The Blue Wizards Journeying East
The cover uses the painting by Ted Nasmith, called The Blue Wizards Journeying East. They are two of the five Wizards (or Istari) sent by angelic beings called the Valar to Middle-earth to aid in the struggle against Sauron. They are called the Blue Wizards on account of their sea-blue robes (each of the other Istari had robes of a different colour), and their individual names are given in the Unfinished Tales as Alatar and Pallando. They were both sent to the distant east of Middle-earth, and therefore played no role in the events of the west of Middle-earth, as described in the The Lord of the Rings. Consequently, little is known about them.
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