The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
I 542 or shortly thereafter1
Location
Rising into the sky from Aman in the West
Origins
A Silmaril borne aloft by Eärendil in his vessel Vingilot
Race
Eärendil was Half-elven, counted among the Elves
Divisions
Eärendil descended from both the Edain and the Noldor
Pronunciation
gi'l-e'stel
Meaning
Other names
Star of High Hope; known more generally as the Evening Star or Star of Eärendil, or simply as the Star

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  • Updated 11 March 2022
  • This entry is complete

Gil-Estel

The Star of High Hope

Some time after Eärendil and Elwing had departed across the Sea, those in Middle-earth witnessed the rising of a new and brilliant star in the West. This was the Silmaril that Eärendil wore on his brow, carried aloft in his ship Vingilot. In Middle-earth, it was taken as a sign that the Valar had not forsaken the Outer Lands, and so it was named Gil-Estel, which means 'Star of High Hope'. That hope was fulfilled soon after, when the armies of the Valar came against Morgoth in Angband, and utterly overthrew him in the War of Wrath.


Notes

1

Eärendil arrived in Valinor in I 542, and he piloted Vingilot into the heavens with the shining star on his brow soon afterward. It is not completely clear whether that happened in the same year he arrived, but in any event Gil-Estel rose out of the West before the War of Wrath, which began in I 545. These dates are taken from The Tale of Years in volume XI of The History of Middle-earth, and it should be noted that they underwent considerable revision. The dates given here seem to be Tolkien's final preference.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 11 March 2022
  • This entry is complete

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