In Search of the Many-Rayed Star
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 5:41 am
As I know we have discussed at great length around here, Professor Tolkien was fairly sparse when it came to describing the specific garments and material possessions of most characters he created, so when we get a clear, distinct reference to something, it's like a gift. One of those gifts is, of course, the "many-rayed star" of the Dúnedain - fashioned in silver and worn, we are told, as a cloak pin on the left shoulder of the members of the Grey Company (and by extrapolation, probably the rest of the Dúnedain as well). Since this is one of the very few absolutely confirmed and indispensable pieces of a Ranger's kit, the more time goes by the more I feel that I NEED one as part of my own kit, and I'm frustrated that I don't yet have one.
I know there has been a fair deal of debate around here as to exactly what this pin or brooch should look like. True to habit, the Professor never did give a very detailed description. All we know is that it was shaped like a star with "many rays," was made out of silver, and was used as a cloak pin. From this we can guess at the approximate size, and we can assume it had a fairly sturdy pin on the back, but beyond this the details are up for broad interpretation. Thus, many many versions have been batted around on the forums over the years, but for whatever reason none of them really seemed to "do it" for me. Some were really close, but none totally lined up with the way I imagined it.
One of the biggest debates has been the number of points or rays. "Many-rayed" is about as vague as you can get. I have always been partial to it having points in multiples of 4 - ideally 8 or 16. Some have argued that this design resembles the classic "compass star" a little too much. Others have felt it was too close to the Feanorian star, which (to my understanding) generally had 8 points and eight lines emanating as "rays" from the corners where the points meet: Personally, I don't think there's any reason that the star of the Dúnedain couldn't have been essentially the same star as the one used by Fëanor, but I'm not well enough versed in the lore to be able to argue that one way or another. Regardless though, I'm quite partial to this design, mainly because the symmetry is pleasing to me, and it doesn't have the somewhat religious feeling of other types of stars (six-pointed stars of course being significant in Judaism, and many other star shapes, particularly ones with odd-numbered points, often being used in various pagan religions and spiritualist ideologies).
A couple folks have made their own versions, like the beautiful 3D printed ones Elleth created a while back, for example, but in the end I was always searching for an 8-to-16-point version that really spoke to me. I had seen people create some stars with rings around them akin to a Celtic cross, and others were discs with the star just etched in, and while these were often gorgeous, they also tended to read "CIRCLE" from a distance rather than "STAR." The closest one I ever saw to looking the way I imagined the star described in the book was the one Urthgard showed with his kit in several pictures years ago during the brief time he was active on the forums - but as I recall he said something to the effect that it was a random thrift-store find, and he had no idea of its origin: It wasn't until when Eofor recently joined and shared the absolutely GORGEOUS stars he and his local group in Australia had commissioned some years ago, that I FINALLY felt I had found a design that spoke to me - that made me go "THAT'S IT!" The trouble of course was that he lives in Australia and I in the United States, and also that he and his local group had commissioned these stars specially for themselves from a master jewler and metalworker, so that they would be totally unique and unreplicated (which I can absolutely respect). Pictured here is his version of the pin:
This led me to decide I was going to try and find a local craftsperson who could create for me a totally unique design of my own that really fit how I imagined the "many-rayed star," and that also hopefully conformed well to the design language we had begun to develop for the Dúnedain culture. Luckily, I know a local fellow through the shop where I work who does various metal castings, and much of his work is really beautiful. It often has a slightly rough, hand-sculpted quality, but the designs he creates are often really ornate, and have a very old-world vibe that I felt was right at home with this project. I explained what I was looking for, and to my pleasant surprise, he actually knew exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned the Dúnedain Star. He said he was very interested in the project, and that he would love the opportunity to sell more of them if others were interested (which more than one person had expressed to me when I mentioned it to them). He said he could cast it in bronze and then plate it in silver to keep the costs down while still maintaining an authentic look, which was definitely something that very much appealed to me.
