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Middle-Earth: The Fall of Gondolin




Middle-Earth: The Fall of Gondolin



THE FALL OF GONDOLIN

October 25, 2018

The Fall of Gondolin
J.R.R Tolkien
HarperCollins Publ.

In the forest of dreams, there stands a hobbit. He bears a terrible burden—the Ring of the Abhorred, a closed circle from which there is no escape, a prison for all the wills and fates on this mortal earth. Before him is an ancient, elven queen. Men call her a witch, the gods a rebel, but here she is a cosmically tragic figure. Her many millennia weigh heavily on every word she says, and meanwhile, the Ring calls out to her. It tells her that if she were to claim it, to make the expedient choice and force her will upon enemies and friends alike, she could save her home, her people, herself. As she wrestles with this temptation, she says to the hobbit, “Ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and […] through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.”

Like Galadriel’s final surrender to the mortality of Middle-earth, The Fall of Gondolin by J.R.R. Tolkien, published Aug. 30, 2018, is the final entry in Christopher Tolkien’s long career of publishing his father’s previous drafts and essays. Like 2017’s Beren and Lúthien, Gondolin is a collection of previously published drafts with added commentary. These regard the fall of the city of Gondolin, or Hidden Rock, the last of the elven strongholds to withstand the demiurgical hegemony of Morgoth, Sauron’s master and Middle-earth’s Satan. The elves that live there are the last of those that, valiantly and foolishly, dared the judgment of the gods to seek their own vengeance against the Enemy. If the name of this volume didn’t give it away, they do not find that vengeance.

Let’s dispose of the recommendation first: If you’re not interested in reading a narrative presented in a series of only moderately different drafts, then it’s difficult to recommend Gondolin. If you want to read of the titular fall but aren’t interested in the supplemental material, read pages 145 to 201 and then from the first full paragraph on 50 to 111. This method takes the highly detailed final version and adds on everything it’s missing from the first version. It’s interesting to compare these two drafts. The first—and only complete—version was written when Tolkien was 24 years-old and on sick-leave during WWI. It contains a raw but unmeasured passion that moves the narrative in poignant but staccato bursts. I find it particularly fascinating to read descriptions that are clearly Tolkien’s first attempt to communicate his imagined trainset. Take for example the orcs, whose “hearts were of granite and their bodies deformed; foul their faces which smiled not, but their laugh that of the clash of metal.” The final version was written 35 years later, when Tolkien was working on Lord of the Rings and hoping he could get the Silmarillion published in the same volume. This depicts the meditative, melancholy wanderings of protagonist Tuor up to his arrival at Gondolin, and is the more masterfully done. Of particular note is Tuor, along with his companion Voronwë, hiding from orcs and huddling “side by side under the grey cloak […] and pant[ing] like tired foxes.”

If you’re undecided, then the question naturally becomes “what is special about The Fall of Gondolin?” At first glance, its central event—the siege of a great city of stone by the archonic agents of a tyrant—seems almost cliché within the setting. The sieges of Helm’s Deep and Minas Tirith dominate the military narrative of the Lord of the Rings and have the benefit of being writ-large on film by Peter Jackson. Why should you want to read the same basic setup divorced from the context of Frodo’s quest to destroy the Ring? Three reasons suggest themselves.

First is the difference in scale. The Lord of the Rings is set in the Third Age of Middle-earth during which magic and legend are explicitly fading to make way for the world to come—ours. By contrast, Gondolin is set in the First Age, a mythic age where the elves were nearly gods themselves and the Enemy so mighty that he once tried to make all of existence his body. The siege of Gondolin stars heroes who make up for their lack of character arcs with deeds of bardic renown, balrogs by the hundreds, great serpents of flowing steel and even armored transport vehicles for the orcs. Even the peremptory language of the first draft is enough to capture the horror and majesty of Gondolin’s fall. If you’re given to fantasy as a genre, Gondolin is a feast for the imagination.

