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'''Menelvagor''' was the [[Sindarin]] name of the [[Wikipedia:constellation|constellation]] [[Wikipedia:Orion|Orion]], called [[Menelmacar]] (q.v.) in [[Quenya]]. | '''Menelvagor''' was the [[Sindarin]] name of the [[Wikipedia:constellation|constellation]] [[Wikipedia:Orion|Orion]], called [[Menelmacar]] (q.v.) in [[Quenya]]. | ||
Revision as of 06:51, 24 January 2022
Menelvagor was the Sindarin name of the constellation Orion, called Menelmacar (q.v.) in Quenya.
History
The constellation Menelmacar, the Swordsman of the Sky,[1] is one of the constellations set in the heavens by Varda to enlighten the awakening of the Elves. It was gathered by Varda from among the ancient stars, set as a foreboding of the Last Battle.[2]
Frodo and his companions were spending their night with the Elves in the woods of the Shire; the Elves burst into song as Menelvagor, the Swordsman of the Sky, climbed in the sky, and started the time for dinner, speech and merriment.[3]
Etymology
The name is a direct calque of the constellation's Quenya name Menelmacar, "Swordsman of the Sky".[4] The elements of the Quenya name are: menel, "the heavens" and macar "swordsman", therefore "Heaven-Swordsman".[5][6]
Other names
Menelmacar is called Menelmakil in a note by Tolkien to his essay Quendi and Eldar on the origin of the Elvish names for Elves. [7] (Note 15, WJ 411).
In The Etymologies (s.v. MAK-; LR 371) the word makil is translated as 'sword', whereas 'warrior' is mahtar ( > -mehtar in Telumehtar; -makar in Menelmacar ). The spelling Menelmakil may be just an error.
Abbreviations: LR = The Lost Road and Other Writings (The History of Middle-earth, vol. 5). WJ = The War of the Jewels (The History of Middle-earth, vol. 11).
Inspiration
Menelmacar is identified as the constellation Orion.[8]
Other versions of the legendarium
The constellation entered into the story only in the latest phases of its composition. In earlier versions of the manuscript of The Lord of the Rings the Elves begun to sing as 'the yellow moon rose',[9] and in a later revision 'in the East the thin silver rind of the New Moon appeared'[10] due to Tolkien's calculations considering the phases of the Moon;[11] still there was a fault: the Moon would not have risen from the East at that time of the year;[12] thus the Moon was finally changed to the apparition of Menelvagor and other stars.
Notes
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Three is Company"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Three is Company"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names"
- ↑ Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, p. 256
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar", pp. 359-424
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Index of Names"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Return of the Shadow (p. 61)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Return of the Shadow (p. 325)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Return of the Shadow (cf. p. 434)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Return of the Shadow (p. 325)
