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Tolkien’s Istari: Elements or Angels?
Me Tolkien nonsense
The Wizards or Istari of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) were Ainur, heavenly beings created by Eru, The One, to assist in creating and ordering the world. The most powerful of the Ainur was Melkor, the first Dark Lord, the fourteen next most powerful were the Valar, and the least powerful of these heavenly beings were the Maiar, which included the Istari.
A little while after the beginning of the Third Age the Istari arrived by boat in Middle Earth. “They came therefore in the shape of Men, though they were never young and aged only slowly, and they had many powers of mind and hand. They revealed their true names to few, but used such names as were given to them. The two highest of this order (of whom it is said there were five) were called by the Eldar Curunır, ‘the Man of Skill’, and Mithrandir, ‘the Grey Pilgrim’, but by Men in the North Saruman and Gandalf” (LOTR, Appendix B, “The Third Age”).
Saruman in LOTR The Two Towers refers to “the rods of the Five Wizards.” Each of the five are associated with colours and at times specific abilities.
Gandalf the Grey had been a follower of Varda, the Valar whose power lay in light, and it is in the wielding of light and fire that Gandalf is mostly known. The colour of his garments are not as evocative of fire as would be, say, red, but such a colour would not be appropriate to his demeanour. Instead as Tolkien describes Gandalf wears “garments grey as ash” in The Peoples of Middle-earth: Last Writings (PME)
As Aragorn describes Saruman the White, “His knowledge was deep, his thought was subtle, and his hands marvellously skilled; and he had a power over the minds of others.” Saruman was a follower of the Valar Aulë, the inventor and maker.
Radagast the Brown, as described by Gandalf “is, of course, a worthy Wizard, a master of shapes and changes of hue; and he has much lore of herbs and beasts, and birds are especially his friends.” As described by Saruman it is “Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool!” Radagast was a follower of the Valar Yavanna, giver of fruits and queen of the Earth.
The Blue wizards, Alatar and Pallando, referred to in Unfinished Tales, and in PME were followers of the Valar Oromë, the Huntsman. Their colour is the same: “sea-blue”. Some sources say they arrived in the Second Age, also that Saruman left for the East with them, but then came back to the West (I suspect he was a bit of a third wheel).
The Istari are well-known wielders of “magic” in Tolkien’s world. As power over the elements is a source of magical power in many fantasy worlds, I thought it would be interesting to see if any could be associated with specific wizards.
The Greek philosopher Empedocles (c. 450 BC) was the first to propose the four classical elements of earth, water, air, and fire. Superficially this works quite well with the Istari with a possible earth wizard (Radagast), water wizards (the two blues), an air wizard (Saruman), and a fire wizard (Gandalf). Saruman as an “air” wizard works as the element is associated with the mind. What does not entirely work is having two water wizards.
In China a similar philosophy exists in Wuxing and is a fivefold system, so it would fit the number of Istari. Fire (red), Water (black), Wood (green), Metal (white), and Earth (yellow) are the elements. White metal would work for Saruman as it governs the others, and is the element of power and dominance. If Radagast is the earth wizard, that would leave Water and Wood for the blues, although neither element is blue in Wuxing.
Someone who would make a more suitable Green wizard would in fact be Melian. At the beginning of the First Age Melian, a Maia follower of Yavanna and a great lover of trees, went to protect the elves as they awoke in Middle Earth. She was eventually accompanied by five “Guardians” who seem to be an earlier iteration of the Istari.
It is interesting that in the Third Age comeback of the Istari “they were forbidden to match his (Sauron’s) power with power, or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force and fear.” This may suggest that in the First Age there was perhaps too much power, force, and fear in the approach of these Maiar, and that created problems.
If there is anything to the Elemental aspect of their power, it is interesting to note that Fire is associated with the most common Maiar corrupted by Morgoth, the Balrogs. Dragons are another significant power whose origins seem insufficiently explained, which may be corrupted Maiar. Fire is perhaps the most destructive of elements, and it is interesting to note that Gandalf-Olorin seemed to spend most if not all of the remainder of the First Age and all of the Second Age living with Nienna of the Valar studying grief, pity, hope, and the endurance of the spirit. It might also explain why he will eventually chose “garments grey as ash” as his colour perhaps to remind him of the destructive power of fire.
