Gondolin
| Gondolin (Hidden Rock) | |
|---|---|
| J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium location | |
| Other name(s) |
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) |
| Type | Hidden kingdom-city of Turgon Fortified, Hidden City |
| Ruler | Turgon |
| Notable locations | the Seven Gates, the Vale of Tumladen, the Encircling Mountains |
| Location | north of Beleriand |
| Lifespan | First Age |
| Founder | Turgon |
Gondolin is a fictional city in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, inhabited by Elves. Found and founded with divine inspiration, it is hidden by mountains and endures for centuries before being betrayed and destroyed.
The city is first described in The Fall of Gondolin which was the foundational completed tale for all of Tolkien's Middle-earth stories. The story was read aloud by Tolkien to the Exeter College Essay Club in the spring of 1920.
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 Hidden Pass was protected by seven gates, all constantly guarded; the first of wood, then stone, bronze, iron, silver, gold, and steel. The seven gates of Minas Tirith echoed this notion of a layered defense on a hill.
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