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Timeline Event

Radagast delivers Saruman's summons to Gandalf (approximate date)

Event Type: General

Age: 3rd Age - Ring War

Date: June 30, 3018

Description:

An event in the prelude to Gandalf's Imprisonment in Isengard; see that entry for an overview:
'At the end of June... I rode to the southern borders [of the Shire]... for I had a foreboding of some danger, still hidden from me but drawing near. There messages reached me telling me of war... in Gondor... I... journeyed along the Greenway; and not far from Bree I came upon a traveller sitting... beside the road.... It was Radagast the Brown....

'"Gandalf!" he cried. "I was seeking you."....

'"[What] do you want with me? It must be pressing. You were never a traveller, unless driven by great need."

'"I have an urgent errand," he said. "My news is evil." Then he looked about him, as if the hedges might have ears. "Nazgûl," he whispered. "The Nine are abroad again. They have crossed the River secretly and are moving westward. They have taken the guise of riders in black."

'I knew then what I had dreaded without knowing it.

'"The Enemy must have some great need or purpose," said Radagast; "but what it is that makes him look to these distant and desolate parts, I cannot guess."

'"What do you mean?" said I.

'"I have been told that wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a land called Shire."....

'[My] heart sank. For even the Wise might fear to withstand the Nine, when they are gathered together under their fell chieftain.... "Who told you, and who sent you?" I asked.

'"Saruman the White," answered Radagast. "And he told me to say that if you feel the need, he will help; but you must seek his aid at once, or it will be too late."

'And that message brought me hope. For Saruman the White is the greatest of my order. Radagast is... a worthy Wizard... and he has much lore of herbs and beasts, and birds are especially his friends. But Saruman has long studied the arts of the Enemy himself, and thus we have often been able to forestall him.... It might be that he had found some weapons that would drive back the Nine.

'"I will go to Saruman," I said.

'"Then you must go now," said Radagast; "for... the days are running short. I was told to find you before Midsummer, and that is now here. Even if you set out from this spot, you will hardly reach him before the Nine discover the land that they seek.".... And with that he mounted and would have ridden straight off.

'"Stay a moment!" I said. "We shall need your help.... Send out messages to all the beasts and birds that are your friends. Tell them to bring news of anything that bears on this matter to Saruman and Gandalf. Let messages be sent to Orthanc."

'"I will do that," he said, and rode off as if the Nine were after him.'

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 2, Ch 2, The Council of Elrond


Notes
The actual date of this event is Mid-year's Day 3018, but that cannot be represented using modern date software. In the Middle-earth calendar, three days fall between 30 June and 1 July in non-leap years; in order, they are: 1 Lithe, Mid-year's Day (Midsummer), and 2 Lithe.

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 14Feb05

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