The Fall of Gondolin -- another chat gist

[Sharkû]

In the last scheduled discussion, we started with a little story time for those who have not yet read The Silmarillion. Here's our retold Fall of Gondolin:


Mhoram > Ok, this is how Gondolin began.
Mhoram > Turgon was an elven lord, a son of Fingolfin. One day he was hanging out with his main man, Finrod and Ulmo, one of the Valar (Angel/Gods) came to them in a vision.
Mhoram > Ulmo told them both to find a place to build a great kingdom so that they could withstand the might of Melkor better.
Mhoram > Ulmo eventually lead Turgon to a hidden valley that no one had ever been to before.
Mhoram > Turgon returned to his home near the sea and began making plans to have a city built there, it would be built on a hill to look very simular to a city in Aman, the home of the Valar.
Mhoram > In secret the city was built over many many years and once it was finished Turgon and a great host of his people moved into it in secret.
Mhoram > For many many years the people in Gondolin were not heard of as they lived quietly, preparing for great battles that would come.
Sharku > Turgon did not trust in open warfare, well knowing it would not avail.
Sharku > Húrin and Huor were valiantly fighting at the Dagor Bragollach, when Morgoth broke the siege about him.
Mhoram > Thorondor, the greatest eagle ever saved them and bore them to Gondolin.
Sharku > They retreated to the south, but the enemies were at their heels, when the great eagles of the mountains of Gondolin saw the two still very young lords
Sharku > They were borne into Gondolin, for their valiant achievements, which was considered a great honour, for Gondolin was very strict with its secrecy.
Sharku > Húrin and Huor grew up among the Elves there, but when they finally missed their homes, they were as an exception permitted to leave via the air again, since they could not reveal the ground entrance to Gondolin.
Sharku > It was the law that noone who entered the city on the ground would ever be allowed to leave again
Sharku > However, that Húrin came there was one of the first dooms of Gondolin
Mhoram > Hurin returned home to his wife.
Turambar > Too late
Sharku > Turgon, King of Gondolin, had a sister, Aredhel, that was not quite happy living in the golden cage that was the city.
Sharku > So she took leave, and met Eol the dark Elf, who forced her to stay with him and wed him, although she wasn't wholly unwilling anyway
Sharku > She bore him a son, Maeglin, that was, like his father, greatly interested in metals and stones and smith-work
Sharku > (It was Eol that forged Túrin's sword Anglachel)
Sharku > Anyway, Maeglin also loved his mother, and since his father was also very strict, they eventually fled from his forest back to Gondolin
zifnab > Was Turin's sword forged the stuff of the meteorite?
Sharku > Maeglin, after all, the nephew of the King Turgon, was received as a lord in Gondolin, but his father Eol grew angry that they flew from him
zifnab > Wasn't Maeglin also curious about his family? And that was another reason he left with his mother?
Sharku > He pursued them and found Gondolin
Sharku > Yes, I guess Maeglin well knew he was a high lord in Gondolin
Sharku > And he knew that Turgon had no male decessors
Mhoram > It was law that no one that came to Gondolin could ever leave, so that they couldn't disclose the location of the hidden city.
Turambar > "This choice only is given you: to abide here or to die here"
Sharku > Eol, once he entered the city, was subject to that law, but he wanted to forcefully take his wife, or at least his son, back with him
Sharku > Turgon denied this.
Sharku > The law was to stay in Gondolin or to die.
Sharku > Eol cried 'The second choice I take for my son also!', took a spear and cast it at Maeglin, but Aredhel jumped in the way, and was slain.
Mhoram > So Aredhel, Turgon's sister was killed and Eol was sentenced to death.
Mhoram > Eol was cast from the city walls to die in the long fall, as he did, but before falling he cursed his son, Maeglin, saying that he too would suffer the same death.
Mhoram > Sometime later there was a great battle between Morgoth and the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth, the Elves and Men.
Mhoram > In this battle Turgon finally joined in the fight, bringing an army of 10,000.
Mhoram > Even with this great force gathered, the elves could not defeat Morgoth's forces.
Sharku > Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the last big alliance, that was betrayed... a long and different story.
Mhoram > By good fortune, a group of men made there way to Turgon and the remains of his people.
Mhoram > Among these men were Hurin and his brother Huor, whom we heard of earlier.
Mhoram > They fought side by side with Turgon but eventually they saw that there was no hope. They must flee or die.
Sharku > Huor was slain, but prophecised that from him and Turgon, new hope would spring.
Mhoram > Hurin and Huor took council with Turgon and convinced him to retreat and the men would guard his escape.
zifnab > Hurin and Huor held the line so that Turgon could escape?
Sharku > Yes
zifnab > Day shall come again!
Mhoram > That's what happened and even as Turgon and his people, Huor was slain and Hurin was taken captive and taken back to Morgoth's kingdom.
Sharku > They knew that Gondolin was the last hope for all
Mhoram > Hurin slew 70 Trolls that day.
Sharku > Húrin was tortured by Morgoth to reveal the location of Gondolin, but would never yield.
Sharku > So Morgoth cursed him and all his kin. This was the curse that ruined Túrin's life.
