The Fall of Gondolin: A Key Story

[Ricardo]

I was watching a youtube channel about this topic, and the author gives an interesting comment that I hadn't thought about.

We know that the Fall of Gondolin was the first story of the Legendarium that Tolkien wrote, somewhere around 1917. The only full account of it is the original story, and it underwent very little change (mostly name changes) throughout the year.

Yet, it's one of the most important ones, with profound implicancies in everything that happened after.

The comment was that it wasn't just chronologically the first story, but that the whole Legendarium was built around it, you always imagine a starting point to be at the beginning but in this case, it's near the end (for the first age).

There are elements in the story that are very interesting. Ulmo's efforts to help the Noldor, the love story between Tuor and Idril, not the first man-elf union in the chronology of the Legendarium, but the first conceived.

Many elements that appear in stories written later are already present in this one. The similarities between Gondolin and Tirion, the nature of elves and men, the war against Morgoth. Not sure how Tolkien's mind worked, but either he conceived this story and then created separate stories to include/explain some of its elements. Or in his head, all those other stories were already shaping in his mind (I go for the latter).

This is my favourite Silmarillon story, along what we follow. Tuor, Idril, Earendil and Elwing are probably my favourite characters. It seems a story that flew through Tolkien's mind, it wasn't revisited, he didn't try to adapt it to fit the rest of the narrative.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Tolkien considered it the central story of the entire legendarium. And he did revisit it, with the intention of expanding it to the full story. The part he finished, called "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin" takes about 27 pages to cover what was a couple of paragraphs in the Slmarillion account, and can be found in Unfinished Tales and the more recent The Fall of Gondolin.

Sadly, he set it aside, and we can only lament what's forever lost. 😕

 

[Ricardo]

Tolkien considered it the central story of the entire legendarium. And he did revisit it, with the intention of expanding it to the full story. The part he finished, called "Of Tour and his Coming to Gondolin" takes about 27 pages to cover what was a couple of paragraphs in the Slmarillion account, and can be found in Unfinished Tales and the more recent The Fall of Gondolin.

Sadly, he set it aside, and we can only lament what's forever lost. 😕

Yes, but I am not sure when he wrote that expanded stories, they too were very early and there wasn't much of a fundamental change as in other parts of the Legendarium (e.g. the Valar used to have children). The base of the story remained the same.

 

[Eljorahir]

I agree that the tale of Gondolin is the most awesome in the legendarium; the imagery of the city hidden in the mountains, its destruction, the flight of the refugees, etc.

Tuor is probably my favorite of all Tolkien's characters.

However, I think it's correct to say that Doriath and Gondolin come together in equal measures regarding their effects on the downstream history. I think Aragorn's veins have blood in equal measures from Doriath/Thingol/Melian/Luthien/Beren and Gondolin/Turgon/Tuor/Idril.

 

[Ricardo]

I agree that the tale of Gondolin is the most awesome in the legendarium; the imagery of the city hidden in the mountains, its destruction, the flight of the refugees, etc.

Tuor is probably my favorite of all Tolkien's characters.

However, I think it's correct to say that Doriath and Gondolin come together in equal measures regarding their effects on the downstream history. I think Aragorn's veins have blood in equal measures from Doriath/Thingol/Melian/Luthien/Beren and Gondolin/Turgon/Tuor/Idril.

that is correct. Doriath was essential because it protected Luthien and made it possible to get the silmaril, without the Silmaril Earendil was going nowhere. Other places such as Nargothrond were also important and Ulmo knew it.

Also it's correct that Aragorn descended equally from both lines, as Tuor and Idril's son was Earendil and Luthien's grandaughter was Elwing, the parents of Elrond and Elros and then through many, many generations descended Aragorn.

But there was more to it, Idril was mostly Vanya, from her mother Elenwe and her great grand mother Indis.

He also descended from the 3 houses of the Edain, Beren was of the house of Beor, but his great grand mother, Adanel was the granddaughter of Marach. Huor, tuor's father was a son of Galdor and Hareth, and Tuor's mother, Rian was of the house of Beor as well.

Only Eldarion, Aragorn's son has an even more impressive heritage because of Arwen, granddaughter of Galadriel.

Tuor is also one of my favourite characters, hard to point ONE favourite, Idril is also up there among with a few others like Finrod, Fingolfin, Fingon, Beren and Luthien.

I've spent a lot of time trying to convince everyone that Tuor and Idril were welcomed in Aman and Tuor because an elf.

 

[Eljorahir]

Only Eldarion, Aragorn's son has an even more impressive heritage because of Arwen, granddaughter of Galadriel.

I almost included a comment in my previous post that poor Nargothrond contributed no heritage to the future, (just as the tale of "The Grandchildren of Hurin" would be a single blank page.) Your point about Galadriel and Eldarion makes me rethink this. If we can think of Galadriel as a stand-in for her childless brother Finrod, then the heritage of Nargothrond is passed via Galadriel down to Eldarion.

