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Elvish Star Lore

Jim Manning Taylor Planetarium Museum of the Rockies Bozeman, Montana USA

Away high in the east swung Remmirath, the Netted Stars, and slowly above the mists red Borgil rose, glowing like a jewel of fire. Then by some shift of airs all the mist was drawn away like a veil, and there leaned up, as he climbed over the rim of the world, the Swordsman of the Sky, Menelvagor with his shining belt. The all burst into song.

J. R. R. Tolkien The Fellowship of the Ring

This holiday season we await the much- know of how the Elves and the other And let us see where it leads. As Frodo anticipated final film in ’s ren- denizens of Tolkien’s universe perceived that reminded the wizard at ’s dition of J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy trilo- universe through the tales they told of it. For stone door, all you must do is to “speak gy, . It is in The Return of tales they did tell. ‘Friend’ and enter …. the King that all of the great questions of As academic an exercise as this may seem, Tolkien’s classic story – the questions it does have value to the likes of us. If the Of Creation and Sub-creation that underpin all epic – will be tales you tell now of the sky are taking on a Why is it that The Lord of the Rings, in answered. Will Good triumph over Evil? “same old” quality, if those cosmic egg origin Waterstone’s 1999 poll, for example, has been Will Frodo successfully complete his hero’s stories and sun-catcher and bear tales voted (by readers if not the critics) the great- quest? Will the bad guy get his “just and all of that “arcing to Arcturus” begin to est twentieth century novel in English? The desserts”? Will get the girl? reasons are probably many: it deals Tolkien fans, whose copies of his with universal mythic themes that res- books have grown threadbare from onate in the human imagination, it’s pleasurable reading, already know the compellingly apocalyptic, its prose answers. But Jackson’s treatment of reads like poetry, and it’s a ripping them is awaited with considerable good story. Another reason may be interest just the same – with an understand- feel as threadbare as your volumes of Tol- that, for a fantasy work, in many respects it ing among the more accommodating of kien, then perhaps an Elvish interpretation feels “real.” This is entirely on purpose. Tolkien’s readership that the story, as in the can offer a fresh perspective and a different Tolkien was insistent that his work was first two films, is bound to be condensed for spin – not only on the tales we tell, but in neither mere representation nor allegory, the silver screen. What this means, aside reminding ourselves of the purpose and but was rather what he termed “sub-cre- from the certainty of purist web sites and power of myth in ancient lives and in our ation” – the creation of a secondary world chat rooms fretting over the differences, is lives today. with, as Tolkien put it, an “inner consistency that most of Tolkien’s incredibly rich back- So put aside, for the time it takes to read, of reality” so skillful that it compels belief (at story for his fabled Middle-earth will not those familiar star mythologies, and let us least “secondary” belief) on the part of the make it into the theaters – including the fas- delve for that time into the cosmic lore of reader. It is a world “which your mind can cinating glimpses he offers of the star lore of the Elves as the Dwarves might delve for enter. Inside it what he (the writer) relates is the Elves. their prized in the mines of Moria. ‘true’: it accords with the laws of that world.” Now matters of star lore are One of things this meant was that matters of some import, or at least If the tales you tell now of the sky are tak- the sub-created world had to be com- some interest, to those who care ing on a “same old” quality … then perhaps plete, containing sun, moon, stars, detailed landscapes, and weather as about such things – like Elves and an Elvish interpretation can offer a fresh planetarians. So it seems appropri- well as the assorted , trolls, ate, before the film version of the perspective and a different spin – not only talking animals and magic rings that trilogy passes into cinematic histo- on the tales we tell, but in reminding our- made it fantastical. In Tolkien’s ry having spawned a whole new selves of the purpose and power of myth mind, this world had to have a histo- kindred of Middle-earth devotees, ry, a mythology, and a cosmology. to compile and review what we in ancient lives and in our lives today. And so his does – reinforcing the

