Gondolin
Encyclopedia
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Gondolin is a fictional city in J. R. R. Tolkien
's legendarium
inhabited by Elves
.
stories. The story was read aloud by Tolkien to the Exeter College Essay Club in the spring of 1920.
In this tale first appears one of Tolkien's main literary themes which would be repeated throughout his major works: the caution against possession. In The Lord of the Rings
it is the possession of power through the One Ring
, in The Silmarillion
it is the lust to possess the beauty of the Jewels and in The Fall of Gondolin it is the possession of the city of Gondolin.
in the First Age
. It was originally named Ondolindë. According to The Silmarillion
, the Vala
Ulmo
, the Lord of Waters, revealed the location of the Vale of Tumladen
to Turgon in a dream. Under this divine guidance, Turgon travelled from his kingdom in Nevrast and found the vale. Within the Echoriath, the Encircling Mountains, lay a round level plain with sheer walls on all sides and a ravine and tunnel leading out to the southwest known as the Hidden Way. In the middle of the vale there was a steep hill which was called Amon Gwareth, the "Hill of Watch". There Turgon decided to found a city, designed after the city of Tirion
in Valinor
that the Noldor had left.
Turgon and his people built Gondolin in secret. After it was completed, he took with him to dwell in the hidden city his entire people in Nevrast — almost a third of the Noldor of Fingolfin
's House — as well as nearly three quarters of the northern Sindar
.
, Turgon's nephew. Maeglin was captured while mining outside the Encircling Mountains (against Turgon's orders). Maeglin betrayed the location of Gondolin after being promised Lordship and Turgon's daughter Idril
. Morgoth then sent an army over the Crissaegrim the northern most precipitous and dangerous portion of the Encircling Mountains during The Gates of Summer (A great Gondolin festival) catching them unawares and sacking the city with relative ease. In addition to orcs
, Balrog
s and dragons
, Melkor's (Morgoth's) army, in early versions of the story, included iron machines powered by "internal fires" and used as personnel carriers, to surmount difficult geographic obstacles and to defeat fortifications.
The imagery of the Fall of Gondolin bears some similarity to the siege of Minas Tirith
as told in The Lord of the Rings
.
{| class=wikitable width=100%
!Name in Gnomish of the Houses !!Leader!!Uniforms and Emblems!!Notes
|-
|The folk of the White Wing||Tuor
||"These wore wings as it were of swans or gulls upon their helms, and the emblem of the White Wing was upon their shields."||The bodyguard of Tuor.
|-
|The House of the Mole or the Thlim Doldrin||Maeglin
||"Sable was their harness, and they bore no sign or emblem, but their round caps of steel were covered with moleskin."||Composed of skilled miners.
|-
|The House of the Swallow or the Thlim Duilin||Duilin|||"[They] bore a fan of feathers on their helms, and they were arrayed in white and dark blue and in purple and black and showed an arrowhead on their shield."||Gondolin's best archers.
|-
|The House of the Heavenly Arch or the Thlim Quing Ilon||Egalmoth||"They were arrayed in a glory of colours, and their arms were set with jewels. Every shield of that bataillon was of the blue of the heavens."||A very wealthy house; comprised the other part of Gondolin's archers.
|-
|The House of the Pillar or the Thlim Climbol||Penlod||unknown|| Their leader was slain during the Fall of Gondolin.
|-
|The House of the Tower of Snow or the Thlim Ith Mindon||Penlod||unknown|| Their leader was slain during the Fall of Gondolin.
|-
|The House of the Tree or the Thlim Galdon ||Galdor||"Their raiment was green."||Wielded clubs and slings
.
|-
|The House of the Golden Flower or the Thlim Losglóriol ||Glorfindel
||"[They] bore a rayed sun upon their shield."||
|-
|The House of the Fountain or the Thlim Ecthel ||Ecthelion
|| "Silver and diamonds was their delight ; and swords very long and bright and pale did they wield." ||The guard of the fountains, primarily those of the king. Warriors of this house defended the seventh gate of Gondolin. They marched into battle to the playing of flutes.
