That was devastating. The brief opening moment in the darkened garden in Aman really set up the stomach punch of the hellish ice.

The way that Valinor would have seemed like the *worst*, with the light gone and the plants rotting and their safety violated and their trust in the higher powers ripped apart . . . but that the crossing would turn out to be so much worse than they could imagine.

The cold empty ice, the cold empty sky, the desolate cries of the remote birds of the sea, which scarcely spared the long trudging column a glance, crushed his spirit; he wondered again why Eru had made them so small, so puny, so frail.

I really felt their plight upon the ice. Their struggle and grief at what and who they had lost.

It was a very powerful and moving account of the Noldor's time upon the Helcaraxe, enough to move me to tears at the end.

Thank you for sharing this, hennethgalad.