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"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"
TN-Fingolfin Leads the Host Across the Helcaraxe

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]

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]

Helcaraxe by Filat

Turgon mourns the loss of his wife Elenwë in the Helcaraxë, by Filat

Helcaraxëmap

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[]

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