|-
|The House of the Harp or the Thlim Salum||Salgant|||"A harp of silver shone in their blazonry upon a field of black." ||House of musicians. However, their leader was a craven.
|-
|The House of the Hammer of Wrath or the Thlim Gothodrum ||Rog||"The sign of this people was the Stricken Anvil, and a hammer that smiteth sparks about it was set on their shields."||The largest and most valiant house. They comprised those blacksmiths who were not under Maeglin, as well as escaped thralls of Morgoth. They perished to the last elf during the Fall of Gondolin.
|-
|The House of the King||King Turgon
||"The array of the house of the king and their colours were white and gold and red, and their emblems the moon and the sun and the scarlet heart [of Finwë Nólemë]."|| The three Royal Guard bataillons of King Turgon.
|}
, the swords Orcrist, Glamdring and a long dagger later named Sting were found in a Rhudaur Troll-Hoard. Each of these weapons had the ability to detect Goblins/Orcs in the immediate vicinity by glowing blue. They also had the property of striking fear in the hearts of Orcs when used against them in combat. All were well-crafted, and extraordinarily sharp. Apparently, Gondolinian weapons were impervious to rust and corrosion, as the examples found in the trolls' lair were over six thousand years old and had been hanging in the lair for an indeterminate length of time, yet were sharp and ready for use when unsheathed.
The dagger Sting was known to have special powers against giant spiders (distant offspring of Ungoliant
) and could cut their webs with ease. It also was highly effective against Shelob
, cutting the spider's eyes and wounding her sufficiently that she fled in pain. Whether the longer Gondolin swords mentioned in Tolkien's works had similar powers versus spiders is unknown. Such creatures were common in the Ered Gorgoroth south of Gondolin.
|-
|
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 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...
inhabited by Elves
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...
.
The Fall of Gondolin
The city is first described in The Fall of Gondolin which was the foundational completed tale for all of Tolkien's Middle-earthMiddle-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....
stories. The story was read aloud by Tolkien to the Exeter College Essay Club in the spring of 1920.
In this tale first appears one of Tolkien's main literary themes which would be repeated throughout his major works: the caution against possession. In 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...
it is the possession of power through the One Ring
One Ring
The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...
, in 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...
it is the lust to possess the beauty of the Jewels and in The Fall of Gondolin it is the possession of the city of Gondolin.
Internal history
Gondolin was founded by King TurgonTurgon
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....
in 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...
. It was originally named Ondolindë. According to 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...
, the Vala
Vala (Middle-earth)
The Valar are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They are first mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but The Silmarillion develops them into the Powers of Arda or the Powers of the World...
Ulmo
Ulmo
Ulmo is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He first appears in The Silmarillion as a god or Vala of the Elven pantheon. Ulmo is a title, which means He who pours. He is also known as King of the Sea and Lord of Waters...
, the Lord of Waters, revealed the location of the Vale of Tumladen
Tumladen
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, Tumladen is a Sindarin place-name meaning "level vale", which can refer to:* Tumladen , a valley in which Gondolin was built, in The Silmarillion...
to Turgon in a dream. Under this divine guidance, Turgon travelled from his kingdom in Nevrast and found the vale. Within the Echoriath, the Encircling Mountains, lay a round level plain with sheer walls on all sides and a ravine and tunnel leading out to the southwest known as the Hidden Way. In the middle of the vale there was a steep hill which was called Amon Gwareth, the "Hill of Watch". There Turgon decided to found a city, designed after the city of Tirion
Tirion
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Tirion upon Túna was the city of the Noldor in Valinor...
in Valinor
Valinor
Valinor is a fictional location in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the realm of the Valar in Aman. It was also known as the Undying Lands, along with Tol Eressëa and the outliers of Aman. This is something of a misnomer; only immortal beings were allowed to reside there, but the land itself,...
that the Noldor had left.
