Q. Istar pn. “Wizard, (lit.) One Who Knows”
A name for the five Wizards who travelled from the West to aid the free peoples against Sauron (LotR/1084, UT/388). It usually appeared in its plural form Istari, which meant “those who know” (Let/202, PM/360). Tolkien generally translated the name as “Wizard”, because the Old English sense of word was similar to the true meaning of this Quenya word (Let/207). The name Istar was most likely a combination of the verb ista- “to know” and the old agental suffix -r(o).
The title Istar was not used for ordinary mortal “wizards” or “magicians” (UT/388). For this purpose, perhaps the word [ᴹQ.] sairon was used instead.
References ✧ Let/180, 202, 207; LotR/1084; LotRI/Istari, Wizard(s); MRI/Istari; PE17/119; PM/360; PMI/Istari; S/299; SI/Istari, Wizards; TII/Istari; UT/388, 391; UTI/Istari
Glosses
Variations
Related
Inflections
| Istarion | genitive plural | “of Wizards” | ✧ UT/388 |
| Istari | plural | “Wizards” | ✧ Let/180; LotR/1084; LotRI/Istari; S/299; SI/Istari; SI/Wizards; UT/391; UTI/Istari |
| Istari | plural | “those who know” | ✧ Let/202; PM/360 |
| Istari | plural | “Wizard(s)” | ✧ LotRI/Wizard(s) |
| Istari | plural | ✧ MRI/Istari; PMI/Istari; TII/Istari; UT/388 | |
| Istari | plural | “ones who know” | ✧ PE17/119 |
| istari | plural | “wizards” | ✧ Let/207 |
Elements
| ista- | “to know” |
| #-r(o) | “agental suffix” |
Element In
Cognates