Valacirca
Constellation
Valacirca (Q. "Sickle of the Valar") was one of the ancient constellations set in the heavens by Varda from the silver dews of Telperion to enlighten the awakening of the Elves. It was seven stars set in the north as a challenge to Melkor.
In Third Age 2941 when Bilbo Baggins came to the Long Lake (on the Wood-elves' raft) he noticed the Valacirca twinkling in the north above the entry of the River Running into the lake.
On 29 September Third Age 3018 Frodo Baggins looked out of the window in the hobbits' room in Bree and saw the Valacirca bright above the shoulder of Bree-hill.
Other names
Elves and Men called it the Burning Briar. It was also referred to as the Wain in The Hobbit and the Sickle in The Fellowship of the Ring. The constellation is also known as the Plough, a name used in British English to refer to the seven brightest stars in Ursa Major, known in American English as Big Dipper. It is unclear whether the Dwarvish constellation Durin's Crown, seen in the reflection of Mirrormere, is the Valacirca.
Other versions of the legendarium
This constellation is the first to appear in the mythology that J.R.R. Tolkien began to develop in the 1910s, giving it the name Telpea Kalka ("Silvern Sickle").
In The Book of Lost Tales it is stated that "yet the Seven Stars were not set by Varda, being indeed the sparks from Aulë’s forge whose brightness in the ancient heavens urged Varda to make their rivals; yet this did she never achieve."
It is referred to as the "Silver Bear" in the 1915 poem Kortirion among the Trees but was later amended to "Silver Wain" in a revision submitted to Rayner Unwin in 1962.
In The Etymologies, the Q(u)enya names for the constellation were Valakirka ("Sickle of the Gods") and Otselen ("Seven Stars"), with the Noldorin cognates Cerch iMbelain and Edegil respectively.
In the earliest map that Tolkien made for The Hobbit (referred to as Fimbulfambi's map by John D. Rateliff in The History of The Hobbit) the compass rose used a tiny diagram of the Valacirca to indicate "North".
Inspiration
Valacirca is identified as the Big Dipper.
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 31/05/2026.