14 Planetarian December 2003 sense of the real that is one of the keys to down together for the night, they see in the The Elves of Middle-earth seem in fact to enjoying his work. east the Pleiades (Remmirath, the “Netted be rather similar to the legendary Tuatha Dé Tolkien, in crafting his mythos, would Stars”), the star Aldebaran (as Borgil must Danann of Irish lore, the “ Folk” who probably have agreed with Joseph Campbell, surely be), and then (Menelvagor) ris- were the first inhabitants of Ireland prior to one of the world’s foremost examiners of ing above the mists “over the rim of the the arrival of the Sons of Míl, or Milesians, comparative mythology, who said that the world.” The time of year is late September, the ancestors of the Irish to come. Like the material of myth was “the material of our and these stars do indeed rise a little before Tuatha Dé Danann, Tolkien’s creations had life, the material of our body, the material of midnight (Standard Time) at that time of of the stature of Men, although more slender our environment, and a living, vital mythol- year – at least in the modern day. (Given that than Men and fairer to look upon. They were ogy deals with these in terms that are appro- the scene is set in a remote age, we must for- immortal, but not eternal in the sense that priate to the nature of the knowledge of the give Tolkien the lack of any precessional their existence was tied to the Earth, and time.” And, Tolkien might have added, effect.) Another example is Tolkien’s treat- when the Earth ultimately died, so would appropriate to the nature of the place in ment of the moon. Always meticulous in his they. They could, however, be killed by which that material exists. For Tolkien that chronology, he has the moon moving and weapons or grief, but stayed within the “cir- place was Middle-earth, a world that was sup- phasing correctly as time passes and events cles of the world” until its end. They were posed to be our own in an archaic and of the story occur. grey-eyed and, contrary to the movies, gen- unrecorded earlier age. And it was necessary, In Tolkien’s sub-created world, the sky erally were dark-haired but for a certain kin- it seems, for this world to have an astronomy works familiarly and believably, and plays a dred and the family line of Galadhriel. And I if it were to be truly complete and believ- visible role in the detailed descriptions of have never seen a reference suggesting that able. environment – which is one of the ways Tolkien meant for them to have pointy ears In The Lord of the Rings and its prequel, Tolkien achieves the story’s sense of realness. as seems required for all depictions today. , Tolkien’s principle of sub- Tolkien did, however, mean for his Elves creation is manifested in two ways, I think, Of the Elves to be a representation of some of the higher when it comes to matters of the sky. First, The second way in which Tolkien brings aspects of human nature (as indeed, all his the sky behaves accurately (and thus realisti- astronomy into Middle-earth is through an creatures were meant to “partially represent” cally) in his stories. And secondly, there is a invented cosmology, most apparent in The human beings). In Tolkien’s words, “The known cosmology and bits of star lore, Silmarillion, the prequel to the events of the Elves represent, as it were, the artistic, aes- attributed primarily to the Elves. trilogy. Since all of the myth of Middle-earth thetic, and purely scientific aspects of the We see an example of the first manifesta- is decidedly Elf-centered, it is useful to gain Humane nature raised to a higher level than tion in the excerpt from The Fellowship of the some further understanding of these charac- it is actually seen in Men.” They had a Ring, the first book of his trilogy, that begins ters before we consider their perceptions of “devoted love of the physical world, and a this tome. Frodo and his companions the universe. desire to observe and understand it for its have encountered a group of Elves after his It is first important to understand that own sake.” And they especially loved the departure from his home in at the Tolkien’s Elves are not the tiny, green-suited stars. (In fact, Tolkien surmised, within the very start of his long quest. As they all settled pixies who repair shoes, bake cookies, or context of his myth, that the presence of make toys at the such characteristics in human beings today North Pole as they do is a result of inheritance from the Elves. He in popular culture defined this as an elven side or “elven quali- today. Tolkien’s Elves ty” to human nature embodied in our artis- hearken back to the tic and aesthetic tendencies. We might fur- original notion of ther surmise, in the same context, that plane- these creatures taken tarians, given our love of stars and lore and from northern Euro- music and art – and laser pointers – must pean mythologies, surely contain a twinkle or two of Elf ….) and perhaps most Tolkien’s Elves, with their artistic bent specifically Celtic and their love of the physical world, were lore – and they are clearly the best instruments through which made of much nobler to articulate the mythology – astronomical stuff. (In fact, Tolkien and otherwise – of Middle-earth. And articu- had choice words for late is exactly the right word, for no part of William Shakespeare, Tolkien’s mythology is more important at whose feet he laid than the language he used to tell it, for it is in considerable blame language that we find the beginnings of for the diminution of Middle-earth. and elves, feel- ing as he did that Of the Languages Shakespeare’s plays J. R. R. Tolkien had an affinity and fascina- had turned these tion for language from the start. As a child, courtly beings small he made up several languages, and this and silly. We can “secret vice,” as he referred to it, continued only guess as to what throughout his life. It served him well in his he would have had to eventual vocation as a philologist and pro- say about Walt Dis- fessor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, where he ney and Tinker Bell.) studied and taught the archaic languages of

