Who are the blue wizards in The Lord of the Rings? JRR Tolkien’s Most Mysterious Istari Explained

The Blue Wizards are The Lord of the Rings’ most mysterious Istari. The Istari are a huge presence in The Lord of the Ringseven if many don’t realize it. Gandalf is the most famous Istar, followed by Saruman, followed by Radagast. Istar means “Wizard“in the Elvish language of Quenya, hence the reason why this esoteric group of characters is so called. The Istari are mentioned in JRR Tolkien’s book The Lord of the Rings, but the famous adaptation of Peter Jackson’s trilogy tends to just use the term “Wizard.” The Silmarillion and Unfinished Stories Explain Istari better.

Despite whatever Quenya terms the Elves popularized for them, the Mages themselves remained silent about their true nature and powers. They claimed they were in a “order,” revealing little else – only Galadriel, Elrond and Círdan knew that they were actually semi-divine Maiar of Valinor. Discretion was their order from the Valar – Tolkien’s demigods. The Valar sent the Istari to oppose Sauron and instructed them to hide their power to avoid the kind of worship that Sauron encouraged. This is exactly the type of behavior that the enigmatic Blue Wizards may have engaged in.

The blue wizards from Lord of the Rings are the last two Istari after Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast

The blue wizards are in the same order as Gandalf

According to The SilmarillionSaruman was the first Istar to arrive, and the others followed, including Gandalf, Radagast, and the Blue Wizards. According to The Lord of the Ringsall powerful Istari arrived around 1000 years into the Third Age. On Amazon Rings of Powerat least two Istari arrived in the Second Agebut the show has always been fast and loose with Tolkien’s timeline. In drafts he never published in his lifetime, JRR Tolkien speculated that some Istari may have joined Middle Earth in the Second Age.

Gandalf said he walked through Middle-earth for “300 lives of men“in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, confusingly. This contradicts the tradition that Tolkien established because it would mean that Gandalf had arrived in Middle-earth some 20,000 years before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, together with each other Lord of the Rings Istari. This would have happened long before the Third Age, and even before the First. Despite that, the Blue Wizards arrived sometime in the Second or Third Agealthough probably in the Third, and have proven that they can be a problem for the Valar.

What we know about the blue wizards of JRR Tolkien’s Legendarium

The blue wizards had names and goals

Like all Istari, the Blue Wizards were sent to Middle-earth to oppose Sauron, but no one knew whether they followed his orders, died, or turned to darkness. The Blue Wizards traveled east with Sarumanbut Saruman returned west and joined the White Council, while the Blue Wizards did not. Failure to report to the Valar shows a certain lack of professionalism, which could not be suspected in beings of the same race as the powerful 15 Valar. Perhaps they met a sad fate and their spirits returned to Aman, as the immortal Maiar spirits would.

However, it seems more likely that the Blue Wizards fell under the influence of Sauron somehow. Unfinished Stories states that “some hold” that the Blues turned to Sauron, which is certainly more evidence pointing to corruption than pointing to death or mission success. Unfinished Stories gave the names of the Blue Wizards as Alatar and Pallando, but this draft was much less finished than the essay “The Istari” that confirmed its existence. Although incomplete, this draft does not contradict the work that Tolkien himself selected and published, strongly validating it. Alatar and Pallando were chosen by Vala Oromë.

Why the Blue Wizards don’t appear in The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit

Blue wizards were a mystery in The Lord of the Rings

According to The Silmarillionthe Blue Wizards are “the Istari who went east from Middle-earth and do not enter these stories.” The Blue Wizards were intended to be a mystery by JRR Tolkien. However, its enigmatic nature was not central to the narrative itself, merely an extension of its far-reaching worldbuilding. Tolkien posited the eastern land of Rhûn and its surrounding areas as uncharted territories, choosing instead to focus on western Middle-earth in The Hobbit and LOTR. Rhûn was north of Khand, which was north of Harad, but all of these eastern territories were relatively unexplored.

Sauron lived in Rhûn for 400 years, according to The people of Middle Earth, in the end History of Middle Earth book. Fleeing from Dol Guldur in the Third Age, he gained many Eastern followers. Perhaps some of these followers were the Blue Wizards, or perhaps the Blue Wizards had already spread Sauron’s gospel before his arrival, making it easy for him to convert Easterling to Sauron’s cause. Anyway, the Blue Wizards had an uncertain fate in The Lord of the Ringsmaking his existence a wildcard for the inhabitants of Middle-earth.

Power Rings Can Finally Expand on the Two Most Mysterious Istari

Rings Of Power Is Set To Expand On Blue Wizards

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power It’s all ready to be the first Lord of the Rings adaptation to explore the Blue Wizards. Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of Tolkien’s Second Age material includes a mysterious character called the Dark Wizard, who claims to be one of the Istari. The Wizard’s identity has not yet been revealed by the programwith many speculating that he could be Saruman or a Blue Wizard. In a question and answer session about Reddit, Rings of Power Producers Patrick McKay and JD Payne answered a question about the show’s Dark Wizard in no uncertain terms:

I think it’s hard to say something is 100%, but we have no plans or intention for him to be Saruman. We are not thinking of him as Saruman. We know that there are five wizards mentioned in The Lord of the Rings. One of them is Saruman, one of them is Gandalf, one of them is Radagast and there are two others. Our expectation is that he will be one of these other two.

Clearly, Payne and McKay don’t want to give away spoilers for The Rings of Power Season 3, and they also don’t want to reveal Season 2’s biggest mystery. This is media best practice. However, Payne and McKay are eager to make it clear that the Dark Wizard is not Sarumanbecause that would make their version of Gandalf look stupid for trusting him later. The Lord of the Rings story that will take place in the Third Era. The Dark Wizard is a Blue Wizard, making his character development in Season 3 very exciting.

Source: Reddit