Eldarion therefore embodies the heritage of all three of the great elven kingdoms of the First Age!

 

[Ricardo]

I almost included a comment in my previous post that poor Nargothrond contributed no heritage to the future, (just as the tale of "The Grandchildren of Hurin" would be a single blank page.) Your point about Galadriel and Eldarion makes me rethink this. If we can think of Galadriel as a stand-in for her childless brother Finrod, then the heritage of Nargothrond is passed via Galadriel down to Eldarion.

Eldarion therefore embodies the heritage of all three of the great elven kingdoms of the First Age!

You could say poor Hitlum, but Earendil was the great grandson of Fingolfin, so it's included.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I am not sure when he wrote that expanded stories

1951.

 

[Elthir]

The Fall of Gondolin long prose version The Book of Lost Tales

First (pencil) version dates to the end of 1916 or to 1917

Ink over pencil version "by no means a complete recasting" (Hammond and Scull)

Edith Tolkien writes out a fair copy, which Christopher Tolkien first thought was done in 1917, but later associated this more closely to his father's preparation of the story for a public reading in spring 1920

Hammond and Scull sometimes date Tuor and the Exiles of Gondolin to c. 1916-20

A brief unfinished prose text follows in the early 1920s *Turlin and the Exiles of Gondolin

An unfinished poem The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin "probably dates to the same period"

Another fragment of a poem, probably early 1925, tells briefly of the escape of Tuor and others from Gondolin. Tolkien introduces minor changes to the story


Silmarillion Type versions of the tale ("chapters" or intentionally shorter versions)

Sketch of the Mythology c. 1926

Qenta Noldorinwa (one section was replaced) c. 1930 "Tolkien's last narrative account of the whole story" (Hammond and Scull)


Annalistic Traditions "summary traditions" with a focus on dates. Although strangely, I've not provided the dates of these texts!

Earliest Annals of Beleriand, Later Annals of Beleriand, Grey Annals, variously dated. Cough.

And as Squint-eyed Southerner already posted. . .

C. 1951 Tolkien returns to the long prose version of The Fall of Gondolin. In Unfinished Tales Christopher Tolkien titled this "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin" because sadly Tolkien didn't get close to revising the full, long version.

And again, this is a recasting of the long prose tale, not of a Silmarillion chapter; so essentially, a revision or rewriting of the tale written way back in The Book of Lost Tales (which was in a notably different style, incidentally).

Christopher Tolkien's Chapter published in 1977

This is basically (without getting into great detail) an abridgement of the 1951 rewrite "using where possible material from the Grey Annals as emended" (Hammond and Scull), and the 1930 Qenta Noldorinwa "where suitable" (Hammond and Scull). The chapter also includes material from JRRT's notes for the continuation of the 1951 Fall of Gondolin

also in 1951 The Story of Isfin and Meglin

. . . with a typescript made around 1970 Of Maeglin: Sister-son of Turgon, King of Gondolin. The date again of this typescript: 1970!

Tolkien uses this typescript for further emendation and writes a note: "An enlarged version of the coming of Maeglin to Gondolin, to be inserted in its place." Which Christopher Tolkien takes to mean - to be inserted into the long prose story.

Note: this is not a full summary! Especially of the Maeglin material. And I hope none of these dates or descriptions have changed and are thus corrected in Christopher Tolkien's later book on The Fall of Gondolin. . . 'cause I didn't check that book! That would have been too easy!

🐾

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

 

[Elthir]

O that's a handsome fellow, SES!

We know that the Fall of Gondolin was the first story of the Legendarium that Tolkien wrote, somewhere around 1917. The only full account of it is the original story, and it underwent very little change (mostly name changes) throughout the year.

I agree it's amazing that this very early tale, written in Tolken's youth, already contained so much that would "survive" (or arguably survive), or at least could squeeze into the later world of Middle-earth, especially when speaking in broad strokes.

So I'm not disagreeing, but it's Friday, and I wanna post something, and I'm just gonna zoom in a little more with respect to some changes > keeping in mind, in any case, that until 1951 we only have relatively brief accounts to compare to the long tale in BOLT. That said, onward.

In the Sketch of the Mythology we have a geographical change with respect to Cristhorn, and Tuor wedding Idril earlier than he had back in BOLT, but an arguably important change is noted in the Sketch with respect to Melkor's knowledge of Gondolin, as in The Book of Lost Tales Melkor had discovered Gondolin before Maeglin was captured.

In The Qenta (1930) the story of Bronweg's ship survival had not yet arisen, and with respect to Ulmo's instructions to Tuor "there are important differences" from the Sketch compared to the Qenta, (in the Qenta II replacement specifically). I won't go into these. And I feel like I was just reading about this matter. . . somewhere? Even somewhere in these halls, I think. Anywho.