December 2003 Planetarian 15

Northern Europe and the literature in which kien’s two is or arrived on “Heavensday.” they were by now solely expressed: the tell- “High-Elven.” By the time of the ring saga it People likewise bear celestial names. ing of epic myths and poetry. Tolkien was had become a sort of Elvish “Latin” used , the hapless prince at the beginning of steeped in the world of Icelandic sagas, Norse mainly for ceremony and lore. The other The Fellowship of the Ring movie, who cuts mythology, Celtic legend, the Finnish Kale- language was or “Grey-Elven,” the the from Sauron’s finger and fool- , and Sir and the Green “working” Elvish of Middle-earth at the time. ishly fails to destroy it, has a name that Knight of tradition. And these Both tongues provided Tolkien with a for- means “Moon-lover.” (His brother Anarion is informed and influenced (along with other mat for naming, and in another specially “Sun lord.”) And if we rummage through the factors) Tolkien’s own sagas of Middle-earth. pleasant turn, we find that the nomenclature ancient history of Men, we may notice that But for Tolkien, it began with language of Middle-earth is rife with astronomical ref- one of the kings of Númenor (from whom itself, which he sometimes described as erences. Knowledge of just four root words Aragorn is descended) was named Meneldur, “word-music.” His fondness for the grammat- and their Quenya (Q) and Sindarin (S) equiva- which means “devoted to ”. (And so ical forms and sounds of Welsh and Finnish, lents is sufficient to demonstrate this: he was, the annals telling us that he erected a for instance, served as the basis for his two tower in the rugged north of his kingdom Elvish languages. And once he had Elvish, he star Q: el, elen S: gil “from which he could observe the motions needed Elves to speak it. Once he had speak- sun Q: anar S: anor of the stars.” He was also called Elentirmo, ers, he needed tales for them to tell. And out moon Q: isil S: ithil “Star-watcher” – an epithet that might serve of these tales, Middle-earth grew. heaven Q: menel S: menel equally well for people like us.) To maintain the linguistic authenticity of Perhaps my favorite astronomical name is a world populated by Elves, Dwarves, , Armed with this small bit of information, that of , the half-elvish master of , trolls, , several races of Men and you can begin to appreciate how thickly- , where Frodo heals from his wraith all manner of other creatures required a lot threaded are the astronomical motifs in the wound and the Fellowship of the Ring is of languages. Tolkien actually created struc- appellations of Middle-earth, and can subse- formed. His name literally means “Star tural bits and pieces of fourteen different quently enrich your acquaintance with its Dome.” A case could be made, I think, that tongues to serve his needs; most were real- lands and peoples. elrond could also serve as the Elvish word for ized only far enough to provide a few names For example, when we wander into the “planetarium.” and battle cries and such, but his Elvish lan- northern and eastern districts of , guages were considerably more developed. named Anorien and Ithilien respectively, we A case could be made, I The Elves were fond of naming things (some can now recognize them as being the “Land think, that elrond could things more than once) and were liable to of the Sun” and the “Land of the Moon.” If also serve as the Elvish slip into poetry or song at any moment. This we tarry at the Gondorian city of Osgiliath required a robust and, as Tolkien put it, a straddling the River Anduin, we might puz- word for “planetarium.” “specially pleasant” language to support the zle out that its name means “Fortress of the naming of names and sizable stretches of Stars” (from ost for “fortress” and giliath for If we require any proof that the Elves verse – as well as to knit his geography and “star host”). And if we bear in our lapel one of indeed loved the sky and its lore (as did Tol- peoples together with a linguistic consisten- the lovely yellow flowers from Lórien that kien, perhaps, as well), we need look no far- cy of nomenclature. And Elvish worked very are called elanor, we might realize that we ther than their words. But if we do look well in every respect. wear a “sunstar.” Or that if we arrive on the beyond the words, into the legends of The first and contextually older of Tol- weekday that the Elves call Menelya, we’ve Middle-earth, we will find the astronomical mythology that those words have conjured up.

Cosmology In Elvish cosmology, or more properly “cosmogony,” the creation of the universe is a cross between Genesis and a musical Big Bang. As recounted in The Silmarillion. Eru the One (God), also called Ilúvatar (“All- Father”) created the , or angelic powers, with his thought and directed them in the singing of three great themes of music which foreshadowed the creation of the material universe, the formation of the Earth within it, and the awakening of the “Children of Ilúvatar”: the Firstborn (the Elves) and the Followers (the human race). As the blueprint of the universe formed, each of the Ainur adding with its voice that part of the fabric Ilúvatar had revealed to it, the greatest of the Ainur named Melkor (the Elvish Lucifer), in his pride, began to alter the theme to his own desires, creating a turbu- The Elves had many words for “star” and astronomical references are common in lence and discord in the music that signaled their names. All illustrations courtesy Jim Manning. the beginnings of the eternal struggle

