked up to find Tom smiling at them from the doorway. "Ah, Tom! Good morning!"
"And a very good morning to you, my brown friend. I see you've met my ward."
"Ah, yes indeed. She was telling me about her pony."
"Good, good. Little one, Goldberry needs you - so off you go!"
The little girl scooted off the bench and made a little curtsey to Radagast. "Good day, Mister Brown."
"Radagast, little Rebecca!"
She nodded and skipped off. Tom waited until she was inside the house, and then took her place on the bench. "Lovely child, isn't she, Aiwendil?" he said with a smile
"Indeed. She seems quite at home in your garden, Iarwain Ben-adar."
Tom sighed and lit his pipe, his bright yellow boots stretched before him. He offered his bag of tobacco to Radagast, who took a pinch for his own long-stemmed pipe. "Yes, she is comfortable here. But she cannot stay much longer."
Radagast raised his eyebrows. "Why is that?"
Tom puffed on his pipe, regarding the wizard steadily for several long moments. At last he said, "Because it is not wise. She must not hide here. Her place is in the bigger world; she must learn of it."
"She's rather young for such learning, it seems to me."
Tom clapped the wizard on his shoulder. "Not alone, of course. She will go with you."
Radagast choked on his inhalation, emitting smoke like a dragon. "With me? What do you mean, with me?"
Tom shrugged. "It is her destiny, my friend. You are the master of bird lore and the ways of the trees and beasts. She will need to know these things."
"But what of her mother and father? Don't they take concern as to where she is? Surely they would not approve of her tramping about with a clumsy wizard!"
Tom lowered his brows in an uncharacteristic scowl. "She is an orphan, Radagast."
Radagast shook his head and rose from the bench to pace. It was his customary response to news he did not find to his liking. "You must be sensible, Tom. I am a vagabond. I sleep beneath the stars and forest boughs, unless I am at home in Mirkwood. That is no life for a young child."
"She will not be a young child much longer, Radagast. She has an important role to play; she will be a great Healer, it is her destiny. My service to her is at its end, for the moment. It is in your hands now, to teach her the ways of Middle Earth, of its creatures and its herbs. This girl is entwined with your mission, Aiwendil."
Radagast snorted. "Saruman says I have already failed in that mission."
"Then he knows not the plans of Yavanna and heard nothing at our council with Manwe," returned Tom harshly. "Do not speak to me of Curunir who plots in his tower of Orthanc, for I do not trust him."
Radagast felt a pang as he considered his errand to Gandalf, yet what was done was done. He was none too sure he shared Tom's skepticism about the leader of his Order.
"Your mission lies beyond these darkening days," continued Tom. "It is in the days that follow, in the time of healing, that our work begins, Aiwendil. So it was ordained in council long ago, by Manwe himself."
He reached into his vest and withdrew something that glittered on a small chain. "This was given to me in the West, before we came to these shores, by our lady Yavanna. Aule himself forged it in fairer days and it was given into my keeping until such time as it may come to use. It is to be given to your young charge upon the fall of the Dark One. You will know the sign when it comes."
Radagast was silent for many moments. At last he sighed deeply and shrugged, taking the medallion and pocketing it in his robe. "Very well, I will take the child, though I do not know her ways or how to impart mine to her. But now, my friend, we must discuss the Black Riders…"
Next: Child of Nature