Helcar
Helcar (also spelled Helkar) was the name of a great pillar or tower upon which the mighty lamp Illuin sat. It was the counterpart to Ringil which held aloft the other lamp, Ormal.
Helcar (also spelled Helkar) was the name of a great pillar or tower upon which the mighty lamp Illuin sat. It was the counterpart to Ringil which held aloft the other lamp, Ormal.
History
Helcar was built in Middle-earth by the Valar to house the northern of the Two Lamps, Illuin. It was destroyed by Melkor in an attack while the Valar rested from their labors. Its collapse ruined a great part of Middle-earth, and waters (probably from Belegaer and the eastern ocean) flowed in. The inland Sea of Helcar formed in the tower's place.
In other versions
In the earlier writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, that Helcar had been made by Melko (Melkor), not by the Valar, out of ice, a substance not yet known to the Valar; and so it had melted, in a work of treachery. It was also situated in the south, rather than the north.