Second is the key difference between the sieges of Gondolin, Helm’s Deep and Minas Tirith—in the latter two, the heroes win. Not so at Gondolin. Gondolin, well, falls, and in its ruin countless elves perish, their culture is shattered and Morgoth’s victory over Middle-earth is complete. Yet Gondolin is, at its core, a story about hope—hope unlooked for and unprepared. Imagine if Sauron had recovered the Ring and destroyed Gondor and Rohan and harried the elves to their boats, and held total dominion over Middle-earth. What hope would exist then?

That question takes us to our third reason and back to Galadriel’s lament of the “long defeat.” The Fall of Gondolin, like nearly all of Tolkien’s legendarium, is about mortality. Against an enemy as absolute and merciless as time, there can be no victory. Gondolin was always going to fall, as did the European empires in WWI, as will all our personal conceits when death inevitably finds us defenseless against its ultimate authority. All ambitions fail and all monuments crumble. Again, what hope is there?

As the wheel of mortality crushes us under its tread, so, too, does it raise new generations. When the people and dreams we love are warped and destroyed, at that same time, new people and dreams arise. Gondolin’s hope was never in strength of arms or purity of purpose, but in one child rescued from its ruin. The Fall of Gondolin seems an especially appropriate fairy tale for today, when our country and culture often seem on the verge of imploding, and climate change promises catastrophes to dwarf those concerns. Sometimes it feels like the noose gets tighter every day. Sometimes it feels like there’s no point. But every day you get up and fight—for yourself, your loved ones, what you believe in, is another day you give your hopes a chance to be realized. Even if you die, as you surely will, with your hopes unrealized at the time of your death, they do not die with you. Even the very cynical cannot see all ends, and even when the last bastions of truth and justice fall, truth and justice live on.

Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!


* * * * * * *


Detail from “Turgon Strengthens the Watch” (Artist: Alan Lee)

Detail from “Glorfindel and the Balrog” (Artist: Alan Lee)


The Fall of Gondolin

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The Fall of Gondolin
FallOfGondolin.png
Front cover of the 2018 hardback edition
EditorChristopher Tolkien
AuthorJ. R. R. Tolkien
IllustratorAlan Lee
Cover artistAlan Lee
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SubjectTolkien's legendarium
GenreHigh fantasy
Published2018
PublisherHarperCollins
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages304[1]
ISBN978-0008302757
Preceded byBeren and Lúthien 
The fall of Turgon's Tower. Illustration by Tom Loback
Gothmog, High Captain of Angband, at the storming of Gondolin. Illustration by Tom Loback

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Fall of Gondolin is one of the stories which formed the basis for a section in his posthumously-published work, The Silmarillion, with a version later appearing in The Book of Lost Tales. In the narrative, Gondolin was founded by King Turgon in the First Age; the city was carefully hidden, enduring for centuries before being betrayed and destroyed.

A stand-alone, book-length version of the story edited by Christopher Tolkien was published in 2018.[1][2] The Fall of Gondolin is one of three stories from the First Age of Middle-earth that was published as a stand-alone book: the other two are Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin.

Story

Gondolin was a secret city of Elves in the First Age of Middle-earth. The Fall of Gondolin tells of the founding of the city; of the arrival there of Tuor, a prince of Men; of the betrayal of the city to Morgoth by the king's nephew, Maeglin; and of its subsequent catastrophic destruction by Morgoth's armies. It also relates the flight of the fugitives to the Havens of Sirion, the wedding of Tuor and Idril Celebrindal, as well as the childhood of their son Eärendil.

Gondolin

"Gondolin" redirects here. For the South African fossil site, see Gondolin Cave.

The city of Gondolin[T 1] in Beleriand, in the extreme northwest of Middle-earth, was founded with divine inspiration. It was hidden by mountains and endured for centuries before being betrayed and destroyed. It was the mightiest of the elven homes in the Hither Lands.[T 2] The city was famed for its walls, and had possible parallels to Troy.[3]

Gondolin was founded by King Turgon 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.