I sent him pictures of Eofor's star and explained to him that I didn't want an EXACT replica, but something very similar. He then came back to me with a slightly different reference that he liked, and asked if he could use that for a little inspiration as well, which I agreed to because I also liked certain elements of it: Well after about a month of occasional back-and-forth contact, he sent me an image of the final design for his prototype, which he apparently spent quite a lot of effort refining and finalizing, and unfortunately I have to admit that I found it decidedly disappointing. He had mentioned that he liked the "Celtic border" in the reference image he shared, and I agreed that I liked it, but the circle he had added to his version felt WAY too thick and heavy, and the Celtic knotwork just... didn't read right to me. The "Celtic" design in the reference he shared with me was more of a simple double-twist design, which I liked because it didn't necessarily feel specific to any one time period or culture, but the knotwork he used was EXTREMELY identifiable as CELTIC. Like... EARTH. SCOTTISH/IRISH-CELTIC.
Furthermore, the details in general felt clunky and unrefined (although he did say it still needed some polishing up), and for some reason he put an opal in the center of the prototype piece, when I had previously mentioned something more like a garnet, or at most a piece of tiger-eye or labradorite. here's the image of the prototype he sent:
Anyway, I responded to him and tried to politely explain the issues I had with the design. I created a quick drawing of what I had in mind, including elongating the points, slimming down the ring, and eliminating the very obvious Celtic knotwork, instead possibly replacing it with pointed arcs (which I felt hearkened back to the Numenorean design motifs we had discussed here on the forums). I also mention that maybe to help make it read more "STAR" instead of "CIRCLE" we could try adding some smaller points to the outside of the ring:
In the end, he seemed somewhat resistant. Mainly he defended his use of the Celtic motif because he had apparently spent A LOT of time and effort getting that part JUST RIGHT, and he claimed he thought it fit because Numenor and the Dúnedain were themselves inspired by Celtic cultures. He also mentioned that the points around the outside of the circle might be hard to achieve in the final casting, but that he would see what he could do.
SOOOO ANYWAY.
As of now that's where my quest stands. I'm hoping that we can get this design cleaned up and refined to the point that I might be a little happier with it, and if that's the case, I will happily share it with everyone on here so that anyone might be able to get one for themselves. But right now I feel like it still has a ways to go. In the meantime, it looks like I may have another avenue open to me to procure a different version of the brooch which I REALLY REALLY LOVE, but I'm not sure if he wants me spreading it around just yet. In that case I'm not sure what I will do about the project I've got going with this local gentleman here in Denver, but I feel somewhat obligated to see it through to the end at this point. If it's really not something he and I can come to a mutually satisfactory compromise on I'm not sure I can justify buying one from him, even though it is something I specifically requested, but we'll see. At the moment I haven't put down a deposit or anything like that. But I'm hoping that we can get it sorted because I'd love him to be able to offer them up for more people to enjoy with their Ranger kits!
I know there has been a fair deal of debate around here as to exactly what this pin or brooch should look like. True to habit, the Professor never did give a very detailed description. All we know is that it was shaped like a star with "many rays," was made out of silver, and was used as a cloak pin. From this we can guess at the approximate size, and we can assume it had a fairly sturdy pin on the back, but beyond this the details are up for broad interpretation. Thus, many many versions have been batted around on the forums over the years, but for whatever reason none of them really seemed to "do it" for me. Some were really close, but none totally lined up with the way I imagined it.
One of the biggest debates has been the number of points or rays. "Many-rayed" is about as vague as you can get. I have always been partial to it having points in multiples of 4 - ideally 8 or 16. Some have argued that this design resembles the classic "compass star" a little too much. Others have felt it was too close to the Feanorian star, which (to my understanding) generally had 8 points and eight lines emanating as "rays" from the corners where the points meet: Personally, I don't think there's any reason that the star of the Dúnedain couldn't have been essentially the same star as the one used by Fëanor, but I'm not well enough versed in the lore to be able to argue that one way or another. Regardless though, I'm quite partial to this design, mainly because the symmetry is pleasing to me, and it doesn't have the somewhat religious feeling of other types of stars (six-pointed stars of course being significant in Judaism, and many other star shapes, particularly ones with odd-numbered points, often being used in various pagan religions and spiritualist ideologies).
