- "Therefore Feanor halted and the Noldor debated what course they should now take. But they began to suffer anguish from the cold, and the clinging mists through which no gleam of star could pierce; and many repented of the road and began to murmur, especially those that followed Fingolfin, cursing Feanor, and naming him as the cause of all the woes of the Eldar."
- —The Silmarillion, "Of the Flight of the Noldor"
Fingolfin Leads the Host Across the Helcaraxë, by Ted Nasmith
The Helcaraxë or "Grinding Ice" was an icy waste between the lands of Aman and Middle-earth. Its exact nature is left unclear, but it seems to have been an area of broken and shifting pack ice covering the northernmost parts of the Great Sea. It should be pronounced HEL-car-ax-ay.[1][2]
The crossing of the Helcaraxë, by Sara Morello
History[]
The Helcaraxë was first crossed by Melkor and Ungoliant after they destroyed the Two Trees.[3] After being abandoned by the House of Fëanor in Araman, Fingolfin and his people braved this dangerous, frozen wasteland on their journey to Middle-earth. They endured great hardships and lost many including Elenwë, wife of Turgon, who perished in the crossing. This crossing of the Helcaraxë greatly diminished the original Host of Fingolfin by the time they finally arrived in Middle-earth at the first rising of the Moon[3] The Helcaraxë ceased to exist after the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age.[4]
Earlier versions of the legendarium[]
The original names of the Helcaraxë in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings were Icefang, Helcaraksë, and Qerkaringa.[5]
Inspiration[]
It is possible that the Helcaraxë was in part inspired by the ancient Beringia land bridge. Both were formations that were later destroyed that a species used to cross into "new lands".
Turgon mourns the loss of his wife Elenwë in the Helcaraxë, by Marya Filatova
Location of the Helcaraxë shown in The Atlas of Middle-earth
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ሐልቻራኄ |
| Arabic | هيلكارفاس |
| Armenian | Հելկարաքսե |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Hэлцарахё |
| Bengali | হেলকার্যাক্সে |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Хелкараксе |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 西爾卡瑞西海峽 |
| Danish | Helkaraxë ("Den Knagende Is") |
| Georgian | ჰელკარაქსე |
| Greek | Χελκαράξε |
| Gujarati | હેલકાક્સ |
| Hebrew | הלקאראקסה |
| Hindi | हेल्चरख़े |
| Japanese | ヘルカラクセ |
| Kannada | ಹೆಲ್ಕಾರಾಕ್ಸ್ |
| Kazakh | Һелцарахе (Cyrillic) Helcaraxe (Latin) |
| Korean | 헬카 센 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Hэлцарахэ |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Хелцараxе |
| Marathi | हेलकारॅक्स |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Hелцарахё |
| Nepalese | हेल्चरख़े |
| Pashto | حېلچاراخې |
| Persian | حهلچاراخه |
| Punjabi | ਹੈਲਰੈਕਸ |
| Russian | Хэлкараксэ |
| Serbian | Хелкараксе (Cyrillic) Helkarakse (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | හෙල්කරැක්ස් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Ҳелчарахе |
| Tamil | ஹெல்சரஸெ |
| Telugu | హెలీకారస్ |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Гелькараксе |
| Urdu | ہیلکارکس |
| Uzbek | Ҳелчарахе (Cyrillic) Helcaraxë (Latin) |
| Yiddish | חעלשאַראַחע |
References[]
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter III: "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "Introduction"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IX: "Of the Flight of the Noldor"
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Second Age, "Introduction"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter VII: "The Flight of the Noldoli"