Otselen

'Seven Stars', an Elvish (Quenya) name of Valacirca (or the Great Bear), one of the constellations.

This name-form is recorded in the Etymologies s.v. OT- (OTOS, OTOK) seven (LR 379) but it is not used in any of the stories referring to the constellation. In the same entry is given the Noldorin equivalent of Otselen, Edegil.

The first element of the name is Quenya numeral otso 'seven', and the second Quenya elen 'star' and thus refers to the seven stars of Valacirca.

It may be of some interest to remark that otso means 'bear' in Finnish, which is well known to be one of the models for the Elvish languages created by Tolkien.

NB. Karhu is another word for 'bear' in Finnish; it is also the name of the North Polar Bear, a frequent character in The Father Christmas Letters which Tolkien wrote to his children during the years 1920-1943 (cf. Hammond - Scull 1995, 69, fig. 66).

Abbreviations:

Hammond - Scull 1995 = W.G. Hammond - C. Scull, J.R.R. Tolkien : Artist & Illustrator, Boston - New York 1995.

LR = The Lost Road and other Writings (The History of Middle-earth, vol. 5)