Earth referred to as "moons", after Earth's. The gravitational attraction between Earth and the Moon causes tides on Earth. The same effect on the Moon has led to its tidal locking: its rotation period is the same as the time it takes to orbit Earth. As a result, it always presents the same face to the planet. As the Moon orbits Earth, different parts of its face are illuminated by the Sun, leading to the lunar phases; the dark part of the face is separated from the light part by the solar terminator. Due to their tidal interaction, the Moon recedes
Sun and Moon (Middle-earth) light of the Sun before it was tainted by Melkor when he ravished Arien. The name of Narsil, the sword of King Elendil (later reforged for Aragorn as Andúril), contains the elements "nar" and "thil," "fire" and "white light" respectively in Quenya, referring to the Sun and Moon. The Man in the Moon is even described in those writings, as being an old Elf who secretly hid on the island of the Moon, and built a minaret there. This is alluded to further in Tolkien's "Roverandom", in which the Man in the Moon also lives in a minaret. Combined with