The Fall of Gondolin

The Hidden Pass was protected by seven gates, all constantly guarded; the first of wood, then stone, bronze, iron, silver, gold, and steel, perhaps based on Herodotus's description of the Medean city of Ecbatana. The seven gates of Minas Tirith echoed this notion of a layered defence on a hill.

The city stood for nearly 400 years until it was betrayed to Morgoth by Maeglin, Turgon's nephew. Maeglin was captured while mining outside the Encircling Mountains against Turgon's orders. Maeglin betrayed the location of Gondolin after he is promised Lordship as well as Turgon's daughter Idril, who is long coveted by Maeglin. Morgoth then sent an army over the Crissaegrim, the northernmost precipitous and dangerous portion of the Encircling Mountains, during The Gates of Summer (a great Gondolin festival), catching them unawares and sacking the city with relative ease. In addition to orcs, Balrogs and dragons, Melkor's (Morgoth's) army, in early versions of the story, included iron machines (tanks) powered by "internal fires" and used as personnel carriers, to surmount difficult geographic obstacles and to defeat fortifications. Idril, noted for her intuition, had the foresight to prepare a secret route out of Gondolin prior to the siege.[4] While her father Turgon perished, Idril successfully flees the city alongside her husband Tuor and other survivors; through their union, Idril and Tuor are the ancestors of both Elrond and Aragorn.[5]

The Fall of Gondolin closely resembles that of Troy.[6]

According to The Book of Lost Tales, the city had seven names: "’Tis said and ’tis sung: 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, for I am hidden from the eyes of Melko; but they who love me most greatly call me Loth, for like a flower am I, even Lothengriol the flower that blooms on the plain."[T 3]

According to The Book of Lost Tales the active male Elves of Gondolin belonged to one of the 11 "Houses" or Thlim plus the bodyguard of Tuor which was accounted the twelfth:

Name in Gnomish of the Houses[T 4]	Leader	Uniforms and emblems		Notes
The folk of the White Wing	Tuor		"These wore wings as it were of swans or gulls upon their helms, and the emblem of the White Wing was upon their shields."[T 5]	The bodyguard of Tuor.[T 6]
The House of the Mole or the Thlim Doldrin	Maeglin		"Sable was their harness, and they bore no sign or emblem, but their round caps of steel were covered with moleskin."[T 5]	Composed of skilled miners.
The House of the Swallow or the Thlim Duilin	Duilin		"[They] bore a fan of feathers on their helms, and they were arrayed in white and dark blue and in purple and black and showed an arrowhead on their shield."[T 7]	Gondolin's best archers.
The House of the Heavenly Arch or the Thlim Quing Ilon	Egalmoth		"They were arrayed in a glory of colours, and their arms were set with jewels. Every shield of that battalion was of the blue of the heavens."[T 6]	A very wealthy house; comprised the other part of Gondolin's archers.
The House of the Pillar or the Thlim Climbol	Penlod		unknown	Their leader was slain during the Fall of Gondolin.
The House of the Tower of Snow or the Thlim Ith Mindon	Penlod		unknown	Their leader was slain during the Fall of Gondolin.
The House of the Tree or the Thlim Galdon	Galdor		"Their raiment was green."[T 7]	Wielded clubs and slings.
The House of the Golden Flower or the Thlim Losglóriol	Glorfindel		"[They] bore a golden flower upon their shield."[T 7]
The House of the Fountain or the Thlim Ecthel	Ecthelion		"Silver and diamonds was their delight ; and swords very long and bright and pale did they wield."[T 7]	The guard of the fountains, primarily those of the king. Warriors of this house defended the seventh gate of Gondolin. They marched into battle to the playing of flutes.
The House of the Harp or the Thlim Salum	Salgant		"A harp of silver shone in their blazonry upon a field of black."[T 7]	House of musicians. However, their leader was a craven.
The House of the Hammer of Wrath or the Thlim Gothodrum	Rog		"The sign of this people was the Stricken Anvil, and a hammer that smiteth sparks about it was set on their shields."[T 6]	The largest and most valiant house. They comprised those blacksmiths who were not under Maeglin, as well as escaped thralls of Morgoth. They perished to the last elf during the Fall of Gondolin.
The House of the King	King Turgon		"The array of the house of the king and their colours were white and gold and red, and their emblems the moon and the sun and the scarlet heart [of Finwë Nólemë]."[T 7]	The three Royal Guard battalions of King Turgon.

In the hidden city of Gondolin, an isolated land, a peculiar Elvish dialect developed: "This differed from the standard (of Doriath) (a) in having Western and some Northern elements, and (b) in incorporating a good many Noldorin-Quenya words in more or less Sindarized forms. Thus the city was usually called Gondolin (from Q. Ondolin(dë)) with simple replacement of g-, not Goenlin or Goenglin [as it would have been in standard Sindarin]".[T 8] The common or standard Sindarin tongue was not used in Gondolin.

The smiths of Gondolin, using Elven craft, made powerful weapons. In The Hobbit, the swords Orcrist, Glamdring and a long dagger later named Sting were found in a Troll-hoard.[T 9] Each of these weapons had the ability to detect Orcs in the immediate vicinity by glowing. They also had the property of striking fear in the hearts of Orcs when used against them in combat. All were well-crafted, and extraordinarily sharp. Apparently, Gondolinian weapons were impervious to rust and corrosion, as the examples found in the trolls' lair were over 6,000 years old and had been hanging in the lair for an indeterminate length of time, yet were sharp and ready for use when unsheathed.

The dagger Sting was highly effective against giant spiders (distant offspring of Ungoliant) and could cut their webs with ease, including the spiders of Mirkwood and Shelob. Sting was able to cut the spider's eyes and wound her sufficiently that she fled in pain. Such creatures were common in the Ered Gorgoroth south of Gondolin.

According to Entertainment Weekly, "Patient and dedicated readers will find among the references to other books and their many footnotes and appendices a poignant sense of completion and finality to the life's pursuit of a father and son."[9] Writing for The Washington Post, writer Andrew Ervin said that "'The Fall of Gondolin' provides everything Tolkien's readers expect."[10] According to The Independent, "Even amid the complexities and difficulties of the book—and there are many—there is enough splendid imagery and characterful prose that readers will be carried along to the end even if they don't know where they are going."[11]

This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.