Tolkien: The Secret History Of The Hobbit And The Lord Of The Rings

by Mark Foster

One of the most significant was Menelmacar (also known as Menelvagor). This constellation that rose high over Middle-earth correlates with our Orion. Tolkien described the constellation as ‘Swordsman of the Sky, Menelvagor with his shining belt.’ Today we call it Orion’s belt, though some have described it as Orion’s phallus, but we’ll gloss over that.