16 Planetarian December 2003 between good and evil that characterizes the Greek-like: Arda was flat and round, sur- Consequently, at the end of the Second history of Middle-earth as well as that of our rounded by an encircling ocean called Age of Middle-earth as chronicled in The own world. At length, Ilúvatar brought the Ekkaia. The air stretched above Arda, and Silmarillion, deluded by the poisonous coun- musical themes to a conclusion, and above that was Ilmen (the “star region” or sel of Sauron after Melkor had been cast out revealed to the Ainur a vision of what they Place of Light), in which the stars, sun and of the World, the last king of Númenor had sung. With a single word (“Eä!” “Let sailed on with arms of war to these things be!”), Ilúvatar brought the In Elvish cosmology, or more prop- wrest the gift of immortality from the universe into being based on the musical Valar. When he landed, the Valar laid blueprint, “globed amid the Void” and erly “cosmogony,” the creation of down their guardianship and called “sustained therein” but not a part of it. the universe is a cross between upon Ilúvatar, and the World was (Clearly, the Elves believed in a closed Genesis and a musical Big Bang. changed. Númenor was destroyed, sink- universe.) ing into the depths of the sea like Within Eä, the “World that Is,” was formed moon moved. All was bounded by the Walls Atlantis, Valinor was removed and hidden Arda, the Earth. Some of the Ainur were so of Night (also called the Walls of the World) from the “circles of the World,” and Arda taken with the splendor of the new creation, which formed an impassable sphere encasing was made round so that a mariner sailing and so enamored of the vision of the new Eä the World and separating it from the west seeking the Undying Lands would end beings to come that Ilúvatar alone would Void. The only entrance or exit was the Door up circling back round to home. As it is writ- create, that they were allowed to enter Eä to of Night, through which Melkor was eventu- ten, in simple but thunderous words: prepare Arda the Earth for the Children of ally cast out into the Void, there to simmer Ilúvatar and to act as its guardians. These presumably forever (or until the Last Battle And those that sailed furthest set but a became known as the Valar, the “Powers of alluded to in lore attached to the constella- girdle about the Earth and returned weary the World,” somewhat analogous to the gods tion Orion). This door existed in the Utter- at last to the place of their beginning; and of Greek and Roman mythology but serving most West of the World, where the Valar they said: ‘All roads are now bent.’ as agents of Ilúvatar. Melkor was one of those dwelled in the land of Valinor separated by a who went, but he served only himself and great ocean from the western shores of Yet a “Straight Road” still existed by which skulked about apart from the others, Middle-earth. the favored could sail west and come at last attempting to exert his dominance over the But the shape of Arda the Earth did not re- the havens of Valinor, if the Valar allowed it; new creation. (He would ultimately fail in main this way, and the Elvish myths include such was the fate of the last of the High Elves this personally, but not before doing great a later transition from a flat world to a round to depart Middle-earth, and of the Ring- damage and sowing the seeds that would one – ”an inevitable transition, I suppose,“ bearers at the end of their burdens. keep evil present in the world.) Joining the Tolkien admitted, “to a modern ‘myth- Valar were the Maiar, lesser angelic spirits maker’ with a mind subjected to the same The Stars who served the Valar, and among whom ‘appearances’ as ancient men, and partly fed In Elvish legend, stars were made not once, were numbered Sauron who Melkor corrupt- on their myths, but taught that the Earth but twice. And Varda, Queen of the Valar ed, and Gandalf who was to take wizardly was round from the earliest years. So deep who entered the material universe and form to rally the Middle-earthers in the final was the impression made by ‘astronomy’ on spouse of Manwë their chief, had a hand in it War of the Ring. me that I do not think I could deal with or both times. The shape of the early universe was also imaginatively conceive a flat world ….” We may presume, based on references in Tolkien’s writing to Varda’s “two star-mak- ings,” that she was the Ainu whose part in the original Music of the universe was to make the stars. At that time, the original stars that graced the sky of Arda were small and dim. The brighter stars were kindled later, in the second star-making, and Varda’s role in that is crystal clear. In the time just before the awakening of the Elves in Middle-earth, the Valar’s abode of Valinor was illuminated by the light cycle of two trees: Telperion which produced a sil- ver radiance, and Laurelin whose light was golden. But Middle-earth itself was dark save for the dim stars shimmering in the constant night. The Valar decided that something more was needed for the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar, especially with Melkor lurking in the darkness of the World ready to corrupt or enslave them if he could. It was Varda who acted, and the following passage from The Silmarillion tells us most of what we know of the stars and of the Elves:

The Music of the Ainur foreshadowed the creation of the universe.

December 2003 Planetarian 17 voted to the Dome of Heaven”) and Anar- ríma, which seems to have something to do with the sun. Soronwë, however, contains the root word for (soron), and so Robert Foster suggests that this may have been meant to be Aquila. And Wil- warin (“Butterfly”), is general suggested by commentators to be Cassiopeia. About Men- elmacar (“Swordsman of Heaven”) there is no doubt: this is Orion using his Quenya name (Menelvagor is the Sindarin version). And Helluin (“Blue Ice”) is unmistakably Sirius. Likewise, Valacirca (“The Sickle of the Valar”) is clearly the Big Dipper, the stars set by Varda in the north as a challenge to Melkor and as a sign of his inevitable “doom,” or fate. The hobbits called this pat- tern the Wain, and there are some alternate references to this pattern in earlier drafts of writings by Tolkien, when his mythology was still evolving. Thus, the Big Dipper was also referred to as the Burning Briar in writ-

The first things the Elves saw upon awakening were the stars. ings from The Shaping of Middle Earth. And in a draft account of some star myths appearing Then she began a great labor, greatest of where to be confronted by a clear, pristine in Part One, there is ref- all the works of the Valar since their com- sky just bristling with stars, you can com- erence to the stars of the Big Dipper as being ing to Arda. She took the silver dews from pletely relate to this reaction.) This gave rise seven butterflies, or seven sparks from the the vats of Telperion, and therewith she to the origin of the Quenya word for star (el) forge of Aulë, the Smith of the Valar. A more made new stars and brighter against the and explains the name they gave to them- involved version tells a sketchy tale of how coming of the Firstborn … Carnil and Lui- selves: the Eldar, the “People of the Stars.” Melkor interrupted Aulë’s work with a lie nil, Nénar and Lumbar, Alcarinquë and Varda’s action in placing the stars and con- about his consort Yavanna (grower of the Elemmírë she wrought in that time, and stellations in the sky is somewhat reminis- Two Trees), which so angered Aulë that he many other of the ancient stars, she gath- cent of the Navajo Black ered together and set as signs in the heav- God who did the same ens of Arda: Wilwarin, Telumendil, (for different reasons). Soronwë, and Anarríma; and Menelmacar But of the lovely names with his shining belt, that forebodes the of the stars and constella- Last Battle that shall be at the end of days. tions in the account of And high in the north as a challenge to Varda’s star-kindling, the Melkor she set the crown of seven mighty etymology gives us rela- stars to swing, Valacirca, the Sickle of the tively few clues as to Valar and the sign of doom. which stars and constel- lations they are, and with It is told that even as Varda ended her some notable exceptions, labors, and they were long, when first we are left to speculate Menelmacar strode up the sky and the about this. Carnil (“Red blue fire of Helluin flickered in the mists Point”) and Luinil (“Blue above the borders of the world, in that Star”) are obviously hour the Children of the Earth awoke, the bright red and blue stars Firstborn of Ilúvatar. By the starlit mere of respectively, but which Cuiviénen, Water of Awakening, they rose we can only guess. Nénar from the sleep of Ilúvatar; and while they means “Water on High” dwelt yet silent by Cuiviénen their eyes and Lumbar, “Shadow- beheld first of all things the stars of heav- home,” and these could en. Therefore they have ever loved the star- be anybody. As could light, and have revered Varda Elentarí Alcarinquë (“The Glori- above all the Valar. ous”) and Elemmírë (“Star Jewel”). The same is true When the Elves awakened, the stars were of some of the constella- the first things they saw – and their response tions made by gathering was quite understandable: they uttered the together some of the pre- word “Elé!” which means “Behold!” (If you’ve viously-existing fainter ever gone outside on a clear night some- stars: Telumendil (“De-

