Hovering above the quiet waters, and lighting the mountain tops with their robes of fire, the stars sang their songs of joy, and pledged to gather there every thousand years.
One time, when the stars were singing, they heard a mighty crash. A great rock in the mountain wall had fallen to pieces, and through the deep opening, the waters of the lake began to pour out and rush to the sea.
As time passed, the morning stars looked over the earth for another place to meet. They finally agreed upon a lovely valley through which a winding river ran.
Suddenly, the stars realized, this was the valley that had been the bed of their beautiful lake, and the blue mountains around it were the same ones upon which they had cast their robes of fire in ages past.
The stars were so joyous, that they placed the brightest jewels from their crowns into the river; where they still lie today, and sparkle.
Ever since that day, the river and its valley have been called:
Shenandoah, Beautiful Daughter of the Stars.