Queen of the Valar, spouse of Manwe, and Lady of the Stars, called by the Sindar Elbereth Gilthoniel, the Star-kindler. Most hallowed and most beloved of all the Valar among the Eldar, it was Varda who wrought the great stars and set them in the heavens before the awakening of the Elves, so that the first sight to greet the Firstborn as they opened their eyes at Cuivienen was her starlight. She set the constellations in their courses -- among them the Valacirca, the Sickle of the Valar, hung above the North as a sign of doom upon Morgoth -- and she hallowed the Silmarils, so that no unclean thing might touch them and live.
She dwells with Manwe upon Taniquetil, and from that height, blending her sight with his hearing, the two perceive more than any other powers in Arda. Of all the Valar Morgoth feared and hated Varda the most, for she had known his thought from the beginning and rejected him, and her light he could not endure. Down all the ages the Elves have called upon her name in their need and their songs of longing; and such is the grace in that name that when Sam Gamgee cried it aloud in the dark of Cirith Ungol, even Shelob, ancient and unafraid, shrank back before the light of the Phial.