Editing Rigel (section)

== Etymology and cultural significance ==
[[File:Book of the Fixed Stars Auv0333 Orion.jpg|thumb|alt=Medieval illustration showing the stars of Orion overlaid with an image of a warrior|Orion illustrated in a copy of [[Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi]]'s ''[[Book of Fixed Stars]]''. The foot on the left is annotated ''rijl al-jauza al-yusra'', the Arabic name from which ''Rigel'' is derived.{{efn|1=Al-Sufi's book was translated into Latin and other European languages. Al-Sufi himself planned the figures, two for each constellation: one shows how they appear to an observer looking up toward the heavens; the other how they appear to the observer looking down upon a celestial globe.<ref name=ck2018/>}} ]]

The earliest known recording of the name ''Rigel'' is in the ''[[Alfonsine tables]]'' of 1521. It is derived from the Arabic name ''{{Transliteration|ar|Rijl Jauzah al Yusrā}}'', "the left leg (foot) of Jauzah" (i.e. ''rijl'' meaning "leg, foot"),<ref name=allen/> which can be traced to the 10th century.<ref name="KUNITZSCH1959"/> "Jauzah" was a proper name for Orion; an alternative Arabic name was {{lang|ar|رجل الجبار}} ''{{Transliteration|ar|rijl al-jabbār}}'', "the foot of the great one", from which stems the rarely used variant names ''Algebar'' or ''Elgebar''. The ''Alphonsine tables'' saw its name split into "Rigel" and "Algebar", with the note, ''et dicitur Algebar. Nominatur etiam Rigel.''{{efn|1=lit."... and it is called Algebar. It is also named Rigel."}}<ref name=Kunitzsch86/> Alternate spellings from the 17th century include ''Regel'' by Italian astronomer [[Giovanni Battista Riccioli]], ''Riglon'' by German astronomer [[Wilhelm Schickard]], and ''Rigel Algeuze'' or ''Algibbar'' by English scholar [[Edmund Chilmead]].<ref name="allen"/>

With the constellation representing the mythological Greek huntsman [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]], Rigel is his knee or (as its name suggests) foot; with the nearby star [[Beta Eridani]] marking Orion's footstool.<ref name="schaaf"/> Rigel is presumably the star known as "[[Aurvandil]]'s toe" in [[Norse mythology]].<ref name=cleasby/> In the Caribbean, Rigel represented the severed leg of the folkloric figure ''Trois Rois'', himself represented by the three stars of Orion's Belt. The leg had been severed with a cutlass by the maiden ''Bįhi'' (Sirius).<ref name=taylor/> The [[Lacandon people]] of southern Mexico knew it as ''tunsel'' ("little woodpecker").<ref name=milbraith/>

Rigel was known as ''Yerrerdet-kurrk'' to the [[Wotjobaluk]] [[koori]] of southeastern Australia, and held to be the mother-in-law of ''Totyerguil'' ([[Altair]]). The distance between them signified the taboo preventing a man from approaching his mother-in-law.<ref name=mudrooroo/> The indigenous [[Wergaia|Boorong]] people of northwestern Victoria named Rigel as ''Collowgullouric Warepil''.<ref name=hamacher/> The [[Wardaman people]] of northern Australia know Rigel as the Red [[Kangaroo]] Leader ''Unumburrgu'' and chief conductor of ceremonies in a songline when Orion is high in the sky. [[Eridanus (constellation)|Eridanus]], the river, marks a line of stars in the sky leading to it, and the other stars of Orion are his ceremonial tools and entourage. Betelgeuse is ''Ya-jungin'' "Owl Eyes Flicking", watching the ceremonies.<ref name=harney/>

The [[Māori people]] of New Zealand named Rigel as ''[[Puanga]]'', said to be a daughter of ''Rehua'' ([[Antares]]), the chief of all-stars.<ref name=parker/> Its [[heliacal rising]] presages the appearance of ''[[Matariki]]'' (the [[Pleiades]]) in the dawn sky, marking the Māori New Year in late May or early June. The [[Moriori people]] of the [[Chatham Islands]], as well as some Maori groups in New Zealand, mark the start of their New Year with Rigel rather than the Pleiades.<ref name="kelley"/> ''Puaka'' is a [[Māori language#South Island dialects|southern name variant]] used in the South Island.<ref name="Best22"/>

In Japan, the Minamoto or [[Genji clan]] chose Rigel and its white color as its symbol, calling the star ''Genji-boshi'' ({{lang|ja|源氏星}}), while the Taira or [[Heike clan]] adopted Betelgeuse and its red color. The two powerful families fought the [[Genpei War]]; the stars were seen as facing off against each other and kept apart only by the three stars of [[Orion's Belt]].<ref name="RENSHAW1"/><ref name=daijirin/><ref name=hojiri/>