Moon

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Moon
Source of light
Lady Elleth - Tilion.png
"Tilion" by Lady Elleth
Other namesSee below
LocationIlmen in
OwnerTilion
CreatorAulë
Y.T. 1500
GalleryImages of the Moon
"The round Moon rolled behind the hill,
as the Sun raised up her head.
She hardly believed her fiery eyes;
For though it was day, to her surprise
they all went back to bed!
"
The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late

Ithil, the Moon, is a celestial object seen in the skies of Arda at night.

History[edit | edit source]

Varda and creation of Isil by Elena Kukanova

After the Darkening of Valinor and the destruction of the Two Trees, Telperion, the White Tree, bore one last Flower of Silver before its end. According to the lore of the Elder Days, Aulë and his people made a vessel to carry to the silver flower aloft, and Tilion, one of the hunters of Oromë, was granted the task of steering the new Moon through the sky.[1]

Tilion guided his charge up into the western skies just as Fingolfin entered Middle-earth, and so marked the beginning the First Age. After seven lunar "days", the Sun, also rose. The Moon first rose above Valinor in the far West of the World, but Varda came to change this arrangement, so that the Moon would pass beneath the World, and arise in the east instead, as it does to this day. [1]

Moon by Darryl Elliott

According to the legends of the Elves, Tilion was an unsteady steersman, sometimes dwelling overlong beneath the Earth, or appearing in the sky at the same time as the Sun. He was drawn to the bright new Sun, launched from Valinor shortly after his own vessel,[1] and his coming too close to his fiery companion was said to account for the darkening of the Moon's face.

According to a tradition,[2][3] Melkor will discover how to break the Door of Night, and will destroy both the Sun and the Moon.

Lore of the Moon[edit | edit source]

Númenóreans[edit | edit source]

For the Númenóreans, the Sun and the Moon - Ûri and Nîlû, called collectively also Ûriyat ("two suns") or Ûrinîl(uw)at ("two sun-moon") - were personified entities, the Man in the Moon and the Lady of the Sun.[4] They were the chief heavenly lights, and the enemies of the eternal Dark.[5]

This notion was carried over to Gondor, where the sons of Elendil each had either of the lights in his name: Isildur and Anárion, and with them their cities Minas Ithil and Minas Anor, and the lands that lay about them, Ithilien and Anórien.[5]

Hobbits[edit | edit source]

New Moon by Gail McIntosh

When the Hobbits were still a wandering people, their calendaric unit was not a 'week' , but a 'month', governed more or less by the Moon. However, through contact with alien peoples (perhaps the Dúnedain of Arnor) they adopted the notion of weeks which formed the Shire Reckoning.[6]

In Hobbit folklore, the moon was imagined to be inhabited by the Man in the Moon.[7]

Dwarves[edit | edit source]

The Dwarves based their calendar on the Moon. The Dwarven year began with the first day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter.[8] However it seems that by the late Third Age the Dwarves adopted the Stewards' Reckoning,[9] and few had the skill to calculate the Durin's Day.

Other names[edit | edit source]

Other versions of the legendarium[edit | edit source]

Early concepts[edit | edit source]

In the early versions of the legendarium as described in The Book of Lost Tales Part One, the Moon was described in great detail as an immense island of crystal (vírin).[22] The spots on the Moon were also explained by telling that the Rose of Silpion fell because Lórien did not want to pick it from the Tree.[22]

The phases of the Moon were explained that: first, like the earlier Silpion, the Rose needed to be watered with its shining dew and created it in greater quantities, and the heavy dew had to be removed; second, the Moon had to stay within the lower layers of Ilwë and the winds made it wobble.[22]

Silmo wanted to steer the Moon but could not do it, so Manwë appointed Ilinsor, who was joined by other air spirits. The Man in the Moon is described in those writings as being an old Elf who secretly hid on the island of the Moon, and built his minaret there.[22] This is alluded to further in Tolkien's Roverandom, where the Man in the Moon also lives in a Minaret.

Other Elvish names in this fase were:

  • Celebron: Gnomish name for "Moon".[23]
  • Crithosceleg: Gnomish name meaning "disc of glass".[22]:192
  • Gilthalont: unclear Gnomish name with the elemnent giltha ("white metal").[24]
  • Ilsaluntë: Qenya name meaning "silver boat".[24]
  • Minethlos: Gnomish name meaning "argent isle".[22]:192
  • Rána: Qenya name for "Moon" used by the Gods.[22]:192
  • Sil: Qenya name for "Moon" used by the fairies, literally "Rose".[25]
  • Silindril: Qenya name meaning "Moon-cauldron".[25]

Later concepts[edit | edit source]

In the Round World version of the legendarium, the Sun and the Moon were not the fruit of the Two Trees, but actually preceded the creation of the Trees. Instead, the Trees preserved the light of the Sun before it was tainted by Melkor when he ravished Arien.