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, perhaps based on Herodotus's description of the Medean city of Ecbatana. The seven gates of Minas Tirith echoed this notion of a layered defence on a hill.

The fall of the city

The city stood for nearly 400 years until it was betrayed to Morgoth by Maeglin, Turgon's nephew. Maeglin was captured while mining outside the Encircling Mountains against Turgon's orders. Maeglin betrayed the location of Gondolin after he was promised Lordship as well as Turgon's daughter Idril, whom he'd long coveted. Morgoth then sent an army over the Crissaegrim, the northernmost 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, Balrogs and dragons, Melkor's (Morgoth's) army, in early versions of the story, included iron machines (tanks) powered by "internal fires" and used as personnel carriers, to surmount difficult geographic obstacles and to defeat fortifications. Idril, noted for her intuition, had the foresight to prepare a secret route out of Gondolin prior to the siege.[4] While her father Turgon perished, Idril successfully flees the city alongside her husband Tuor and other survivors; through their union, Tuor and Idril are the ancestors of both Elrond and Aragorn.[5]

Commentators have compared the Fall of Gondolin to the sack of Troy.[6][7] David Greenman, in Mythlore, compares The Fall of Gondolin, Tolkien's first long Middle-earth work, to Virgil's Aeneid. He finds it fitting that Tuor, "Tolkien's early quest-hero", escapes from the wreck of an old kingdom and creates new ones, just as Aeneas does, while his late quest-heroes in The Lord of the Rings, the hobbits of the Shire, are made to return to their home, ravaged while they were away, and are obliged to scour it clean, just as Odysseus does in Homer's Odyssey.[7] Greenman compared and contrasted Idril's part in the story to Cassandra and Helen of Troy, two prominent female figures in accounts of the Trojan War: like the prophetess, Idril had a premonition of impending danger and like Helen, her beauty played a major role in instigating Maeglin's betrayal of Gondolin, which ultimately led to its downfall and ruin. Conversely, Greeman noted that Idril's advice to enact a contingency plan for a secret escape route out of Gondolin was heeded by her people, and that she had always rejected Maeglin's advances and remained faithful to Tuor.[7]

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."[T 3]

The Houses of Gondolin

According to The Book of Lost Tales the active male Elves of Gondolin belonged to one of the 11 "Houses" or Thlim plus the bodyguard of Tuor which was accounted the twelfth:

Name in Gnomish of the Houses[T 4]LeaderUniforms and emblemsNotes
The folk of the White WingTuorBar-en-Alphram.svg"These wore wings as it were of swans or gulls upon their helms, and the emblem of the White Wing was upon their shields."[T 5]The bodyguard of Tuor.[T 6]
The House of the Mole or the Thlim DoldrinMaeglinHouse of the Mole.svg"Sable was their harness, and they bore no sign or emblem, but their round caps of steel were covered with moleskin."[T 5]Composed of skilled miners.
The House of the Swallow or the Thlim DuilinDuilinBar-en-Duilin.svg"[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."[T 7]Gondolin's best archers.
The House of the Heavenly Arch or the Thlim Quing IlonEgalmothHouse of the Heavenly Arch.svg"They were arrayed in a glory of colours, and their arms were set with jewels. Every shield of that battalion was of the blue of the heavens."[T 6]A very wealthy house; comprised the other part of Gondolin's archers.
The House of the Pillar or the Thlim ClimbolPenlodHouse of the Pillar.svgunknownTheir leader was slain during the Fall of Gondolin.
The House of the Tower of Snow or the Thlim Ith MindonPenlodHouse of the Tower of Snow.svgunknownTheir leader was slain during the Fall of Gondolin.
The House of the Tree or the Thlim GaldonGaldorBar-en-Galadh.svg"Their raiment was green."[T 7]Wielded clubs and slings.
The House of the Golden Flower or the Thlim LosglóriolGlorfindelBar-en-Lothglor.svg"[They] bore a golden flower upon their shield."[T 7]
The House of the Fountain or the Thlim EcthelEcthelionBar-en-Eithel.svg"Silver and diamonds was their delight ; and swords very long and bright and pale did they wield."[T 7]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 SalumSalgantHouse of the Harp.svg"A harp of silver shone in their blazonry upon a field of black."[T 7]House of musicians. However, their leader was a craven.
The House of the Hammer of Wrath or the Thlim GothodrumRogBar-en-Damba.svg"The sign of this people was the Stricken Anvil, and a hammer that smiteth sparks about it was set on their shields."[T 6]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 KingKing TurgonBar-en-Aran.svg"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]."[T 7]The three Royal Guard battalions 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 replacement of g-, not Goenlin or Goenglin [as it would have been in standard Sindarin]".[T 8] The common or standard Sindarin tongue was not used in Gondolin.

