Ekkaia

Ekkaia (also known as Vaiya, the Outer Ocean, the Outer Sea, or the Encircling Sea) was a vast, cold and dark ocean completely surrounding the world of Arda, at least until the Undying Lands were removed from the "circles of the world" in the cataclysm near the end of the Second Age.

History

Ekkaia flowed completely around the world, forming a sea below it and a form of air above it. Arda is described as having floated on Ekkaia, like a ship on a sea. The Sun passed through Ekkaia on its way around the world, warming it as it did so. Within Ekkaia lay Ilmen, the upper atmosphere, and Vista, the lower atmosphere. At sea level, Ekkaia met the Belegaer at the Helcaraxë. Ekkaia itself was enclosed within the Walls of the Night.

Ulmo, the Lord of Waters, dwelt in Ekkaia, below the roots of Arda. Ekkaia is described as extremely cold: the strait where it met Belegaer in the northwest of Middle-earth, the Helcaraxë, was filled with ice floes and icebergs. Ekkaia cannot support any ships except the boats of Ulmo; the ships of the Númenóreans that tried to sail on it sank, drowning the sailors.

Ekkaia apparently disappeared after Arda was made round, although it may have been changed into the upper atmosphere of the world.

Etymology

Ekkaia (at first spelled Eccaia) was a Quenya word.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Arabic	أكايا
Armenian	Էկկիա
Assamese	এক্কাইয়া
Bengali	এককাইয়া
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Екая
Danish	Det Omkredsende Hav (Ekkaiahavet)
Georgian	ეკაია
Greek	Εκκαια
Gujarati	એકકાઆ
Japanese	エッカヤ
Hebrew	אקאיה
Hindi	एक्क्ऐअ
Japanese	エカイア
Kannada	ಏಕಿಯ
Kazakh	Эккая (Cyrillic) Ékkaya (Latin)
Korean	에 카시아
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Эккаиа
Macedonian Cyrillic	Еккаиа
Marathi	एक्कैअ
Malayalam	എക്ഖിയ
Mongolian Cyrillic	Эккаиа
Nepalese	एक्क्ऐअ
Punjabi	ਏਕਾਇਆ
Russian	Эккайа
Serbian	Еккаиа (Cyrillic) Ekkaia (Latin)
Sinhalese	එකයියා
Tamil	இக்கையே
Telugu	ఎక్కాయ
Thai	เอคไคอา
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Еккайа
Urdu	ایککایا
Yiddish	עקקאַיאַ