Inspirations[edit | edit source]

Gender[edit | edit source]

A depiction of the Norse god Máni and the goddess Sól (Lorenz Frølich, 1895) who could be the inspirations of Tilion and Arien

The fact that the Moon in Tolkien's legendarium is connected to a male entity or person (like Tilion or the Man in the Moon), is obviously derived from the Germanic mythology of which Tolkien was an expert; for example the Old Norse Máni is a male lunar god and Sól is a female solar goddess.

On the contrary, other mythologies of the world had connected the Moon with the feminine, like the Græco-Roman deities Luna, Selene, Hecate and others.

The gender of the celestial deity is mirrored also in the gender of the noun for "Moon" in these languages (eg. French la Lune but German der Mond). This was also perhaps the case with some of the languages of Arda (Ghân-buri-ghân refers to the Sun as a woman).

See also Sun: Inspiration

Phases[edit | edit source]

"...my moons in the crucial days between Frodo's flight and the present situation (arrival at Minas Morghul) were doing impossible things, rising in one pan of the country and setting simultaneously in another."
J.R.R. Tolkien's letter to Christopher Tolkien, 24 April 1944[26]

Tolkien was very careful in the moon phases described in his works, so that they fit the passing of days realistically. Tolkien was remodelling the phases while reviewing the book in 1944 so that he preserves the consistency. The moon phases described in The Lord of the Rings correspond to the phases of years 1941-2 and it is probable that he used a recent calendar for reference.[27] Unfortunately, some minor errors (that can be detected only after thorough measurement and astronomical knowledge) slipped his attention (for example cf. September 22)

Calendar[edit | edit source]

The mention that Hobbits and Dwarves based their year and months on the Moon, mirrors the lunar calendar used by several ancient cultures through history, such as the Hebrews. The observation of the Moon phases formed the months; the words are even related etymologically in some languages (cf. the English words "Moon" and "month").

Portrayal in adaptations[edit | edit source]

1978: The Lord of the Rings (1978 film):

The moon appears in the background of various scenes. In a notable animation error, it is visible behind both Frodo and Boromir when the latter tries to persuade Frodo to give the Ring at Amon Hen.[28]

2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game):

The Moon - or rather, an image of the near side of the moon in the plenilune - is used as a backdrop for scenes playing at night, and appears recognizably in the sky in cut scenes. It appears behind Strider as he finds Merry in the streets of Bree,[29] behind the Watcher in the Water, [30] and behind the fell beast in the final cut scene.[31]

In other stories[edit | edit source]

The moon is an important location in Tolkien's children's story Roverandom. After being turned into a toy dog, the wizard Psamathos Psamathides summons his postman Mew (a seagull) to take Rover to the moon to see the Man-in-the-Moon.[32]:17 ff One side of the moon is white with a dark sky and tall mountains, whilst the dark side of the moon is dark with a light sky and deep valleys.[32]:40 Although home to spiders, the main enemy on the moon is the White Dragon (later renamed the Mottled Monster).[32]:34-6

See also[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Of J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, "The Drowning of Anadûnê"
  5. 5.0 5.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 347 (dated December 17, 1972)
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix D
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late"
  8. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "A Short Rest"
  9. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix D
  10. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"
  11. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Index of Names"
  12. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Two. The Annals of Aman: Sixth and last section of the Annals of Aman", p. 130
  13. J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 42, July 2001, p. 13
  14. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", p. 383 (entry RAN-)
  15. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Unfinished index for The Lord of the Rings", in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 232 form: ithil
  16. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), pp. 30, 39, 121 (form: Ithil
  17. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", pp. 361, 385, 392 (entries I-, SIL- and THIL-)
  18. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies" (entry PHAR)
  19. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar", p. 401
  20. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Taming of Sméagol"; J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Passage of the Marshes"; J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Forbidden Pool". Cfr. "Yellow Face" (the Sun by Gollum).
  21. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Ring Goes South"
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "VIII. The Tale of the Sun and Moon"
  23. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I, entry "Telimpë"
  24. 24.0 24.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I, entry "Ilsaluntë"
  25. 25.0 25.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I, entry "Silindril"
  26. J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 69, (dated 14 May 1944), p. 80
  27. http://shire-reckoning.com/moon.html
  28. Goofs, IMDb.com
  29. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game), "Bree"
  30. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game), "Hollin Gate"
  31. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game), "Amon Hen"
  32. 32.0 32.1 32.2 J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), Roverandom
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