The Fall Of Gondolin

Gondolin is a city created by elves, hidden away in the mountains, the last outpost of light in the First Age of Middle-earth, when the evil forces of Morgoth have conquered almost everything else. Morgoth knows this city must exist, and he regularly sends search parties of orcs to find it. Its end is almost inevitable, and the story of that end is told in “The Fall of Gondolin,” the last of the unpublished tales of J.R.R. Tolkien.Opposing Morgoth is Ulmo, the god of the sea, who raises up Tuor of the race of men. Tuor undertakes three great journeys in his life.The first is his journey from his own homeland toward the sea, subconsciously hearing the call of Ulmo.The second is his journey to Gondolin, where he comes to live and marry Idril, the daughter and only child of the elvish king. Tuor and Idril have a son, Earendil, who, outside the arc of this story, will have a son named Elrond of Rivendell, a main character of “The Lord of the Rings.”Tuor’s third great journey will be to lead his family and a small remnant of the elves of Gondolin to safety, after the destruction of the city.And thus ends one of the great publishing stories of modern times, a story that began in 1937 with “The Hobbit,” crested in the 1950s with “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and then continued after Tolkien’s death with the publication of “The Silmarillion” in 1977, the 12 volumes of “The History of Middle-earth” (1983-1996), and the three stories of the First Age – “The Children of Hurin” (2007), “Beren and Luthien” (2017), and now “The Fall of Gondolin,” just published August 30.That we have all of these stories since “The Lord of the Rings” is due to Tolkien’s son and literary executor Christopher Tolkien, who has served as editor for all of his father’s publications since Tolkien’s death in 1973. Christopher also edited his father’s non-Middle-earth stories, poems, and translations, including “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun” (2009), “The Fall of Arthur” (2013), and “Beowulf: A Translation” (2014). What Christopher, now 94, has accomplished is no small feat; all of these posthumous works have required extensive editing, research, and text comparisons.Christopher Tolkien says that his father began to write “The Fall of Gondolin” in 1916 or 1917, during World War I. The text version he uses for this publication was written longhand by his father in 1925 and typed by his mother, Edith. But to publish it properly required comparison of texts, versions, notes, and other materials, and Christopher describes it the book (the story itself is 57 of the 304 pages).The edition includes eight plates of illustrations by artist Alan Lee, which are both true to the spirit of Tolkien and his artwork and a profound reinterpretation.“The Fall of Gondolin” includes trademark Tolkien themes and devices. We see the unleashing of dragons, balrogs, and orcs against the city of the elves. We watch the treachery of the king’s nephew. We read the great battle scenes at which Tolkien excelled. And we experience the sorrow and determination of the hero, in this case the man Tuor, leading the few survivors to safety. (Tolkien always managed to save a remnant, a pointed reminder that, in the long run, superior numbers are not always decisive.)It’s a heart-stirring story. It’s also evidence, as if we needed more, of what one man’s imagination produced.

A young British army officer, drawn and pale after a severe bout of trench fever, lay recuperating in hospitals for months in late 1916 and 1917. Although his body was weak his imagination and intellect remained strong, and he began writing out a story which had been haunting him. A beautiful city in a hidden mountain valley occupied by Elves (or Gnomes as he then called them); a powerful enemy searching for the city with every demonic force at his disposal; a noble wanderer who finds his way to the city, falls in love with its king's daughter, and becomes one of its chief defenders; the city's betrayal by an envious relative of the king; and finally its capture and destruction by bestial warriors using horrible metallic weaponry, leaving only a few survivors, including the hero and his family, to make their escape. That young officer was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, and the tale of the Fall of Gondolin became a central part of the mythology he had determined to write for England.Tolkien wrote and rewrote The Fall of Gondolin several times during his lifetime, though he was never able to produce a final version which completely satisfied him. After his death in 1973 his son Christopher assumed the task of organizing and finishing his father's mythology, publishing The Silmarillion in 1977, a twelve volume "History of Middle-earth" containing most of his father's versions of his various tales during the 1980s and 1990s, and more recently three single volumes devoted to the "Great Tales"of The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, and now The Fall of Gondolin. In the preface to this final volume Christopher wrote that "in my ninety-fourth year The Fall of Gondolin is (indubitably) the last," bringing tears to my eyes and to those of his countless other admirers, but also inspiring our admiration and deep gratitude.The Fall of Gondolin consists of a number of different versions of the tale written by Tolkien at various periods. There are inconsistencies in some of the names, and inevitably characters and events appear, vanish, sometimes reappear or are heavily altered. One aspect remains apparent throughout: the sheer beauty of Tolkien's writing. This is especially impressive when we remember that Tolkien first wrote of Gondolin in his mid-twenties. Accompanying and enhancing Tolkien's words are the magnificent illustrations provided by Alan Lee, including eight color plates and many smaller drawings at the head of each chapter. Christopher Tolkien provides explanatory Notes throughout the book, with more Notes and additional material at the end, including a lengthy annotated list of Names, a Glossary of English words used by Tolkien which are now considered obsolete, archaic, or rare, and a short genealogy and map. He also includes a short quotation from The Hobbit which made me somewhat teary-eyed, as many years ago that book was my first introduction to Tolkien and the very first reference to Gondolin.The Fall of Gondolin and the two other Great Tales are indispensable for Tolkien scholars, but those who are just beginning their journey through Middle-earth, Beleriand, and Valinor in the First Age would be better served by starting with The Silmarillion. As most who read and love him can attest, Tolkien's words never grow stale.

I've loved LOTR since I was 12, but I struggled with The Silmarillion as a teenager and I never really loved it as much. I was surprised and pleased to find that the earliest version of the story of Gondolin was just as fresh and enjoyable as LOTR. This book is worthwhile for that first version alone. I'm realizing that Tolkien's main flaw as a writer was his need to keep tinkering with his work--something he didn't have the leisure to do with LOTR.