18 Planetarian December 2003 threw down his sickle and broke it. Seven was that all the stars eventually began to stars so lost from the sky.) Telimektar and sparks leaped up from the clanging sickle move across the sky together as they seem to Ingil continue the pursuit, and were placed and flew into the . Varda caught do today. in the sky to guard the Earth from Melko. them and placed them in their present pat- But a further passage waxes poetic about Varda gave Telimektar stars to bear aloft so tern in honor of Yavanna, and they now fly Arcturus just the same, and hints at a tale that the gods may know he watches (and in the shape of a sickle around the north involving Orion and Sirius: these, we may presume, outline his form). pole of the sky. And Ingil follows at his heels as the star There are a few other stars and patterns Not least did they love Morwinyon of the Nielluin, or Sirius. The tale says that one day appearing elsewhere in Tolkien’s Elvish lore: west, whose name means the glint at dusk, Melko will find a way back and the Last the previously introduced Remmirath – the and of his setting in the heavens much has Battle will begin (which Tolkien himself said “Netted Stars” (the Pleiades) that the hobbits been told; and of Nielluin too, who is the perhaps owes its reference to the Norse saw in the east over The Shire, and the star Bee of Azure, Nielluin whom still may Ragnarok, “but is not much like it.”). The sign Borgil that rose after it. Some have suggested men see in autumn or in winter burning of the battle will be when Telimektar draws that this star might have been Betelgeuse, nigh the foot of Telimektar son of Tulkas his sword and the diamonds on his sword- but others say Aldebaran, and I agree with whose tale is yet to tell. sheath turn red. the latter. Based on the context of the pas- Tolkien’s Elvish star legends offer another sage in which it appears (recounted at the In this bit, Nielluin is an earlier name for lovely reference to falling stars: very start of this discussion), it was a red star Sirius (meaning “Blue Bee”), while Telimektar clearly rising ahead of Orion; Aldebaran is is an alternate name for Orion. In The Book of Yet many a time and oft a tiny star-ship of the obvious choice. Lost Tales Part Two, Tolkien sketches out the Varda that has dipped into the Outer Seas, Not appearing in Tolkien’s primary works, star tale to which he may have been refer- as often they will, is sucked through that but showing up several times in the writings ring. In this tale, Melko (Melkor) escapes Door of Night behind the Sun; and some of The Book of Lost Tales Part One, are refer- from the bonds into which he had been track her galleon through the starless vast ences to a bright star named Morwinyon placed for his deeds, and the Valar and the back unto the Eastern Wall, and some are (“The Glint at Dusk”), which Tolkien defi- Elves hunted him. Telimektar of the silver lost for ever, and some glimmer beyond the nitely identified as the star Arcturus – and as sword, who was the son of one of the more Door until the Sunship issues forth again. the one that got away, in a manner of speak- rough-and-tumble Valar named Tulkas, and Then do these leap back and rush up into ing. Morwinyon is said in these legends to his companion Ingil, the son of the High the sky again, or flee across its spaces; and have been a bright star that Varda dropped King of the Elves who lived in Valinor, sur- this is a very beautiful thing see – the “as she fared in great haste back to Valinor” prised Melko and wounded him. Melko fled Fountains of the Stars. and that it “blazes above the world’s edge in and climbed a towering pine tree that reach- the west.” And oddly, he left it to sit there, as ed all the way up to the sky and escaped into My interpretation is that this is an Elvish one of the bright unmoving stars that in his the realm of the stars. The pine tree was cut account of the reason for meteor showers – early drafts seemed to coexist with more down to keep Melko out of the world, and ”fountains” of waylaid stars fleeing across mobile stars, for, as was written in an early now he roams the heavens, making trouble the sky! tale, Varda had given to the ambulatory ones for the sun and moon by causing eclipses, “a heart of silver flame set in vessels of crys- and for the stars by occasionally dislodging a The Sun and Moon tals and pale glass and unimagined sub- few and casting them down – as meteors. The stars, both sets of them, are older than stances of faintest colours: and these vessels (Varda, however, immediately replaces any the sun and moon who arrived relatively were some made like to boats, and late in the cosmogonical scheme buoyed by their hearts of light of the Elves – and out of sheer they fared ever about Ilwë (Ilmen) necessity. Varda’s brighter stars ….” The account goes on to say were apparently sufficient for the that lesser spirits were assigned twilight world of the Elves, who the task of sitting in these “starry were summoned by the Valar to boats” and guiding them “on join them in Valinor in any case. mazy courses high above the Some went (those who continued Earth.” But some, like Arcturus to call themselves the Eldar), and and Sirius, were “like translucent some stayed in Middle-earth (and lamps set quivering above the came to be called by variety of world, in Ilwë (Ilmen) or on the names depending on when and very confines of Vilna (the atmo- where they left the journey west; sphere) and the airs we breathe, the most notable group were the and they flickered and waned for Sindar who remained in the west the stirring of the upper winds, of Middle-earth). yet abode where they hung and But Melkor was ever about his moved not; and of these some intrigues and disruptions, and it were very great and beautiful and was his actions that brought the the Gods and Elves among all Middle-earth lighting issue to a their riches loved them ….” head. As told in The Silmarillion, it Tolkien apparently never went was during a festival in Valinor, on to resolve this inconsistency, when the Valar and Elves were off or to explain mythically how it having a good time, that Melkor sneaked into their realm with a

