Helcaraxë
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Helcaraxë (pron. N [ˌhelkaˈrakse], V [ˌxelkaˈrakse]) was the perilous icy wastes that formerly lay between Araman (a region in the north of Aman) and Middle-earth in the far north of Arda.[1] Here met the Encircling Sea and the Belegaer, creating "vast fogs and mists of deathly cold, and the sea-streams were filled with clashing hills of ice and the grinding of ice deep-sunken."[2]
At the beginning of the First Age, Morgoth and Ungoliant, escaping from the pursuit of the Valar, fled to Middle-earth across the treacherous wastes of the Helcaraxë. Later, Fingolfin and his people also made their way into Middle-earth across the Helcaraxë.[2]
A name for this region was also the "Narrow Ice", used by Bilbo Baggins in his poem Song of Eärendil.[3]
Etymology
The word is composed of Quenya helca "ice" and caraxe "jagged hedge of spikes" and means "grinding ice".
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Flight of the Noldor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Many Meetings"
