Moon

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.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XI: "Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"
== 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. 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.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part One. The Grey Annals
* Ithil is the Sindarin rendition of Anar, and more commonly used in Middle-earth.Parma Eldalamberon, Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
* 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.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter IX: "The Hiding of Valinor" 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.The History of Middle-earth, The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter VIII: "The Tale of the Sun and Moon"
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.
== References ==
== 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 ==
de:Mond
fr:Lune
it:Luna
pl:Isil
ru:Луна
Category:Cosmology
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