Orbit of the Moon attraction that the Moon exerts on Earth is the cause of tides in the sea; the Sun has a smaller tidal influence. If Earth had a global ocean of uniform depth, the Moon would act to deform both the solid Earth (by a small amount) and the ocean in the shape of an ellipsoid with the high points roughly beneath the Moon and on the opposite side of Earth. However, because of the presence of the continents, Earth's much faster rotation and varying ocean depths, this simplistic visualisation does not happen. Although the tidal flow period is generally synchronized to
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