December 2003 Planetarian 19 light-devouring monster named appointed path; and he sought to come near and ageing of all things was hastened in the form of a great spider. While the resi- to Arien, being drawn by her splendor, exceedingly; life teemed upon the soil and dents made merry elsewhere, Melkor struck though the flame of Anar scorched him, and in the waters in the Second Spring of Arda, at the roots of the light-giving trees Telper- the island of the Moon was darkened.” (And and the Eldar increased, and beneath the ion and Laurelin, and Ungoliant sucked so began the phases of the moon.) Besides new Sun grew green and fair. them dry of all their light, and a darkness that, several of the Valar complained that came over Valinor. with the Earth constantly lighted, there was Melkor and Ungoliant escaped, and the no sleep or rest. And so Varda changed the distressed Valar coaxed only a single silver traffic pattern of the sky. She directed that, flower from Telperion and a single golden in order to provide both day and night, the fruit from Laurelin before the Two Trees sun would set in west below the waters of expired for good. The Valar, who decided it the great encircling ocean, pass under the was time to provide Middle-earth with more Earth. and rise in the east to mount the heav- light anyway to expose and confound the ens – creating a westward-only movement conceits of Melkor, then placed the silver and a light-dark cycle that became the day- flower and golden fruit into specially-crafted night cycle. vessels to hold and preserve their light, and The moon was directed to move similarly, selected Maiar to guide these vessels through and to wait to rise until the sun had set, but the lower stretches of Ilmen, nearer to the Tilion still moved at “an uncertain pace,” The sun was made from the fruit of Earth than the stars. The vessel holding the still drawn to Arien with her sun, “so that the golden tree Laurelin. silver flower of Telperion became the moon often both may be seen above the Earth (“Isil the Sheen”), and a male named together.” And so the cycle of moon phases Tilion was selected to guide it. The vessel continues. The text goes on to say that “at The Planets housing the golden fruit of Laurelin corre- times it will chance that he comes so nigh We have not yet considered Elvish lore spondingly became the sun (“Anar the Fire- that his shadow cuts off her brightness, and concerning the planets, but since, with one golden”), to be guided across the sky by a there is a darkness amid the day” – as good a important exception, they seem to have female Maia named Arien. (The genders here mythical account of the cause of solar escaped mention (if not notice), there isn’t are counter to the mythological norm in eclipses as we are likely to find. much to tell. I have seen one source suggest which the sun is usually male and the moon There is no account of how the sun and that Varda’s bright stars kindled before the female, but the Elvish arrangement matches moon must have changed their paths when coming of the Elves were actually the plan- the world went round, but we may assume ets, and this source assigned the star names to that they adjusted by circling around the them – Mars as Carnil, Jupiter as Alcarinquë, round Earth, ever in the Ilmen (and so “ever and so on. But I am not aware of any justifi- aloft” in the end as Varda desired in the cation for this in the “scriptures,” so to speak, beginning), as any good Earth-centered view and when the source assigned names to of the universe would have them do. Uranus and Neptune as well (these were, In the Elvish account of the origins of the after all, supposed to be bright), the theory sun and moon, we can detect a certain fell apart for me. Coyote-like flavor in the behavior of Melkor. The one planet for which a mythological The Coyote character of Native American origin is clearly given in Elvendom is Venus. tradition was more about mischief than mal- And its origin is tied up in the long, involved, ice, but both Coyote and Melkor proved to and tragic tale for which The Silmarillion is be agents of change in their environments. named. The moon was made from the flower Many of the actions (usually foolish) of The tale begins in Valinor with the cre- of the silver tree Telperion. Coyote changed the landscape of the world. ation of three impressive artifacts by the gift- In this instance, the action of Melkor ed Elf prince Fëanor: jewels of crystal in that of the Norse, where the sun was likewise changed the entire lighting scheme of the which he mingled and preserved the light of female and the moon male.) Elvish cosmos, and made necessary the the Two Trees before their unfortunate Varda then launched the vessels into the advent of the sun and moon. demise. They were called the silmarilli sky, the moon rising first in the west from Tolkien’s Elves recognized and acknowl- (“White Shining Radiance”), and were among Valinor, and it began to traverse back and edged this change and its effect on the Earth the finest and most beautiful things ever forth across the sky between east and west, (just as all myth-telling peoples have recog- wrought upon Earth. And the trouble began Varda having directed that the vessels would nized the time-marking and life-giving right there, for the power of their beauty be “ever aloft” to light the world. At the end power of the sun). And they did it, as is made Fëanor uncommonly possessive for an of the moon’s seventh traverse, when it was entirely characteristic, with beautiful turns Elf. in the east, the sun was sent rising in the of phrase: When Melkor and Ungoliant sucked the west, and so for a time the two vessels tra- life out of the Two Trees (resulting in the versed the sky, passing each other in their From this time forth were reckoned the need for the sun and moon), they also courses over the middle of the then-still-flat Years of the Sun. Swifter and briefer are stopped on their way out of town to kill Earth. they than the long Years of the Trees in Fëanor’s father and steal the precious silmar- But things didn’t stay this way for long. Valinor. In that time the air of Middle- ils, which Melkor also coveted, and which he Tilion, as it turned out, was “wayward and earth became heavy with the breath of later placed in his iron crown. Fëanor swore a uncertain in his speed, and held not to his growth and mortality, and the changing terrible oath to avenge his losses and recover the jewels whatever the cost, and he and the

