Helcaraxë

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.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"
==History==
The Helcaraxë was first crossed by Melkor and Ungoliant after they destroyed the Two Trees.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IX: "Of the Flight of the Noldor" 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 The Helcaraxë ceased to exist after the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age.The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Second Age, "Introduction"
==Earlier versions of the legendarium==
The original names of the Helcaraxë in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings were Icefang, Helcaraksë, and Qerkaringa.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, chapter VII: "The Flight of the Noldoli"
== 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". 
==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 ==
Category:Regions
Category:Arda
Category:Quenya names & words
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ru:Хелькараксэ
uk:Гелькараксе