What is known about the Blue Wizards?
[This supplements question V.E.2 of the Tolkien FAQ.] The Tolkien FAQ discusses most of what is known about the other two Istari (out of five). As explained there, the essay on the Istari in Unfinished Tales tells us that their names in Valinor were Alatar and Pallando, and that they went into the east of Middle-earth and did not return. In that essay and in Letter #211, Tolkien suggests that they may have failed in their missions, though he never said that was certain. A small amount of new information on the Blue Wizards appeared in the “Last Writings” section of The Peoples of Middle-earth. One interesting point is that Tolkien seems to have considered the idea that Saruman “was letting out a piece of private information” when he revealed their existence by mentioning “the rods of the Five Wizards” in The Two Towers. In another passage, Tolkien gives other names for the Blue Wizards, “Morinehtar” and “Romestamo” (“Darkness-slayer” and “East-helper”), and suggests that the Blue Wizar