20 Planetarian December 2003 larger part of his kindred stormed back to Now fair and marvelous was that vessel Of the Relevance of Myth Middle-earth to make good on his oath, set- made, and it was filled with a wavering Thus is the star lore of the Elves, such as it ting events and tragedies into motion that flame, pure and bright; and Eärendil the comes down to us from J. R. R. Tolkien’s tales. had far-reaching consequences for the histo- Mariner sat at the helm, glistening with Now this may all be of intellectual interest ry of Middle-earth and which would rival the dust of elven-gems, and the Silmaril as far as it goes, but the nonromantic among the darkest Greek tragedy or Thomas Hardy was bound upon his brow. Far he jour- us – or perhaps those not so much blessed novel. neyed in that ship, even into the starless with Tolkien’s “elven quality” – might har- To make a long and very complicated voids; but most often was he seen at morn- rumph and remind us that his Elvish story much shorter, suffice it to say that the ing or evening, glimmering in sunrise or mythology is all just an elaborate fiction. stolen , coupled with Fëanor’s and sunset, as he came back to Valinor from And the cynic might then remind the non- his family’s tragic flaws, led to an age’s worth voyages beyond the confines of the world. romantic that the same might be said of all of hopeless wars and battles in which the mythology. But such contentions do little Elves were ultimately and completely defeat- That Eärendil with his shining silmaril more than deny the value of each. The pri- ed by the forces of Melkor, and all the Elven represent the planet Venus is certain, for mary difference between Tolkien’s mytholo- kingdoms of Middle-earth were brought Tolkien himself indicated as much. He said gy and that of the real world is that Tolkien’s down. In the midst of this epic struggle, how- that Eärendil’s name was derived from the was invented to serve his sub-created world, ever, a somewhat ordinary named Anglo-Saxon word éarendel, which, based on while the stories and legends of Earth’s real Beren (mirroring Ringbearers to its etymology, he realized was an astronomi- cultures evolved over time out of their belief come), with the help of his beloved Elf-maid cal term referring to the “star” that presages systems about the world. Both sets of ideas Lúthien, managed to perform a great deed by the dawn – in other words, Venus, the Morn- serve exactly the same purpose in their sneaking into Melkor’s stronghold and – ing Star shining brightly before the rising of respective universes; thus, Tolkien’s through strength of wits rather than arms – the sun. “Or at any rate, that is how I took it,” approach can legitimately offer insight on wrested one of the silmarils from Melkor’s Tolkien wrote. He worked this symbolism the value of myth in our own world and our iron crown. The jewel passed down to Beren into the story, though the small changes he own lives. and Lúthien’s son Dior, and in turn to Dior’s made in Eärendil’s name changed its mean- In a sense, all myth is metaphor – a gras- Elvish daughter Elwing, who fell in love ing in Elvish to “Lover of the Sea.” pable way to illuminate and internalize the with another Everyman named Eärendil, the realities of the natural world and human mariner. nature and to make us more comfortable in With the final defeat of the Elf kingdoms, dealing with them. It doesn’t have to be true when Melkor stood supreme upon the shores in the real world to nonetheless reveal the of Middle-earth and all hope seemed lost, truth of the real world. Consider the words of Eärendil and Elwing took her inheritance C. S. Lewis, a friend and colleague of Tolkien, and together they undertook a dangerous who, in reviewing The Lord of the Rings, “hero’s quest” of their own, sailing westward described how Tolkien’s mythology is appli- across the great ocean seeking the Straight cable to the primary world: Road beyond the circles of the world that would take them to Valinor to intercede on The value of myth is that it takes the behalf of Elves and Men. By the grace of the things we know and restores to them the Valar, they were allowed to take that path to rich significance which has been hidden the Undying Lands, and there they pleaded by the veil of familiarity. The child enjoys for the help of the Valar. The Valar heard Eärendil the Mariner returns with his meat, otherwise dull to him, by pre- their plea, and as the tales tell, marched with the silmaril (Venus) upon his brow. tending it is buffalo, just killed by his own war upon Melkor and defeated him utterly, bow and arrow. And the child is wise. The binding him and casting him through the It’s an appealing image regardless: Venus as real meat comes back to him more savoury Door of Night into the Void beyond the the silmaril shining upon the brow of Eären- for having been dipped in a story; you Walls of the World, where he remains until dil, glimmering in the sunrise or sunset as he might say that only then is it real meat …. the hinted Last Battle. returns from voyages “beyond the confines By putting bread, gold, horse, apple, or the As is often the case in epic myth, Eärendil of the world.” very roads into a myth, we do not retreat and Elwing succeeded in their quest, but at a from reality: we rediscover it. As long as cost. They reached Valinor at the price of the story lingers in our mind, the real never being able to return to The primary difference between Tolkien’s myth- things are more themselves …. Middle-earth. Instead the pair By dipping them in myth, we remained in Valinor, where ology and that of the real world is that Tolkien’s see them more clearly. Eärendil and his ship were lift- was invented to serve his sub-created world, ed into the heavens where he while the stories and legends of Earth’s real cul- Today we still seek to make the now “keeps watch upon the tures evolved over time out of their belief sys- meat of our reality more savory ramparts of the sky.” The sil- with the seasonings of imagina- maril of Elwing is fixed firmly tems about the world. Both sets of ideas serve tion. And some among us are facil- to his brow, and we see it still exactly the same purpose in their respective itators in the process. today sometimes at morning universes; thus, Tolkien’s approach can legiti- Several years ago, I produced a or evening as the planet Venus, planetarium program on the sun, shining in the dusky sky. Or, as mately offer insight on the value of myth in our one objective of which was to the Elvish tale concludes: own world and our own lives. show how our view of the sun had

