As the time of the awakening of the Elves approached, Varda the Queen of the Stars ordered the heavens to create signs and symbols. One of the most prominent of these signs was a group of seven bright stars that formed the shape of a great sickle in the northern sky. This was Valacirca, the Sickle of the Valar, that swung through the sky as a challenge and a threat to the Dark Lord Melkor.
Among the peoples of Middle-earth, Valacirca would be given other names: the Elves also called it simply the 'Seven Stars', and among Men and Hobbits it was known as the 'Wain' or wagon. In modern times we call it the 'Plough' or 'Big Dipper', part of the constellation of the Great Bear, and it still swings around the Pole Star in the skies of the North.
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- Updated 13 December 2014
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