Tilion

Tilion
Biographical information
Birth	Before the Ainulindalë
Death	Immortal
Realms	Gardens of Lórien, the Moon
Spouse	None
Weapon	Powers of the Ainur, Silver, and bow
Physical description
Race	Ainur
Gender	Male
Hair	Silver
Eyes	Silver
Culture	Maiar

Tilion was a Maia and the guardian of the Moon. While lesser in power than his counterpart Arien, he gained stewardship of the Moon earlier.

Biography

Tilion was originally a Maia of Oromë the Huntsman, and resided in Valinor throughout the Years of the Trees, and into the beginning of the Third Age. He loved to wander through the Gardens of Lórien, and dream next to Lórellin, in the glittering silver rays of Telperion. He was said to be less mighty than Arien, who was chosen by the Valar to be the guardian of the Sun. When the Two Trees of Valinor were destroyed, Tilion rescued the last surviving flower of Telperion. Aulë decided to craft the Moon first, so it was seen rising and setting seven times before the Sun rose its first. However, Morgoth was angered and scared of the new lights in the sky, so he launched an attack on them, sending his dark servants after them. It was said that Arien easily burned away the dark powers, but Tilion was waylaid and hard-pressed to hold his own, but still managed to pull through. However, he was, and still is to this day somewhat reckless, not always following the Moon's direct, intended path across the sky, which causes the Moon to be occasionally visible at the same time as the Sun, or to not appear at all, or even to block the light of Arien.

Tilion may have been the inspiration for the Man in the Moon, a figure appearing in the folk-lore of Gondor and the Shire.

Etymology

Tilion means "The Horned" in Quenya. In The Book of Lost Tales Part One, he is called Uolë Kúvion in Middle Quenya and Ûl Cuvonweg in Gnomish, meaning both "Moon king".

In other versions

In very early versions of the legendarium, Tilion was said to love Arien. Then, when Morgoth ravished her, and she 'died', Tilion was thus angered; and he delivered the blow that killed Morgoth in an early version of Dagor Dagorath.

In another version, the Vala Silmo (Thilim in Gnomish), a servant of Lórien, was appointed with the task of being "ever mindful" of the watering of the silver tree Silpion. When the tree was destroyed and the Moon was created, the Vala Ilinsor, a servant of Manwë, was a chosen as the steerer of the Moon. However, Ilinsor was envious of the greater brightness of the Sun, and so chased the stars.

It is said in The Book of Lost Tales Part One that Tilion had been in love once with Arien, and because he pursued her, he came too close to the immense heat of the Sun, which scarred the Moon.

See also

• Arien / Sun
• Moon
• Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor
• The Tale of the Sun and Moon

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	ትሊየን
Arabic	تيليون
Armenian	Թիլիոն
Belarusian Cyrillic	Тіліон
Bengali	টিলিওন
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Тилион
Chinese	提里昂
Georgian	ტილიონი
Greek	Τιλιον
Gujarati	ટિલીયન
Hebrew	טיליון
Hindi	तिलिओन
Japanese	ティリオン
Kannada	ಟಿಲಿಯನ್
Kazakh	Тілион (Cyrillic) Tilïon (Latin)
Korean	틸리 온
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Тилион
Macedonian Cyrillic	Тилион
Marathi	टिलियन
Mongolian Cyrillic	Тилион
Nepalese	टिलियन
Persian	تیلیون
Punjabi	ਟਿਲਿਅਨ
Russian	Тилион
Sanskrit	टिलिओन्
Serbian	Тилион (Cyrillic) Tilion (Latin)
Sinhalese	ටිලියන්
Tajik Cyrillic	Тилион
Tamil	டிலியன்
Tatar	Тилион
Telugu	టిలిఒన
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Тіліон
Urdu	طیلیون
Uzbek	Тилион (Cyrillic) Tilion (Latin)
Yiddish	טיליאָן