And when we come to 1951, the world of Middle-earth in now very different from that of The Book of Lost Tales, and so, according to Christopher Tolkien, by this time the much older long prose version "inevitably embodies conceptions out of keeping" with the world of The Lord of the Rings and the world of the later Quenta Silmarillion.

So even though in 1951 JRRT only got as far as Tuor coming to Gondolin, I think we can at least imagine some things were likely to change with respect to the imagined completion of this version.

There's also a sense in which I'm looking at the "world of Middle-earth behind the words", so to speak. The Balrogs of BOLT are still Balrogs (and early on, even wielding whips), but they're not in all respects the Balrogs of Tolkien's later conception.

I will now note that BOLT Balrogs never had wings and never flew. . . a feature which never ever ever (ever) changed in Tolkien's world! Cough.



Erm, where was I. Oh yes. And what about the narrative revision of the old BOLT FOG compared to the 1951 FOG? Well, again, we only have so much to compare, but I like to babble about three things: The Gates of Gondolin, the Message of Ulmo (?), the Diamond of Ecthelion

The Book of Lost Tales (BOLT)

Tuor and Bronweg find the initial entrance to Gondolin, cloaked with thick bushes and tangled undergrowth, and ('tis said) that by magic (by aid of Ulmo) that none save of the blood of the Noldoli might light on it by chance.

at this very early point there are no "Sindar" in Gondolin incidentally

Entering, Tuor and Voronwe find a dark, rough-going and circuitous way, and for a long time they faltered within its tunnels > the tunnels were full of fearsome echoes and a "countless stepping of feet" > and then they run, Voronwe fearing goblins, till they realize this is but a deceit > and at last the two come to a gate "like that by which they had entered" (but not overgrown), and passing into sunlight, a gong sounds and warriors surround them > and when they can see clearly enough, they are at the foot of steep hills making a wide circle > and they see the city!

Then they simply ask to go to Gondolin, and the Noldoli they next meet marvel at the stature of Tuor, as he was taller than any there, while the Noldorin folk of Gondolin are described ". . . small they were and slender, and very lithe."

__________

For myself then, I don't think I'd call the awesome 1951 description of the journey through the Gates simply and addition, as to me the BOLT version doesn't really read like a mere truncated version of the same entrance. On the other hand, I do note that Ecthelion (1951) is described as wearing a helm with a spike of steel, pointed with a diamond. . .

. . . hmm. Would such a helm prove handy, in some way, later on in the tale? What do you think, Gothmog Lord of Balrogs? It's not in The Silmarillion chapter from 1977, but I'm guessing a certain detail was to "survive" in the 1951 long prose account. . . alas. . . had the Professor gotten that far!

Interestingly, we might imagine a 1951 Fall of Gondolin text fully updated in that time, but would even that version be "definitive" in all respects? In 1951, for example, Tolkien still imagined that there were very many Balrogs. . .

. . . but if JRRT carried out his later conception, of only three Balrogs, or at most seven, ever existing, we might see some "red pen" revisions to the 1951 FOG!

And of course there's this: "The Tale of Gondolin is a book most Tolkien lovers did not hear of yet, maybe because it is a private publication and strictly LIMITED to a Worldwide printing of just 50 COPIES. It is a book Compiled from the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien assembled and revised by author Alexander Lewis, illuminated and illustrated by Ruth Lacon."

Which book I'd like to get my eyes and 🐾 on one day!

I'm naturally curious. Anyone here have one? I'll give it back. I promise!

 

[Glorfindel Goldtress]

And of course there's this: "The Tale of Gondolin is a book most Tolkien lovers did not hear of yet, maybe because it is a private publication and strictly LIMITED to a Worldwide printing of just 50 COPIES. It is a book Compiled from the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien assembled and revised by author Alexander Lewis, illuminated and illustrated by Ruth Lacon."

I, too, have yearned to obtain one very much and see how the tale was filled out, but it's not like it will just fall into my hands.

Oh well, my memories will be enough for me.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

O that's a handsome fellow, SES!

He's just stunned by your erudition!

Though he shouldn't be .
He must be new here. 😁

 

[Elthir]

I just noticed the word erudition starts with Eru.

Coincidence? I think not.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

And ends with ion.

 

[Elthir]

Then what's the dit part?

is it something like dat?

Anyway, back to the 1951 Fall of Gondolin: there are absolutely no winged Balrogs in it - at least I couldn't find a single one. Also, I took a quick look at Christopher Tolkien's (2018) The Fall of Gondolin book, and as expected, his external history of the tale, The Evolution of the Story, is far far (far) better and more detailed than my little post above.