Helkar: Difference between revisions
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==History== | ==History== | ||
Helkar was a great tower, raised by [[Melko]] to house the '' | Helkar was a great tower, raised by [[Melko]] to house the ''northern'' of the [[Two Lamps]] fashioned by [[Aulë]] to illuminate [[Middle-earth]]. The tower was extremely tall, rising to the stars, and shone like pale blue crystal. Melko claimed that Helkar and its southern twin [[Ringil (tower)|Ringil]] were made of a strong, imperishable substance that he had devised; in reality he lied for they were made of ice (a material unknown to the other [[Valar]]). Thus, when Aulë's lamps were placed upon them (silver in the north and gold in the south) the ice melted and caused great floods to pour into the seas.<ref>{{LT1|III}}, pp. 69-70</ref> | ||
==Etymology== | ==Etymology== |
Revision as of 15:24, 3 February 2022
In an early conception of the Legendarium, Helkar was one of the two towers that held one of the Two Lamps created to light Middle-earth.
History
Helkar was a great tower, raised by Melko to house the northern of the Two Lamps fashioned by Aulë to illuminate Middle-earth. The tower was extremely tall, rising to the stars, and shone like pale blue crystal. Melko claimed that Helkar and its southern twin Ringil were made of a strong, imperishable substance that he had devised; in reality he lied for they were made of ice (a material unknown to the other Valar). Thus, when Aulë's lamps were placed upon them (silver in the north and gold in the south) the ice melted and caused great floods to pour into the seas.[1]
Etymology
Helka is Qenya for "ice-cold". The Gnomish cognate was Helchor.[2]
Other versions of the legendarium
Christopher Tolkien noted that the story of the Lamps in its early stage was very different from the published Silmarillion. It is Melko, not Aulë, who built the two towers. The name Helkar disappeared as the name for the southern tower; eventually the Sea of Helcar would be the body of water formed at the roots of Illuin, the northern tower and lamp. The only remaining influence from the older version of the story was that the fall of the towers created inland seas, a vestige of the notion that the towers had been made of ice that melted.[3]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "III. The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor", pp. 69-70
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I, entry "Helkar"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "III. The Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor": "Notes and Commentary", p. 87