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) an immense island of fire. The Moon was described as an immense island of crystal. It was also said there that the youth Tilion, who guided the Moon, was said to secretly be in love with Arien, the maiden who guided the Sun, and that because he steered the Moon too close to the Sun the Moon was burned, causing the darker spots on the Moon (the Lunar maria). Aulë devised "vírin", a crystalline material from which he made a cup wherein the flower was set. The markings on the moon are caused as Lórien tried to pluck the "Rose