Mhoram > The greatest tragedy ever comes from that curse.
Mhoram > So, Turgon and Maeglin and the remains of their people made it back to Gondolin safely.
Sharku > Huor's wife was pregnant before the battle.
zifnab > Rian, correct?
Sharku > The great battle ended in a shuttering defeat of the Elves and Men, and since the lands were no longer safe, Huor's wife gave little Tuor to the Elves for fostering him.
Sharku > She would not have him be enslaved.
Sharku > When he was come to manhood, Tuor felt restless, and searched for a way out of the guarded lands.
Sharku > He finally found it, guided by Ulmo, Lord of Waters
Sharku > In Turgon's old city, that was now abandoned, he found armour that had been prepared for him long ago according to prophecy.
Sharku > He also had the Vala Ulmo himself speak to him, that he should find Gondolin, and warn Turgon.
Sharku > Ulmo also sent Tuor a guide, Voronwe, an Elf from Gondolin that survived a ship wreck
Sharku > They headed for Gondolin, and eventually found it
Sharku > Only the company of Voronwe, and the armour that Tuor had, that Turgon recognized, saved him
zifnab > He also "spoke the voice" of Ulmo, which none could deny.
Sharku > Exactly, Ulmo put his words into his mouth.
Sharku > So Tuor was received in Gondolin, and soon rose in the King's esteem
Mhoram > Remember, it was Ulmo who had lead Turgon to Gondolin in the first place.
zifnab > Which made Maeglin instantly jealous.
Sharku > However, Turgon did not heed Ulmo's warnings to evacuate the city and leave for the havens
Mhoram > And to add fuel to the fire....
Sharku > And Tuor also fell in love with Idril, Turgon's daughter; which made Maeglin even more jealous
Sharku > Even though she was his cousin.
Estelyn > Maeglin's cousin
Sharku > One day, when Maeglin was mining in the mountains north of Gondolin, he was caught by spies from Morgoth...
Sharku > In the meantime, mortal Tuor and Elf princess wedded, and had a son, Earendil.
Sharku > Maeglin, tortured by Morgoth, and jealous on Tuor and others, and craving revenge, at last betrayed Gondolin, or simply could no longer remain steadfast.
Sharku > He was set free again, and returned to G.
zifnab > Morgoth also promised him Idril and Gondolin as a reward which made it an easier choice for Maeglin.
Mhoram > But he was a rotten apple all along.
Estelyn > His motives weren't entirely bad...
Sharku > Húrin was, after the great demise of all of his family, crying against fate and searching for Gondolin, and orcs saw him in that area
zifnab > After escaping he was searching gor his son, and heard he was in Gondolin, and since he know longer knew the way, he called out to him, and Morgoth's spies larned of it, and found the area but not the exact location, The eagles were still in force and protecting the boundries.
Sharku > Now Morgoth, knowing its location, gathered an immense army
Mhoram > Balrogs, Orcs, and Wolves.
Sharku > And Dragons.
Mhoram > Mechanical?
Mhoram > [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
Sharku > They were too many too strong not to conquer Gondolin, even thought resistance was valiant
Sharku > Ecthelion slew Gothmog, the Lord of the Balrogs.
Estelyn > Who slew him right back again!
Sharku > King Turgon died defending the city on the top of his highest tower.
zifnab > One thing I don't understand it, In UT, they make the 7(?) gates to Gondolin immense and well guarded and if Turgon had them blocked up with the warning of Ulmo, then was it really that easy for the Dark Lords army to sack it?
Sharku > Maeglin assaulted the fleeing Earendil and Idril, but Tuor slew him, casting him down the mountain
goldwine > so the prophesy came true
goldwine > or the curse that is
Mhoram > Maeglin died just like his father, Eol, and his curse was fulfilled.
Sharku > Good question, in BoLT they cross the mountains with the huge mechanical dragons (:
Telchar > Morgoth came over the mountains in the north
Mhoram > mechanical seems wierd, it's very disputed, we don't know if Tolkien would have changed that or not, in the Silmarilion they aren't mechanical, just have to ignore that.
Sharku > Tuor, Earendil and Idril could, however, eventually escape
Telchar > I dont think there is any acount that says that the host of Morgoth came to Gondolin by the secret gate is there?
Sharku > Glorfindel died slaying yet another Balrog when they fled from the city
Mhoram > That is, Tuor, son of Huor. Idril, daughter of Turgon, and their son, Earendil.
Sharku > In BoLT, the secret gate is blocked by the orcs, too
zifnab > Others escape also, since Tuor had secretly mad a hidden path to the outskirts of the city, without Maeglin knowing about it.
goldwine > didnt idril make a secret gate cos she suspected maeglin?
Mhoram > Yes, it was Idril's secret path/gate/escape that saved them.
Mhoram > So, that's really it.
Mhoram > The Fall of Gondolin.

[Mhoram]

If you would like to read this story for yourself with all the details and Tolkien's wonderful descriptions, it's all in the Silmarilion. (excuse to bump)

[Orodhromeus]

Mhoram, you should be named the General Director for the Advertising & Publicity of the Silmarillion!

Not meaning any disrespect, but what's the point of retelling an entire tale (and it's not the shortest) in a chat? Was it a bet or something? I mean, you can just tell someone to go read the Sil, can't you?

[Mhoram]

Thanks for the compliment!

Well, we just like to do that to answer some questions and get others interested in the Silmarilion. Sadly, for a lot of people you can't just tell them to read the Silmarilion, they won't. But if you talk about it enough and raise their interest they might.