Istari

The Istari, known to Men as the Wizards, were an order of emissaries sent to Middle-earth around the year 1000 of the Third Age to contest the growing power of Sauron and to unite and counsel the free peoples against him. Though they appeared as old men, wise and venerable, they were in truth Maiar -- spirits of the same order as Sauron himself -- clothed in the bodies of Men and sent forth from the Undying Lands of Valinor by the Valar.

The Istari were bound by the terms of their mission. They were forbidden to match Sauron's might with might, or to seek to dominate the wills of Elves and Men through power and fear. Instead they were to guide, to advise, and to kindle hearts to resist the Shadow -- working by persuasion rather than domination. Cloaked in mortal flesh, they were subject to the pains, fears, and weariness of the world, and could stray from their purpose.

The Order

Five Istari are recorded as coming to Middle-earth. Chief among them were:

• Saruman the White, called Curunír, the head of the order, greatest in lore and craft
• Gandalf the Grey, called Mithrandir, last to come and least in seeming, who proved truest of them all
• Radagast the Brown, a friend to beasts and birds, who came to love the wild things of the world more than his errand
• The two Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando, who passed into the distant East and of whose fate little is told

History and Fate

The Istari met with mixed ends. Saruman, set over the order and gifted above the others, was corrupted by his study of Sauron's arts and his desire for the Ring and dominion, betraying his charge. Radagast grew enamored of the natural world and forgot the peoples he was sent to aid. Gandalf alone remained wholly faithful to the purpose for which the Istari were sent, and in the end it was he, fallen in battle with the Balrog and returned as Gandalf the White, who took up the leadership Saruman had forfeited.

Significance

The Istari embody the manner of the Valar's intervention in the affairs of the Third Age: not by overwhelming force, which would have scorched the world, but by quiet guidance and self-sacrifice. The triumph of Gandalf and the fall of Saruman together reveal the central lesson of their order -- that wisdom lies in humility and service, not in the grasping after power.