Gothmog the balrog

[Master of maps]

does anyone here have any info on Gothmog the lord of the balrogs, other than that he attacked gondolin and was killed by ecthelion (who also died in the fight)?....

 

[Ingwë]

Well, you can find some more infor in Encyclopedia Of Arda:

The most powerful of all the Balrogs, one of the chief servants of Melkor, who held an authority hardly less than Sauron himself. A wily commander and fearsome fighter, Gothmog was often accompanied by others of his fiery kind, and at least in the Nirnaeth he had a personal guard of dozens of trolls. His weapon was a great black axe.

The Elves first encountered him in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, the battle fought under the stars before the first rising of the Moon. In that battle, Fëanor's fury had caused him to draw forward of the main force of the Noldor, and so he came upon Gothmog with only a small guard. Even so, he fought valiantly, and though the armies of the Noldor eventually drove the Balrogs off, Fëanor's wounds could not be healed.

After that first battle, Gothmog does not appear for several centuries. He emerged from Angband to fight in the battle known as the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the fifth and last battle of the Wars of Beleriand. He brought up a huge army, and drove aside the forces around High King Fingon, and slew the King with his axe. His trolls assailed Fingon's ally Húrin, who he eventually captured and brought back to Angband.

But Gothmog was not indestructible. He took part in (and indeed presumably led) Morgoth's deadly surprise assault on the Hidden City of Gondolin. In the square of the King in the heart of the city, he came upon the Elf-lord Ecthelion of the Fountain. They fought a great duel, and in the end Gothmog and Ecthelion slew one another. So ended one of the most feared denizens of the pits of Angband.

 

[Elthir]

Some info on the name maybe, including revisions in an external context: early on [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gothmog[/FONT] meant 'Strife-and-hatred'. Compare information found in the early Qenya Lexicon, MOKO 'hate' and KOSO 'strive'. Tolkien also had an idea that Gothmog '= voice of Goth (Morgoth), an Orc name' and that [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Morgoth[/FONT] was formed from his orc-name [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Goth[/FONT] with mor- prefixed.


In Etymologies however, the last part in [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gothmog[/FONT] is suggested to have been related to a base MBAW- and would mean something like 'tyrannous, cruel, oppressive'. Also (same source) the explanation of Morgoth includes Noldorin [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]coth[/FONT] 'enmity, enemy', and Tolkien added 'but this may also contain GOTH' -- and so (same source again) we find GOS- GOTH- and words meaning 'dread' -- including both [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gothrog[/FONT] 'Dread demon' and the name [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gothmog[/FONT].


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Etymologies was abandoned before The Lord of the Rings was completed. In a later source,[/FONT] Tolkien imagined that Morgoth meant 'dark foe', noting archaic [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Moriñgotho for example. [/FONT]According to an idea presented by the publishers of Vinyar Tengwar, strengthened [FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]ñgotho[/FONT] 'dread one, foe'.


Tolkien liked to revise. Can't recall at the moment if anything 'new' appears in Words, Phrases, and Passages.

This probably isn't exhaustive, but it might be confusing enough as it is