Symbolic and Mythic Expression
in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

Of Planets and Constellations

11/22/07

"slowly above the mists red Borgil rose, glowing like a jewel of fire. Then ... there leaned up, as he climbed over the rim of the world, the Swordsman of the Sky, Menelvagor with his shining belt."

-- Possible references to the planet Mars and constellation Orion (Fellowship, p. 91)

In the imagination of the story, The Lord of the Rings takes place in the distant past of Northwest Europe. The planet earth is therefore part of the world that Tolkien created. Tolkien created his own world, but he put our world in it.

This explains the references to planets in the solar system and to the constellations that we recognize, like the planet Mars and the constellation Orion:

slowly above the mists red Borgil rose, glowing like a jewel of fire. Then ... there leaned up, as he climbed over the rim of the world, the Swordsman of the Sky, Menelvagor with his shining belt (Fellowship, p. 91).

Middle-earth is our world. But it's not just our world. It's our world plus. The planet Earth and the universe are an extension of Middle-earth.

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