Melian the Maiar returned to Valinor after the loss of her home in Middle Earth during the First Age. Given the love she had for her family it would not be surprising if she wanted to keep an eye on her great great-grandson living in Middle Earth, Elrond, together with his children. However if she did, she kept a low profile. Tolkien is being deliberately vague when he says “it is said there were five” Istari. If whoever said that was wrong, and Melian was, in a way, one of the Istari, that could make six of them.
Another ancient way of looking at the elements is found in Zoroastrianism. The influence of Zoroastrianism on Tolkien has already been suggested, especially in the good versus evil, light versus darkness aspect.
In Zoroastrianism there are the Amesha Spenta, widely considered the prototypical guardian “archangels” of monotheism. The Amesha Spenta are seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda the uncreated creator and the highest divinity of Zoroastrianism (or sometimes six plus Ahura Mazda).
Each of the seven Amesha Spenta have their own special domains. These are Spenta Mainyu “Holy Creative Spirit,” the spirit of Ahura Mazda (guardian of humans), Vohu Manah “Good Mind” (guardian of animals), Asha Vahista “Truth and Justice” (guardian of fire), Kshathra Vairya “Righteous Power” (guardian of the sky and metals), Spenta Armaiti “Holy Serenity” (guardian of earth), Haurvatat “Wholeness” (guardian of water), and Ameretat “Deathlessness” (guardian of plants).
Distinct and consistent colours do seem to be used in depictions of the Amesha Spenta, but I can find no canonical source for their association.
The first in the above list is considered male, as are the next three, the final three are considered female. If we are looking for the Istari among the Amesha Spenta, the guardian of truth and fire, the guardian of animals, and the guardian of power and metal (the three males in a count of six) would be obvious contenders.
Tolkien does refer to the Ainur generally, including the Istari, as “angels” in some of his letters. The concept of angels would be very familiar to Tolkien as the Catechism of the Catholic Church considers angels to be a truth of faith.
There is a tradition of having, again, seven archangels (also five, eight, and twelve). For example, in the Book of Tobit Raphael says he is one of seven. Interestingly, archangels are not necessarily considered the highest in the hierarchy of angels (despite the name). Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in his very influential “On the Celestial Hierarchy” puts archangels as second from bottom below seraphim, cherubim and others, and this is the position of the Catholic Church, just as the Maiar are lower in the hierarchy of the Ainur.
The Catholic Church discourages the naming of angels, including archangels, except Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael who are named in the Bible (the Catholic Bible includes the Book of Tobit, the source of Raphael). Anglicans, of which there would have been many in Tolkien’s acquaintance, like to add Uriel and Jerahmeel from the apocryphal Book of Esdras, or at times follows Pseudo-Dionysius and gives them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. The Eastern Orthodox Church lists them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Jehudiel, Selatiel, and Barachiel.
In a number of traditions the archangels are, like the Amesha Spenta, associated with the elements. Michael is associated with fire, Raphael with air, Gabriel with water, and Uriel with earth. They will often have colours associated with them, at least in depictions, for example in most Eastern Orthodox icons, Gabriel is depicted wearing white or blue garments, and Michael wears red.
So perhaps the most intriguing aspect of all of this is the similarity between the Catholic Church’s position on archangels, and Tolkien’s position on the Istari. We could rephrase the quote from LOTR Appendix B at the beginning.
“They came therefore in the shape of Men … and they had many powers of mind and hand. They revealed their true names to few, but used such names as were given to them. The two highest of this order (of whom it is said there were five, although it is also said there were seven) were called Michael and Gabriel.” There was one more that is named and which took part (Raphael), two more might be given names but are not really included.
Tolkien was often very keen on filling out aspects of his legendarium following queries from readers, but was strangely unenthusiastic about expounding on the Istari other than the big three in his letters. I do wonder if he would have thought differently about the Istari if the church had decided on names for the archangels?
In Tolkien’s last words on the Istari (PME) he said “Of this Order the number is unknown; but of those that came to the North of Middle-earth, where there was most hope (because of the remnant of the Dunedain and of the Eldar that abode there), the chiefs was five.” So perhaps the full number was seven?
