Ekkaia: Difference between revisions
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'''Ekkaia''' (also called the '''Encircling Sea''', the '''Outer Sea''', or the '''Outer Ocean''') was the mighty sea that surrounded all the lands of [[Arda]], [[Middle-earth]] and [[Aman]] alike | '''Ekkaia''' (also called the '''Encircling Sea''', the '''Outer Sea''', or the '''Outer Ocean''') was the mighty sea that surrounded all the lands of [[Arda]], [[Middle-earth]] and [[Aman]] alike. [[Ulmo]]'s halls were within the Outer Sea. | ||
At its distant unknown edge stood the [[Walls of Night]].<ref name=days>{{S|Days}}</ref> Beyond its edge was also a chasm, into which [[Tilion]] plunged and carried the [[Moon]] beneath the roots of [[Arda]].<ref>{{S|11}}</ref> | |||
Its dark waters lapped the western shores of [[Valinor]],<ref name=days/> and during their time in Valinor [[Fëanor]] and [[Sons of Fëanor|his sons]] visited the shores of these waters.<ref>{{S|Princes}}</ref> | |||
In the North, the [[Helcaraxë]] was the narrow strait between the Outer Sea and [[Belegaer]], where in the chilled waters clashed hills of ice amidst vast fogs of deathly cold.<ref>{{S|Flight}}</ref> | |||
==Etymology== | ==Etymology== |
Revision as of 12:54, 16 February 2020
Ekkaia | |
---|---|
Ocean | |
General Information | |
Other names | The Encircling Sea, The Outer Sea |
Location | Surrounding Arda |
Type | Ocean |
Inhabitants | Ulmo |
Ekkaia (also called the Encircling Sea, the Outer Sea, or the Outer Ocean) was the mighty sea that surrounded all the lands of Arda, Middle-earth and Aman alike. Ulmo's halls were within the Outer Sea.
At its distant unknown edge stood the Walls of Night.[1] Beyond its edge was also a chasm, into which Tilion plunged and carried the Moon beneath the roots of Arda.[2]
Its dark waters lapped the western shores of Valinor,[1] and during their time in Valinor Fëanor and his sons visited the shores of these waters.[3]
In the North, the Helcaraxë was the narrow strait between the Outer Sea and Belegaer, where in the chilled waters clashed hills of ice amidst vast fogs of deathly cold.[4]
Etymology
The name Ekkaia, commonly understood to be Quenya,[5][6] was not explained by Tolkien.
Helge Fauskanger has tried to explain Ekkaia by deriving it from the unattested form et-gaya ("out-sea"; cf. et "out").[5]
Robert Ireland links Ekkaia to the root KHAYA ("far, distant"), which appears to include among its derivatives an adverb similar in form: ekkaira ("far off, far away").[6][7]
Other versions of the Legendarium
Ekkaia appears first time in The Later Quenta Silmarillion, replacing the earlier concept of Vaiya. In earlier works such as the Ambarkanta, Vaiya is not a sea, but an exotic material that encloses the flat Ambar, becoming air above it, and water below it. In the published Silmarillion Ekkaia is clearly mentioned only to be a sea. However in the cosmological models of The Atlas of Middle-earth (and fan-made maps), Ekkaia is conflated with the earlire concept of Vaiya, shown as an atmospheric layer that encloses the world.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Beginning of Days"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Flight of the Noldor"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Helge Fauskanger, "Quettaparma Quenyallo" at Ardalambion (accessed 27 October 2011)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Robert Ireland, The Silmarillion Dictionary (C-E) at A Tolkien Dictionary (accessed 27 October 2011)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", p. 364 (entry KHAYA-)