The Moon in a Decipher Card image
The Moon of the world of Arda was created by the Vala Aulë towards the end of the First Age. He and his people made a vessel, to hold the radiance of the last flower of Telperion, the elder of the Two Trees of Valinor. The vessel of the moon was guided across the skies by Tilion, a Maia of Oromë.[1]
History[]
After Ungoliant destroyed Telperion, the silver tree of Valinor, Yavanna took its last flower and, to encase it, Aulë made a vessel called Isil the Sheen. Its counterpart, Anar the Fire-golden, was a fruit of Laurelin, and became the Sun. The Maia Tilion, a hunter of the company of the Vala Oromë, was chosen to guide the vessel of the Moon across the sky to illuminate Arda at night.[1] The moon's first rising was on the cusp of a new Count of Time: the Years of the Sun, YS 1, which began with the first rising of the Sun.
- "Isil was first wrought and made ready and first rose into the realm of the stars, and was the elder of the new lights, as was Telperion of the Trees."
The Moon was valued as higher than the Sun by the Elves, both because it came from the Elder Tree and had risen first; it had been made in memory of the Elves. The Sun, on the other hand, had been created for the sake of Men.
Etymology & other names[]
- Rána ("The Wayward") was a name given by the Ñoldor elves.
- Isil ("The Sheen") is the name given by the Vanyar elves of Valinor.[2]
- Ithil is the Sindarin rendition of Isil, and more commonly used in Middle-earth.[3]
- The Silver Flower' is poetic name for the Moon.
- White Face is how Gollum referred to it.
In other versions[]
In the earlier tales of the First Age, given in The Book of Lost Tales Part One, the Moon was described in great detail as an immense island of crystal, designed after a rose from the ruined tree Silpion, and it was steered thanks to the ropes made by Ranuin and Fanuin.[4] On this island were the Mountains of the Moon, where the Man in the Moon built his minaret. It was also said that the youth Tilion was secretly in love with Urwendi (Arien), the maiden who guided the Sun, and that because he steered the Moon too close to the Sun, the Moon was burned, causing its darker spots.[5]
In the round-world version of the legendarium, the Sun and Moon were not the fruit of the Two Trees, but instead preceded the creation of the Trees. Instead, the Trees preserved the light of the Sun before Melkor tainted it when ravaging Arien.[citation needed]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XI: "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part One. The Grey Annals
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon, Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter IX: "The Hiding of Valinor"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter VIII: "The Tale of the Sun and Moon"
See also[]
- Arien / Sun
- Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor
- Minas Anor
- The Tale of the Sun and Moon
- Tilion
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Maan |
| Albanian | Hëna |
| Amharic | ጨረቃ |
| Aramaic | ܣܗܪܐ |
| Armenian | Լուսին |
| Arabic | القمر |
| Aromanian | Lunâ |
| Azerbaijani | Ay |
| Basque | Ilargia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Месяц |
| Bengali | চাঁদ |
| Bosnian | Mjesec |
| Breton | Loar |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Луна |
| Cambodian | ព្រះចន្ទ |
| Catalan | Lluna |
| Chechen | Бутт |
| Cheyenne | Taa'é-eše'he |
| Cornish | Loor |
| Cree | ᑎᐱᔅᑳᐅᐲᓯᒻ |
| Croatian | Mjesec |
| Czech | Měsíc |
| Danish | Månen |
| Davehi | ހަނދު |
| Dutch | Maan |
| Estonian | Kuu |
| Finnish | Kuu |
| French | Lune |
| Galician | Lúa |
| Georgian | მთვარე |
| German | Mond |
| Greek | Σελήνη |
| Gujarati | ચંદ્ર |
| Hausa | Wata |
| Hawaiian | Mahina |
| Hebrew | הירח |
| Hindi | चन्द्रमा |
| Hungarian | Hold |
| Icelandic | Tunglið |
| Indonesian | Bulan |
| Inuktitut | ᑕᖅᑭᖅ |
| Irish Gaelic | An Ghealach |
| Italian | Luna |
| Japanese | 月 |
| Kabardian | Мазэ |
| Kannada | ಚಂದ್ರನ |
| Kazakh | Ай (Cyrillic) Ay (Latin) |
| Korean | 달 |
| Kurdish | مانگ |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Ай |
| Latvian | Mēness |
| Laotian | ດວງຈັນ |
| Lithuanian | Mėnulis |
| Luxembourgish | Äerdmound |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Месечина |
| Malagasy | Volana |
| Maltese | Qamar |
| Malaysian | Bulan |
| Manx | Yn Eayst |
| Marathi | चंद्र |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Сар |
| Nāhuatl (Aztec) | Metztli |
| Navajo | Ooljééʼ |
| Nepalese | चन्द्रमा |
| Old English | Mōna |
| Pashto | سپوږمۍ |
| Persian | ماه |
| Polish | Księżyc |
| Portuguese | Lua |
| Punjabi | ਚੰਦਰਮਾ |
| Querétaro Otomi | Zänä |
| Romanian | Lună |
| Romani | Chhon |
| Romansh | Glina |
| Russian | Луна |
| Sanskrit | चन्द्रः |
| Scottish Gaelic | Gealach |
| Serbian | Месец (Cyrillic) Mesec (Latin) |
| Serbo Croatian | Mjesec |
| Sinhalese | චන්ද්රයා |
| Slovak | Mesiac |
| Slovenian | Luna |
| Somali | Bilaha |
| Spanish | Luna |
| Sundanese | Bulan |
| Swahili | Mwezi |
| Swedish | Månen |
| Tagalog | Buwan |
| Tamil | நிலா |
| Tatar | Ай |
| Thai | ดวงจันทร์ |
| Tibetan | ཟླ་བ། |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Моҳтоб |
| Telugu | చంద్రుడు |
| Turkish | Ay |
| Turkmen | Aý |
| Urdu | چاند |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Місяць |
| Uzbek | Ой (Cyrillic) Oy (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Mặt Trăng |
| Welsh | Lleuad |
| Yiddish | לבנה |
References[]