Turgon and his people built Gondolin in secret. After it was completed, he took with him to dwell in the hidden city his entire people in Nevrast — almost a third of the Noldor of Fingolfin
Fingolfin
Fingolfin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, appearing in The Silmarillion.-Internal history:He was a High King of the Noldor in Beleriand, second eldest son of Finwë, full brother of Finarfin, and half-brother of Fëanor, who was the eldest of Finwë's sons. His mother was...
's House — as well as nearly three quarters of the northern Sindar
Sindar
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the fictional Sindar are Elves of Telerin descent. They are also known as the Grey Elves. Their language is Sindarin...
.
The Seven Gates of the City
The Hidden Pass was protected by seven gates, all constantly guarded; the first of wood, then stone, bronze, iron, silver, gold, and steel.The End of the City
The city stood for nearly 400 years until it was betrayed to Morgoth by MaeglinMaeglin
Maeglin or Meglin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured in The Silmarillion.He was an Elf, the son of Eöl the Dark Elf and Aredhel daughter of Fingolfin. He lived in the First Age of Middle-earth, and was a lord of Gondolin...
, Turgon's nephew. Maeglin was captured while mining outside the Encircling Mountains (against Turgon's orders). Maeglin betrayed the location of Gondolin after being promised Lordship and Turgon's daughter Idril
Idril
Idril Celebrindal is a fictional character in the fantasy-world Middle-earth of English author J. R. R. Tolkien. She appears in one of his chief works of literature, The Silmarillion, published posthumously by Christopher Tolkien.-Character Overview:...
. Morgoth then sent an army over the Crissaegrim the northern most precipitous and dangerous portion of the Encircling Mountains during The Gates of Summer (A great Gondolin festival) catching them unawares and sacking the city with relative ease. In addition to 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...
, 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 and dragons
Dragon (Middle-earth)
J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium features dragons closely based on those of European legend.Besides dragon , Tolkien variously used the terms drake and worm .-History:The dragons were created by Morgoth...
, Melkor's (Morgoth's) army, in early versions of the story, included iron machines powered by "internal fires" and used as personnel carriers, to surmount difficult geographic obstacles and to defeat fortifications.
The imagery of the Fall of Gondolin bears some similarity to the siege of Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
as told in 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...
.
The Seven Names of Gondolin
According to "The Book of Lost Tales" the city had seven names: "’Tis said and ’tis sung: Gondobar am I called and Gondothlimbar, City of Stone and City of the Dwellers in Stone; Gondolin the Stone of Song and Gwarestrin am I named, the Tower of the Guard, Gar Thurion or the Secret Place, for I am hidden from the eyes of Melko; but they who love me most greatly call me Loth, for like a flower am I, even Lothengriol the flower that blooms on the plain."The Houses of Gondolin
According to "The Book of Lost Tales" the active male Elves of Gondolin belonged to one of the eleven "Houses" or Thlim plus the bodyguard of Tuor which was accounted the twelfth:{| class=wikitable width=100%
!Name in Gnomish of the Houses !!Leader!!Uniforms and Emblems!!Notes
|-
|The folk of the White Wing||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...
||"These wore wings as it were of swans or gulls upon their helms, and the emblem of the White Wing was upon their shields."||The bodyguard of Tuor.
|-
|The House of the Mole or the Thlim Doldrin||Maeglin
Maeglin
Maeglin or Meglin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured in The Silmarillion.He was an Elf, the son of Eöl the Dark Elf and Aredhel daughter of Fingolfin. He lived in the First Age of Middle-earth, and was a lord of Gondolin...
||"Sable was their harness, and they bore no sign or emblem, but their round caps of steel were covered with moleskin."||Composed of skilled miners.
|-
|The House of the Swallow or the Thlim Duilin||Duilin|||"[They] bore a fan of feathers on their helms, and they were arrayed in white and dark blue and in purple and black and showed an arrowhead on their shield."||Gondolin's best archers.
|-
|The House of the Heavenly Arch or the Thlim Quing Ilon||Egalmoth||"They were arrayed in a glory of colours, and their arms were set with jewels. Every shield of that bataillon was of the blue of the heavens."||A very wealthy house; comprised the other part of Gondolin's archers.
|-
|The House of the Pillar or the Thlim Climbol||Penlod||unknown|| Their leader was slain during the Fall of Gondolin.
|-
|The House of the Tower of Snow or the Thlim Ith Mindon||Penlod||unknown|| Their leader was slain during the Fall of Gondolin.
|-
|The House of the Tree or the Thlim Galdon ||Galdor||"Their raiment was green."||Wielded clubs and slings
Sling (weapon)
A sling is a projectile weapon typically used to throw a blunt projectile such as a stone or lead "sling-bullet". It is also known as the shepherd's sling....
