Menelmacar

Menelvagor, also known as the Swordsman of the Sky, Telumehtar,The Lord of the Rings, "Appendix E: Writing and Spelling", I: "Pronunciation of Words and Names", "Consonants", pg. 391 (entry "H") and Menelmacar,The Lord of the Rings, "Appendix E: Writing and Spelling", I: "Pronunciation of Words and Names", "Consonants", pg. 391 (footnote to "Telumehtar ‘Orion’") was a shining belt of stars in the night sky of Arda to the north of HelluinThe History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, Part Three: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion", I: The First Phase, 3: "Of the Coming of the Elves", pgs. 160 (§19-20), 166 (commentary to §19) and south of Remmirath. Borgil was a part of Menelvagor.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Ch. III: "Three is Company", pg. 91
Menelvagor corresponded to the constellation of Orion.
==History==
Between the years 1000 and 1050 of the Years of the Trees, Varda gathered many ancient stars and set them in many constellations throughout the heavens of Arda to prepare for the Awakening of the Elves. In the year 1050, Menelvagor rose in the sky at the very hour the first Elves awoke at Cuivienen. Due to Menelvagor being one of the first things that they saw, the Elves would often burst into song whenever it rose in the night sky. They personified Menelvagor as masculine, believing he "was a sign of Túrin"The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, Part Two: "The Annals of Aman", pgs. 71 (§35, §37), 76 and the Last Battle prophesiedThe History of Middle-earth, Vol. IV: The Shaping of Middle-earth, Part Two: "Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings", VI: "Quenta Silmarillion", pg. 165 (§31) to come at the End of Arda.
A little while before 1:07 am"Menelvagor" ("Reading the Star Clock" and note 3) on The Encyclopedia of Arda on Halimath 25 of the year 3018 during the late Third Age, the three Hobbits, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, and Peregrin Took, witnessed Gildor Inglorion and his Wandering Company "burst into song" in Woody End near Woodhall in the Shire as Menelvagor rose in the night sky. This signaled the time for them to eat and talk.
It was believed by some people that the Great Stars which made up the sword-sheath of Menelvagor will turn "red when he draws his sword" before the Last Battle.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, VI: "The History of Eriol or Ælfwine and the End of the Tales", (4), pgs. 281-2
==Etymology==
Menelvagor is a Sindarin name meaning "Swordsman of the Sky", consisting of the words menel ("firmament, high heaven, the region of the stars" or "heaven on high")The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle, "Notes and Translations", pgs. 63-4 and a mutation of magor ("swordsman")The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, pg. 108 from the root mak ("cut, hew with a sharp edge;Vinyar Tengwar 39, "From Quendi and Eldar, Appendix D", pg. 11 kill, slay;Vinyar Tengwar 47, "Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numbers", pg. 20 forge metal"Vinyar Tengwar 41, "From The Shibboleth of Fëanor", pg. 10).
Menelmacar, or Menelmakar, is a Quenya cognate of Menelvagor with the same meaning, consisting of the words menel ("the heavens, firmament, sky;The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part Four: Quendi and Eldar, Appendix D: Author's Notes to Quendi and Eldar, pg. 411 (note 15) visible HeavenThe Nature of Middle-earth, Part Three: The Word, its Lands, and its Inhabitants, I: "Dark and Light, pg. 281") and macar ("swordsman, forger").
Menelmakil is a Quenya name meaning "sword of the sky" or "heaven-sword", consisting of the words menel ("the heavens, firmament, sky") and macil/makil ("sword;Vinyar Tengwar 49, "Ambidexters Sentence", pg. 17 fight (with sword), cleave;The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", pg. 371 (entry MAK-) a forged sword blade, a cutting sword").
Telumehtar is a Quenya name meaning "warrior of the sky"The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", entry TEL-, TELU- and corresponding with Orion, consisting of the words telumë ("roof, canopy; heaven, sky"), used for the heavens before the Elves invented menel, and mehtar ("warrior"), a possible variant of ohtar ("warrior, soldier").Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, I: "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields", Notes, pg. 282 (note 17)
==In other versions==
In the earliest draft of the Hobbits' meeting with Gildor Inglorion, the Elves burst into song at the arising of the yellow moon.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VI: The Return of the Shadow, The First Phase, II: "From Hobbiton to the Woody End", II: Three's Company and Four's More, pg. 61 Christopher Tolkien mentions that due to his father's attempt to keep the Moon phases consistent,The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VI: The Return of the Shadow, The Story Continued, XXIV: "The Ring Goes South", The Ring goes South, pg. 434 (note 19) the yellow moon was soon changed to be "the thin silver rind of the New Moon" which rose to the East. However, Tolkien eventually realized that no Moon could have appeared in the East on September 25, and as such removed the appearance of the moon and inserted "Menelvagor with his shining belt" alongside Remmirath.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VI: The Return of the Shadow, The Third Phase, XIX: The Third Phase (1): "The Journey to Bree", Chapter II: ‘Ancient History’, pg. 325
==See also==
*Telimektar
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Arabic 	مينيلماكار
Armenian 	Մենելմակար
Belarusian Cyrillic	Менелмакар
Bengali 	মেনেলামাকার
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Менелмакар
Danish 	Menelmacar ("Himmelens Stridsmand")
Georgian 	მენელმკარი
Greek 	Μενελμακαρ
Gujarati 	મેઇનલમેકર
Hebrew 	מנלמאקאר
Hindi 	मेनेल्मचर
Kannada 	ಮೆನೆಲ್ಮಾರ್ಕಾರ್
Kazakh 	Менелмакар (Cyrillic) Menelmakar (Latin)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Мэнэлмакар
Macedonian Cyrillic	Менелмакар
Marathi 	मेनलमाकर
Mongolian Cyrillic 	мэнэлмацар
Nepalese 	मेनेल्मचर
Punjabi 	ਮੇਨਲਮੈਕਰ
Russian 	Менельмакар
Tajik Cyrillic 	Менелмакар
Tamil 	மேனில்மக்கார்
Telugu 	మేనెలమాక
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Менельмакар
Urdu 	مینیلماکر
Yiddish 	מענעלמאַקאַר
==References==
Category:Sindarin names & words
Category:Constellations
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nl:Menelvagor
pl:Menelmacar