Ecthelion of the Fountain (or "Lord of the Fountain") is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

's Middle-earth

Middle-earth

Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....

 legendarium

Legendarium

Legendary may refer to:*A hagiography, or study of the lives of saints and other religious figures**The South English Legendary, a Middle English legendary*A legend-Entertainment:*Legendary, an album by Kaysha*Legendary...

. He was a High

Calaquendi

In the fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien, Calaquendi means in Quenya "Light-folk", but was often translated "Elves of the Light". This name has a long history....

 Elf

Elf (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...

 and one of the greatest warriors of the First Age

First Age

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the First Age, or First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar is the heroic period in which most of Tolkien's early legends are set...

.

One of the first of Tolkien's characters to be created, he first appears in "The Fall of Gondolin", part of The Book of Lost Tales

The Book of Lost Tales

The Book of Lost Tales is the title of a collection of early stories by J. R. R. Tolkien, and of the first two volumes of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth, in which he presents and analyses the manuscripts of those stories, which were the earliest form of the...

, the earliest version of his "mythology" and histories. "The Fall of Gondolin" was, according to Tolkien's recollections, the first to be written — in 1916 or 1917. His name was then reused for the later The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...

for different characters.

After Tolkien's death, his son Christopher edited and published The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...

, where Ecthelion and a "much compressed" account of the Fall of Gondolin appears.

Ecthelion also appears in Unfinished Tales

Unfinished Tales

Unfinished Tales is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980.Unlike The Silmarillion, for which the narrative fragments were modified to connect into a consistent and...

in Tolkien's unfinished rewritten version of "The Fall of Gondolin", called in the book "Of Tuor

Tuor

Tuor is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is the grandfather of Elrond Half-elven and one of the most renowned ancestors of the Men of Númenor and of the King of the Reunited Kingdom Aragorn Elessar...

 and his Coming to Gondolin" — written in the 1950s. In this version, his title becomes "Lord of the Fountains".

Since "The Fall of Gondolin" was completed long before Tolkien's aborted rewriting, not all details derived from it may reflect the author's final intent.

The name "Ecthelion" itself has the connotations of "spear", or "sharp-point". However, it does not accurately translate into anything.

Literature

Ecthelion was one of the lords of the city-kingdom of Gondolin, ruled by Turgon

Turgon

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Turgon "the Wise" is an Elven king of the Noldor, second son of Fingolfin, brother to Fingon, Aredhel and Argon, and ruler of the hidden city of Gondolin....

; he led the House of the Fountain, one of the city's twelve noble houses. In "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin", Tolkien makes him a guard of the last of Gondolin's seven gates. In "The Fall of Gondolin", Tolkien writes that he had the most beautiful voice and greatest musical talent of all the people of Gondolin. In both early and late versions he wears a helmet adorned with a silver spike.

He led a wing of Gondolin's forces at the disastrous Nírnaeth Arnoediad

Nirnaeth Arnoediad

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium of Middle-earth, the Nírnaeth Arnoediad or Unnumbered Tears was the climactic Fifth Battle in the Wars of Beleriand.-The Fifth Battle as told in The Silmarillion:...

 (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) and defended a flank as Turgon retreated. He fought valiantly in the defence of the city when it was finally attacked and taken by Morgoth

Morgoth

Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...

's armies.

It was he who fought Gothmog, the Lord of Balrog

Balrog

Balrogs are fictional demonic beings who appear in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Such creatures first appeared in print in his novel The Lord of the Rings, though they figured in earlier writings that posthumously appeared in The Silmarillion and other books.Balrogs are described as...

s in single combat: standing alone defending a wounded Tuor

Tuor

Tuor is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is the grandfather of Elrond Half-elven and one of the most renowned ancestors of the Men of Númenor and of the King of the Reunited Kingdom Aragorn Elessar...

, he slew and was slain by Morgoth's mightiest captain.

In "The Fall of Gondolin", Tolkien has him slay three Balrogs before his final duel, but lose the use of his shield arm in the process; however, this is one of the elements in the story that are at odds with Tolkien's later ideas. Christopher Tolkien comments that at this stage, Balrogs were "less terrible and certainly more destructible than they afterwards became". "The Fall of Gondolin" also elaborates on his death: Ecthelion loses the use of his sword-arm as well. Weaponless, he drives his helmet's spike deep into his enemy's breast, and they fall into the fountain together, entangled.

In "The Fall of Gondolin" Tolkien states that his name thereafter became a warcry of the Eldar

Sundering of the Elves

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Elves are a sundered people. They awoke at Cuiviénen on the continent of Middle-earth , where they were divided into three tribes: Minyar , Tatyar and Nelyar . After some time, they were summoned by Oromë to live with the Valar in Aman...

, and a terror to the Orcs

Orc (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Orcs or Orks are a race of creatures who are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings — Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman...

.