Stars were points of light made by Varda.
They existed in Tar-menel in the Circles of the World, immediately above Arda between Vista and Ekkaia. At first, they were seen clearly in areas where there was less light from either the Two Lamps or the Two Trees, and much later only when the Sun set and night fell with a clear sky.[1]
History[]
First stars[]
The first stars were created sometime between the Valar's arrival in Arda and the Awakening of the Elves possibly out of the misty light close along the ground, which were also used in the creation of the Two Lamps. After their destruction, they were the only source of light in Middle-earth as the light of the Two Trees were far in the west and very faintly seen, if seen at all, and the Sun and Moon were not yet made. These stars were dim, and had no formal names, but were numerous.[2]
Second stars[]
After the Valar were well established in Valinor, they held council concerning the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar, after which Varda wanted to create new and brighter stars in anticipation of their awakening. Using dew-drops from the Wells of Telperion as the individual stars, she began on labors long and tedious, but certainly rewarding.[3] Intending for some to be not only beacons of light and hope but as signs of what’s to come, they were arranged into constellations that warned and foretold of the coming ages and their dooms. After she completed her labors, the Elves awoke by the waters of Cuiviénen and one of the first things they saw was these stars. They gazed upon them and forever loved their light.[2]
Individual stars[]
Constellations[]
Others[]
After the First Age, Eärendil with his ship and the Silmaril were sent into the heavens where their light shown as a star of hope to the Free Peoples of the earth, and he will never return to Middle-earth, until Dagor Dagorath, when he will descend from the sky in all his splendor and beauty, to fight Morgoth and his armies from beyond the Door of Night. [5][6]
References[]
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter I: "Of the Beginning of Days"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter I: "Of the Beginning of Days
- ↑ The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Part One
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIV: "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Akallabêth (The Downfall of Númenor)