Place from Tolkien's Legendarium In Ted Nasmith's portrayal, Tuor reaches the Hidden City of Gondolin.
Name	Gondolin (Hidden Rock)
Other names	Ondolindë (The Rock of the Music of the Water) Gar Thurion (Secret Place) Gondobar (City of Stone) Gondothlimbar (City of the Dwellers in Stone) Gwarestrin (Tower of the Guard)) Gondost (Stone Fortress)
Description	Hidden kingdom-city of Turgon
Constructed by	Turgon
Realm(s)	Gondolin
Lord	Turgon
Type	Fortified, Hidden City
Lifespan	First Age

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Gondolin is a hidden city of the Elves founded by Turgon in the First Age. Originally named Ondolindë, or “The Rock of the Music of the Water” in Quenya, its name was Sindarinized to Gondolin, the “Hidden Rock.” John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973) was an English philologist, writer and university professor, best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. ... A legendarium is a book or series of books consisting of a collection of legends. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Ted Nasmith Ted Nasmith is a Canadian artist, illustrator and architectural renderer. ... Tuor is a fictional character of J.R.R. Tolkiens Middle-earth. ... 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. ... Look up city, City in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the First Age began with the awakening of the Elves, and ended with the final overthrow of Morgoth by the combined armies of Valinor and Beleriand. ... John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973) was an English philologist, writer and university professor, best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. ... A legendarium is a book or series of books consisting of a collection of legends. ... Celeborn (portrayed by Marton Csokas), an Elf in Peter Jacksons adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring. ... 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 fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the First Age began with the awakening of the Elves, and ended with the final overthrow of Morgoth by the combined armies of Valinor and Beleriand. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Sindarin is an artificial language (or conlang) developed by J. R. R. Tolkien. ...

As recounted in The Silmarillion, the Vala Ulmo, the Lord of Waters, revealed the location of the Vale of Tumladen to the Noldorin Lord 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, just west of Dorthonion and east of the River Sirion, 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 Watching". There Turgon decided to found a great city, designed after the city of Tirion in Valinor that the Noldor had left when they went into exile, that would be protected by the mountains and hidden from the Dark Lord Morgoth. The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkiens works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who would later become a noted fantasy fiction writer. ... In J. R. R. Tolkiens mythology, the Valar (singular Vala) are the Powers of Arda, or direct representatives of Eru Ilúvatar (God). ... Ulmo is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkiens universe, Middle-earth. ... Tumladen is a geographic location in J. R. R. Tolkiens Middle-earth. ... In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor (meaning those with knowledge) are of the second clan of the Elves who came to Aman, the Tatyar. ... In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the land of Nevrast lay at the coast of the Great Sea in Middle-earth. ... In J. R. R. Tolkiens fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Echoriath or Encircling Mountains were a mountain range in the north of Beleriand. ... In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Dorthonion (Land of Pines), later Taur-nu-Fuin, was a highland region of the First Age, lying immediately to the north of Beleriand, and south of the plains of Ard-galen (later Anfauglith) that bordered Morgoths stronghold of Thangorodrim. ... In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Sirion was a river of Middle-earth in the First Age, the principal river of Beleriand. ... In J. R. R. Tolkiens fictional universe of Middle-earth, Tirion upon Túna was the city of the Ñoldor in Valinor. ... A fan-created map of Aman and Valinor. ... Morgoth Bauglir (originally known as Melkor) is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. ...

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 — as well as nearly three quarters of the northern Sindar. He originally named the city Ondolindë, which is Quenya for "The Rock of the Music of Water" after the springs of Amon Gwareth. The name was later changed to its Sindarin form. In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the fictional Sindar (meaning Grey People, singular Sinda, although the latter term was not generally used by Tolkien) are Elves of Telerin descent. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The Hidden Pass was protected by seven gates, all constantly guarded; the first of wood, then stone, bronze, iron, silver, gold, and steel. The city stood for nearly 400 years until it was betrayed to Morgoth by Maeglin, Turgon's nephew, and sacked by the army of Morgoth the Dark Lord. In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Maeglin (Y.S. 320 – 510) was an Elf, the son of Eöl the Dark Elf and Aredhel daughter of Fingolfin. ...

As well as Orcs and dragons, Morgoth's army, in early versions of the story, included iron machines powered by "internal fires" and used as personnel carriers, to surmount difficult geography and fortifications, and to break down fortifications. Morgoth's army attacked Gondolin over the northern mountains and not through the Hidden Way. It has been suggested that these machines were based on Tolkien's view of the real world's newest siege weapon: the tank. Orcs in Moria, from the 1978 animated film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. ... J. R. R. Tolkiens universe of Middle-earth features dragons closely based on those of European legend. ...

The imagery of the Fall of Gondolin certainly bears similarity to the siege of Minas Tirith. Minas Tirith (IPA: ), originally named Minas Anor, is a heavily fortified city in J. R. R. Tolkiens Middle-earth writings, which was the capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age. ...

The seven names of Gondolin are told to Tuor: "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." Some of these names, however, are contrary to the Sindarin Tolkien later supposed to be used in the First Age (for example, the 'Gondothlim' became the 'Gondolindrim': so 'Gondothlimbar' should be 'Gondolindrimbar', 'The Dwelling of the Gondolindrim').

More plausible name suggestions are:

1. Gondobar (Ondomar) : 'The Dwelling in Stone'
2. Gondrimbar (Ondormar) : 'The Dwelling of the Gon(dolin)drim'
3. Gondolin (Ondolindë) : 'The Rock of (The Water's) Song'
4. Gondost (Ondosto) : 'The Fortress on the Rock'
5. Gwarethminas ( ? ) : 'The Guarded Tower'
6. Thurigardh ( ? ) : 'Secret Place'
7. Lothladen (Lótëlanda) : 'Flower of the Plain'

As can be seen, Ondosto was a town in the Forostar of Númenor: even there, older names were recycled.

Gondolin was also divided into twelve Houses, all of which had their own leaders (although the 'House of the Tower of Snow' and the 'House of the Pillar of Snow' only have one leader, and very similar names). At the time of the Fall of Gondolin, these were: In the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Fall of Gondolin is the name of one of the original Lost Tales which formed the basis for a section in his later work, The Silmarillion. ...

External links

• The Fall of Gondolin (unfinished), and Detailed information on the Twelve Houses of the Gondothlim