December 2003 Planetarian 21 changed over time, culminating in the new Insofar as J. R. R. Tol- tions of the world and the larger cosmos. findings of current solar space missions. I kien’s graceful star lore of After all, Myth is the word-music of the very purposefully introduced each of the sci- universe. Lasto! (Listen!) entific sections with a sun myth selected the Elves of Middle-earth from the world’s cultures which contained helps us to see anew the Bibliography some interesting parallel with the scientific fine realities of his world Blake, Andrew. 2002. J. R. R. Tolkien: A Begin- material to follow, both to contrast what we ners Guide. Great Britain: Hodden and “knew before” with what we had learned and ours, helps us to Stoughton. since – and to prime the imagination of the freshen our own insights Carpenter, Humphrey. 1981. The Letters of J. R. audience and perhaps to make them more on the value of myth, and R. Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Com- pany. receptive to the harder-edged stories of sci- inspires us to see the uni- ence. Duriez, Colin. 1992. The J. R. R. Tolkien Hand- We conducted audience surveys during verse in new ways – and book. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker the run of the program, and among the ques- to help others to do the Books. tions I asked was what the correspondent same – it will have a place Foster, Robert. 1978. The Complete Guide to liked most and least about the show. Middle-earth. New York: Ballantine Books. Interestingly, among those who chose to in the exercise of imagi- Jones, Leslie Ellen. 2002. Myth and Middle- specifically mention either the science sec- nation that seasons our earth. New York: Cold Springs Press. tions or the myths, equal numbers preferred perceptions of the world Noel, Ruth D. The Languages of Tolkien’s one over the other. My ultimate goal in the Middle-earth. New York: Houghton Mifflin program – and the foremost reason for and the larger cosmos. Company. including the mythologies – had been to Tolkien, J. R. R. 1965. The Fellowship of the engage as much of the audience as I could in understand and accommodate in our daily Ring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. actively thinking about the importance of lives. In our own elrondi – our own planetari- Tolkien, J. R. R. 1965. . Boston: the sun in our daily lives. I had hoped that ums – we recognize that the best programs Houghton Mifflin Company. those I couldn’t reach with science, I might still are those that tell a story. Tolkien, J. R. R.. 1965 . reach with myth. And with a 94% favorable Joseph Campbell said: “Getting into har- Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. rating from the survey, I considered my mony and tune with the universe and stay- Tolkien, J. R. R. 1977. The Silmarillion. Boston: approach to have been vindicated. ing there is the principle function of mythol- Houghton Mifflin Company. Not everybody will be moved by science. ogy.” Insofar as J. R. R. Tolkien’s graceful star Tolkien, J. R. R. 1980. . Boston: But there are few who won’t be moved by a lore of the Elves of Middle-earth helps us to Houghton Mifflin Company. good story. This is something we know see anew the fine realities of his world and Tolkien, J. R. R. 1983. Book of Lost Tales: Part implicitly as we practice our craft, certainly ours, helps us to freshen our own insights on One. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. for those of us who realize that science plays the value of myth, and inspires us to see the Tolkien, J. R. R. 1984. Book of Lost Tales: Part much the same role today as myth has in the universe in new ways – and to help others to Two. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. past: to explain the world and how it works – do the same – it will have a place in the exer- Tolkien, J. R. R. 1986. The Shaping of Middle- and our place in it – in ways that we can cise of imagination that seasons our percep- earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. C

22 Planetarian December 2003