Seven Stars, Seven Stones and One White Tree...

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

In believe that either in The Complete Guide to Middle-earth or The Tolkien Companion (and I think it's the former), the claim is made that there was a flag with a star on each of the seven Numenorean ships that came to Middle-earth carrying a palantir. I don't know where this particular bit of information came from, and I have seen several heated debates as to its accuracy, as there does not seem to be any supporting text in Tolkien's writings. Moreover, the CGtME is really not complete; it does not accept anything but what appeared in the published novels as fact -- no matter how often Tolkien himself said "this is so." For instance, it says only that Gandalf MAY have been a Maia. It will not accept the evidence of Tolkien's essay on the Istari in UT, or any of his many letters attesting to the fact that the Olorin mentioned in the Valaquenta is the same Olorin as Gandalf named himself in LoTR.

If I can ever dig out my office and get back to my books again, I may have another go at looking for an explanation for the "seven stars," but that doesn't look likely in the near future *sigh*.