Weaponry

Further information: Named weapons in Middle-earth

The smiths of Gondolin, using Elven craft, made powerful weapons. In The Hobbit, the swords Orcrist, Glamdring and a long dagger later named Sting were found in a Troll-hoard.[T 9] Each of these weapons was forged in Gondolin had the ability to detect Orcs in the immediate vicinity by glowing. 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 6,000 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 highly effective against giant spiders (distant offspring of Ungoliant) and could cut their webs with ease, including the spiders of Mirkwood and Shelob. Sting was able to cut the spider's eyes and wound her sufficiently that she fled in pain. Such creatures were common in the Ered Gorgoroth south of Gondolin.

Origin and publication history

Tolkien began writing the story that would become The Fall of Gondolin in 1917 in an army barracks on the back of a sheet of military marching music. It is the first traceable story of his Middle-earth legendarium that he wrote down on paper.[8] While the first half of the story "appears to echo Tolkien's creative development and slow acceptance of duty in the first year of the war," the second half echoes his personal experience of battle.[9] The story was read aloud by Tolkien to the Exeter College Essay Club in the spring of 1920.[T 10]

Tolkien was constantly revising his First Age stories; however, the narrative he wrote in 1917, published posthumously in The Book of Lost Tales, remains the only full account of the fall of the city. The narrative in The Silmarillion was the result of the editing by his son Christopher using that story (minus some elements all too obviously evocative of World War I warfare) and compressed versions from the different versions of the Annals and Quentas as various sources. The later Quenta Silmarillion and the Grey Annals, the main sources for much of the published Silmarillion, both stop before the beginning of the Tuor story.

A partial later version of The Fall of Gondolin was published in Unfinished Tales under the title "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin". Originally titled "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," this narrative shows a great expansion of the earlier tale. Christopher Tolkien retitled the story before including it in Unfinished Tales, because it ends at the point of Tuor's arrival in Gondolin, and does not depict the actual Fall.

There is also an unfinished poem, The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin, of which a few verses are quoted in The Lays of Beleriand. In 130 verses Tolkien reaches the point where dragons attack the city.

Stand-alone book

On 30 August 2018,[1] the first stand-alone version of the story was published by HarperCollins in the UK[1] and Houghton Mifflin in the US.[1] This version, illustrated by Alan Lee, has been curated and edited by Christopher Tolkien,[1] J. R. R. Tolkien's son, who also edited The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, and several other works that were published after the author's death.[8]

The book compiles material previously published elsewhere, namely The Tale of The Fall of Gondolin and Isfin and Eöl both published in The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two; Turlin and the Exiles of Gondolin published in The Shaping of Middle-earth; excerpts from the Sketch of the Mythology and Quenta Noldorinwa, both published in The Shaping of Middle-Earth; and Of Tuor and The Fall of Gondolin published in Unfinished Tales, along with excerpts from The Silmarillion and elsewhere.

