helca

icy, ice-cold

helca ("k")adj. "icy, ice-cold" (misprint "helk" in the Etymologies as printed in LR, entry KHELEK; both the Silmarillion Appendix and LT1:254 have helka, and VT45:21 finally confirmed that there is a final -a in Tolkien's Etymologies manuscript as well). In Helcar, the Inland Sea in the north-east of Middle-earth, and Helcaraxë, the Grinding Ice between Araman and Middle-earth_ (SA; spelt "Helkarakse" in the Etymologies, stem KARAK)_

helca

adjective. icy, ice-cold

helcar

place name. Helcar

An ancient sea formed by the fall of the mountain holding Illuin, northernmost the two lamps that first lit the world (S/49). The meaning of this name is unclear, but it probably is an elaboration of helca “icy, ice-cold” (SA/helca).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, ᴱQ. Helkar was the name of the pillar holding one of the lamps, the southernmost one (LT1/69). In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the name ᴹQ. Helkar was applied instead to the northern lamp, also used for the name of the sea left behind by its destruction (SM/256, LR/261). In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, the name of the northern lamp was changed to Illuin, and Helcar became the name of the sea only (MR/7, 22 note #6).

helcaraxë

place name. Grinding Ice

The ice-filled strait between Araman and Middle-earth (S/80). Its name was translated in a speech by Angrod (S/129): “Wherefore should we that endured the Grinding Ice bear the name of kinslayers and traitors?” It is a compound of helca “icy, ice-cold” (SA/helca) and caraxë “jagged hedge of spikes” (Ety/KARAK).

Conceptual Development: This name first appeared as ᴱQ. Helkarakse in the earliest Lost Tales, though at this early stage it was glossed “Icefang” (LT1/167), and Christopher Tolkien suggested its second element might be aksa “waterfall” (LT1A/Helkaraksë). In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the translation of ᴹQ. Helkarakse was changed to “Grinding Ice” (SM/95, LR/125). The name also appeared in this form in The Etymologies (Ety/KARAK), where the derivation noted above is found. It was changed to Helcaraxë (Helkaraxë) in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s after Tolkien changed the orthographic representation of Quenya to be more like Latin (MR/194).

helcaraxë

Helcaraxë

In the Etymologies, the second element in Helkarakse is said to be the Quenya word karakse ("jagged hedge of spikes"). Helge Fauskanger has suggested that the first element (hel-) derives from the root KHELEK ("ice"). Also in the Etymologies, Tolkien experimented with Noldorin translations of Hekarakse: elcharaes, helcharaes or Helcharach.

caraxë

jagged hedge of spikes

caraxë ("k, ks")noun "jagged hedge of spikes"; compare Helcaraxë (KARAK)