Stars

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"I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess." — Sam
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The stars are lights created and set by the Valie Varda, upon Ilmen (the upper airs) long before the Sun and Moon.[1]

The stars are associated with the Elves, who revere the stars and Varda. They give her the names Tintallë ("Kindler") or Elentári/Elbereth ("Star-queen").[2]

While the evil of Morgoth corrupted the whole of Arda the ancient stars contain the unsullied light of creation.[3]

History[edit | edit source]

Varda created the first stars in the earliest ages of the creation of Arda.[4]

Stargazing by Anke Eißmann

Ages later, prior to the awakening of the Elves Varda grouped together many of the ancient stars into constellations, including Menelmacar (Orion) and the Valacirca (the Sickle of the Valar, the Big Dipper), as signs in the heavens of Arda[5] "that the gods may read".[6] She also created new ones using collected light from the Silver Tree, Telperion. These included Carnil, Luinil, Nénar, Lumbar, Alcarinquë, and Elemmírë[note 1]

The Elves first awoke under the stars and according to tradition the stars were the first thing they saw, and the first word spoken by them was ele!, a primitive exclamation 'behold!' when they first saw. From this origin derived the ancient words el and elen for "Star".[7] Moreover, when Oromë first met the Elves, he too associated them with the stars and named them the Eldar, the People of the Stars.[8]

The Star of Eärendil is a unique case. Following his successful mission to persuade the Valar to intervene in the wars against Morgoth in the First Age, Eärendil and his ship, along with the last remaining Silmaril, were placed in the sky as a sign of hope to the faithful people of Middle-earth. After the war against Morgoth was concluded, a group of the Edain followed Eärendil's star to the newly created island that would become Númenor. Consequently, one of the names of that island was Elenna, or "Starwards". [note 2]

In culture[edit | edit source]

Emblems also featured stars. An eight-rayed star represented the House of Fëanor, and seven eight-rayed stars above a crown and anvil were the emblems of Durin. Both of these were depicted on the West-gate of Moria (the former because Celebrimbor, one of the makers of the doors, was a descendant of Fëanor). Seven stars appeared on the banner of Gondor. Certain jewels are also described as stars, notably the Star of Elendil that Aragorn wore into the Battle of Pelennor Fields. In the Song of Nimrodel, it is said that "A star was bound upon her brow," clearly describing some kind of jewel.

Other prominent references to stars include:

  • The Quenya greeting, Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo (Quenya: "A star shines on the hour of our meeting.")
  • Frodo, from the window of his room in Rivendell, observed a red star foreshadowing the Eye of Sauron: "But low in the South one star shone red ... deep in the heavens burning like a watchful eye that glared above the trees on the brink of the valley."[9][note 3]
  • Sam's song in Cirith Ungol concludes "...above all shadows rides the Sun, and Stars for ever dwell. I will not say the Day is done, nor bid the Stars farewell."
  • Travelling through Mordor, Sam saw a star, leading him to conclude that "In the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

Other names[edit | edit source]

Other versions of the legendarium[edit | edit source]

So important was this identification of the Elves with the stars to Tolkien that when he considered revising his creation myths so that the Sun and Moon existed from an earlier time (see Myths Transformed), he still insisted that the Elves must have awoken under the stars.

Notes

  1. In his introduction to the Index of Morgoth's Ring, Christopher Tolkien identifies these, respectively, with the planets Mars, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury. Most of these identifications appear to be fairly certain, although there are astronomical problems with the identifications of Neptune and Uranus in the context of the mythology. Note that Venus is not included on this list, as in the mythology, it is not a star (or planet), but rather a Silmaril.
  2. The Star of Eärendil is identified with the Evening or Morning Star, i.e. the planet Venus.
  3. While recognizing its allegorical nature, scholars have attempted to identify this star in the night sky. David Turner, "Stars of fancy" in Nova Notes (newsletter of the Halifax Center of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada), vol. 27, no. 2, avril 1996, identifies it with Sirius, supposedly reddish many aeons ago. Alain Lefèvre, "L’astre rouge de la Lune du Chasseur" (French) in Tolkien, le façonnement d'un monde, vol. 2, 2014, pp. 29-41, argues against Sirius and retains Mars as possible candidate. As an aside note, "Saruman's Book" in Peter Jackson's adaptation includes pages in tengwar (movie prop designed by Daniel Reeve) mentioning the "red star of Sauron" and its supposedly (non-canonical) strange effects on nature.

References

Middle-earth Cosmology
 Constellations  Anarríma · Durin's Crown · Menelmacar · Remmirath · Soronúmë · Telumendil · Valacirca · Wilwarin
Stars  Alcarinquë · Borgil · Carnil · Elemmírë · Helluin · Luinil · Lumbar · Morwinyon · Nénar · Star of Eärendil · Til 
The Airs  Aiwenórë · Fanyamar · Ilmen · Menel · Vaiya · Veil of Arda · Vista
Narsilion  Arien · Moon (Isil, Ithil, Rána) · Sun (Anar, Anor, Vása) · Tilion
See also  Abyss · Arda · Circles of the World · · Timeless Halls · Two Lamps · Two Trees · Void