Reception

According to Entertainment Weekly, "Patient and dedicated readers will find among the references to other books and their many footnotes and appendices a poignant sense of completion and finality to the life's pursuit of a father and son."[10] Writing for The Washington Post, writer Andrew Ervin said that "'The Fall of Gondolin' provides everything Tolkien's readers expect."[11] According to The Independent, "Even amid the complexities and difficulties of the book—and there are many—there is enough splendid imagery and characterful prose that readers will be carried along to the end even if they don't know where they are going."[12]

In science

The Finnish entomologist Lauri Kaila named multiple species of moth in the genus Elachista, such as Elachista turgonella, after characters from The Fall of Gondolin.[13]

See also

References

Primary

This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.
  1. ^ "Tolkien explained its origin in his "Name-list to "The Fall of Gondolin" thus: "Gondolin meaneth in Gnomish 'stone of song' (whereby figuratively the Gnomes meant stone that was carven and wrought to great beauty)". Tolkien, J. R. R. The Book of Lost Tales, part II. p. 216.
  2. ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. (1981). Tolkien, Christopher (ed.). The Silmarillion. New York City: Ballantine Books. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-345-32581-5.
  3. ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Fall of Gondolin". In Tolkien, Christopher (ed.). The Book of Lost Tales. Crow's Nest, New South Wales, Australia: Allen & Unwin. p. 158. ISBN 0-395-36614-3.
  4. ^ These Elvish names come from a text written by Tolkien: "The Official Name List", and published in Parma Eldalamberon nº 13, pp. 100–105.
  5. ^ Jump up to:a b J. R. R. Tolkien. The Book of Lost Tales, part II, chapter "The Fall of Gondolin", p. 172.
  6. ^ Jump up to:a b c J. R. R. Tolkien. The Book of Lost Tales, part II, chapter "The Fall of Gondolin", p. 174.
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f J.R.R. Tolkien. The Book of Lost Tales, part II, chapter "The Fall of Gondolin", p. 173.
  8. ^ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages", Parma Eldalamberon 17, p. 29
  9. ^ The Hobbit, ch. 3 "A Short Rest"
  10. ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. The Book of Lost Tales, Part II. p. 147.

Secondary

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Helen, Daniel (10 April 2018). "The Fall of Gondolin to be published". Tolkien Society. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  2. ^ Helen, Daniel (30 August 2018). "The Fall of Gondolin published". Tolkien Society. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  3. ^ Alexander, Bruce M. (22 March 2012). "The Fall of Gondolin and the Fall of Troy: Tolkien and Book II of the Aeneid". Mythlore. East Lansing, Michigan: Mythopoeic Society. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  4. ^ Rawls, Melanie (1984). "The Feminine Principle in Tolkien". Mythlore. East Lansing, Michigan: Mythopoeic Society. 30 (3–4).
  5. ^ Polo, Susana (10 April 2018). "A new Lord of the Rings book is out this year". Polygon. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  6. ^ Bruce, Alexander M. (2012). "The Fall of Gondolin and the Fall of Troy: Tolkien and Book II of the Aeneid". Mythlore. Mythopoeic Society. 30 (3–4).
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b c Greenman, David (1992). "Aeneidic and Odyssean Patterns of Escape and Release in Tolkien's 'The Fall of Gondolin' and 'The Return of the King'". Mythlore. 18 (2). Article 1.
  8. ^ Jump up to:a b "J.R.R. Tolkien's First Middle-Earth Story, The Fall of Gondolin, to Be Published". BBC. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  9. ^ Garth, John (2013). Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 217. ISBN 978-0544263727.
  10. ^ Lewis, Evan (25 August 2018). "The Fall of Gondolin is an indispensable examination of Tolkien's first Middle-earth story: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  11. ^ Ervin, Andrew (28 August 2018). "J.R.R. Tolkien's latest posthumous book may actually be the last". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  12. ^ Griffin, Andrew (31 August 2018). "JRR Tolkien, The Fall of Gondolin review: A vast and fitting last look at Middle Earth". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  13. ^ Kaila, Lauri (1999). "A Revision of the Nearctic Species of the Genus Elachista s. l. III.: The bifasciella, praelineata, saccharella and freyerella groups (Lepidoptera, Elachistidae)". Acta Zoologica Fennica (211): 1–235.


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