.
|-
|The House of the Golden Flower or the Thlim Losglóriol ||Glorfindel
Glorfindel
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Glorfindel is a name used twice for an Elf appearing in the tales of Middle-earth. He is introduced in various material relating to the First Age of Middle-earth, including The Silmarillion. The second instance is for a character of The Lord of the Rings, which...
||"[They] bore a rayed sun upon their shield."||
|-
|The House of the Fountain or the Thlim Ecthel ||Ecthelion
Ecthelion of the Fountain
Ecthelion of the Fountain is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was a High Elf and one of the greatest warriors of the First Age....
|| "Silver and diamonds was their delight ; and swords very long and bright and pale did they wield." ||The guard of the fountains, primarily those of the king. Warriors of this house defended the seventh gate of Gondolin. They marched into battle to the playing of flutes.
|-
|The House of the Harp or the Thlim Salum||Salgant|||"A harp of silver shone in their blazonry upon a field of black." ||House of musicians. However, their leader was a craven.
|-
|The House of the Hammer of Wrath or the Thlim Gothodrum ||Rog||"The sign of this people was the Stricken Anvil, and a hammer that smiteth sparks about it was set on their shields."||The largest and most valiant house. They comprised those blacksmiths who were not under Maeglin, as well as escaped thralls of Morgoth. They perished to the last elf during the Fall of Gondolin.
|-
|The House of the King||King 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....
||"The array of the house of the king and their colours were white and gold and red, and their emblems the moon and the sun and the scarlet heart [of Finwë Nólemë]."|| The three Royal Guard bataillons of King Turgon.
|}
The tongue of Gondolin
In the hidden city of Gondolin, an isolated land, a peculiar Elvish dialect developed: "This differed from the standard (of Doriath) (a) in having Western and some Northern elements, and (b) in incorporating a good many Noldorin-Quenya words in more or less Sindarized forms. Thus the city was usually called Gondolin (from Q. Ondolin(dë)) with simple remplacement of g-, not Goenlin or Goenglin [as it would have been in standard Sindarin]". The common or standard Sindarin tongue was not used in Gondolin.Weaponry
The smiths of Gondolin, using Elven techniques and magics, made powerful magic blades. In The HobbitThe Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
, the swords Orcrist, Glamdring and a long dagger later named Sting were found in a Rhudaur Troll-Hoard. Each of these weapons had the ability to detect Goblins/Orcs in the immediate vicinity by glowing blue. They also had the property of striking fear in the hearts of Orcs when used against them in combat. All were well-crafted, and extraordinarily sharp. Apparently, Gondolinian weapons were impervious to rust and corrosion, as the examples found in the trolls' lair were over six thousand years old and had been hanging in the lair for an indeterminate length of time, yet were sharp and ready for use when unsheathed.
The dagger Sting was known to have special powers against giant spiders (distant offspring of Ungoliant
Ungoliant
Ungoliant is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, described as an evil spirit in the form of a spider. She is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings, and plays a supporting role in The Silmarillion. Her origins are unclear, as Tolkien's writings don't explicitly...
) and could cut their webs with ease. It also was highly effective against Shelob
Shelob
Shelob is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears at the end of the fourth book, second volume , of The Lord of the Rings.-Literature:...
, cutting the spider's eyes and wounding her sufficiently that she fled in pain. Whether the longer Gondolin swords mentioned in Tolkien's works had similar powers versus spiders is unknown. Such creatures were common in the Ered Gorgoroth south of Gondolin.