A couple folks have made their own versions, like the beautiful 3D printed ones Elleth created a while back, for example, but in the end I was always searching for an 8-to-16-point version that really spoke to me. I had seen people create some stars with rings around them akin to a Celtic cross, and others were discs with the star just etched in, and while these were often gorgeous, they also tended to read "CIRCLE" from a distance rather than "STAR." The closest one I ever saw to looking the way I imagined the star described in the book was the one Urthgard showed with his kit in several pictures years ago during the brief time he was active on the forums - but as I recall he said something to the effect that it was a random thrift-store find, and he had no idea of its origin: It wasn't until when Eofor recently joined and shared the absolutely GORGEOUS stars he and his local group in Australia had commissioned some years ago, that I FINALLY felt I had found a design that spoke to me - that made me go "THAT'S IT!" The trouble of course was that he lives in Australia and I in the United States, and also that he and his local group had commissioned these stars specially for themselves from a master jewler and metalworker, so that they would be totally unique and unreplicated (which I can absolutely respect). Pictured here is his version of the pin:
This led me to decide I was going to try and find a local craftsperson who could create for me a totally unique design of my own that really fit how I imagined the "many-rayed star," and that also hopefully conformed well to the design language we had begun to develop for the Dúnedain culture. Luckily, I know a local fellow through the shop where I work who does various metal castings, and much of his work is really beautiful. It often has a slightly rough, hand-sculpted quality, but the designs he creates are often really ornate, and have a very old-world vibe that I felt was right at home with this project. I explained what I was looking for, and to my pleasant surprise, he actually knew exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned the Dúnedain Star. He said he was very interested in the project, and that he would love the opportunity to sell more of them if others were interested (which more than one person had expressed to me when I mentioned it to them). He said he could cast it in bronze and then plate it in silver to keep the costs down while still maintaining an authentic look, which was definitely something that very much appealed to me.
I sent him pictures of Eofor's star and explained to him that I didn't want an EXACT replica, but something very similar. He then came back to me with a slightly different reference that he liked, and asked if he could use that for a little inspiration as well, which I agreed to because I also liked certain elements of it: Well after about a month of occasional back-and-forth contact, he sent me an image of the final design for his prototype, which he apparently spent quite a lot of effort refining and finalizing, and unfortunately I have to admit that I found it decidedly disappointing. He had mentioned that he liked the "Celtic border" in the reference image he shared, and I agreed that I liked it, but the circle he had added to his version felt WAY too thick and heavy, and the Celtic knotwork just... didn't read right to me. The "Celtic" design in the reference he shared with me was more of a simple double-twist design, which I liked because it didn't necessarily feel specific to any one time period or culture, but the knotwork he used was EXTREMELY identifiable as CELTIC. Like... EARTH. SCOTTISH/IRISH-CELTIC.
Furthermore, the details in general felt clunky and unrefined (although he did say it still needed some polishing up), and for some reason he put an opal in the center of the prototype piece, when I had previously mentioned something more like a garnet, or at most a piece of tiger-eye or labradorite. here's the image of the prototype he sent:
Anyway, I responded to him and tried to politely explain the issues I had with the design. I created a quick drawing of what I had in mind, including elongating the points, slimming down the ring, and eliminating the very obvious Celtic knotwork, instead possibly replacing it with pointed arcs (which I felt hearkened back to the Numenorean design motifs we had discussed here on the forums). I also mention that maybe to help make it read more "STAR" instead of "CIRCLE" we could try adding some smaller points to the outside of the ring:
In the end, he seemed somewhat resistant. Mainly he defended his use of the Celtic motif because he had apparently spent A LOT of time and effort getting that part JUST RIGHT, and he claimed he thought it fit because Numenor and the Dúnedain were themselves inspired by Celtic cultures. He also mentioned that the points around the outside of the circle might be hard to achieve in the final casting, but that he would see what he could do.
SOOOO ANYWAY.
As of now that's where my quest stands. I'm hoping that we can get this design cleaned up and refined to the point that I might be a little happier with it, and if that's the case, I will happily share it with everyone on here so that anyone might be able to get one for themselves. But right now I feel like it still has a ways to go. In the meantime, it looks like I may have another avenue open to me to procure a different version of the brooch which I REALLY REALLY LOVE, but I'm not sure if he wants me spreading it around just yet. In that case I'm not sure what I will do about the project I've got going with this local gentleman here in Denver, but I feel somewhat obligated to see it through to the end at this point. If it's really not something he and I can come to a mutually satisfactory compromise on I'm not sure I can justify buying one from him, even though it is something I specifically requested, but we'll see. At the moment I haven't put down a deposit or anything like that. But I'm hoping that we can get it sorted because I'd love him to be able to offer them up for more people to enjoy with their Ranger kits!