Gondolin
The most portentous city of the Elder Days was the pride of the Elves and a nightmare for Morgoth.
The epic history of Middle-earth had its golden days when Beleriand existed.
In that splendorous period, the Elves lived at the height of their power, Melkor sowed terror through unleashed divine power, and Men competed in majesty with the Quendi.
Over the centuries, countless Elven kingdoms were founded, all-powerful and facing the threatening power of Vala Melkor, who sought to dominate all of Middle-earth and its creatures.
Of all these elven domains, the one that Melkor (later known as Morgoth, after the curse of Fëanor) hated and feared the most was Gondolin.
The origins of the most important city of the Elves (with permission of Thingol) must be sought in the period in which the Noldor returned to Middle-earth, settling in different parts of Beleriand to fulfill the revenge of Fëanor against Morgoth.
Turgon was one of the many Elves who followed Fëanor. He was the son of Fingolfin, half-brother of Fëanor himself and, therefore, his nephew. And like many of his relatives (cousins, brothers, uncles…), he became the lord of a piece of land in Beleriand.
Thus, Turgon became the lord of the lands of Nevrast, located on the coast of Beleriand, between the Falas and the estuary of Drengist.
Years passed, and an extraordinary event happened in the most advantageous way possible. Turgon was strolling near the Sirion River when the Vala Ulmo appeared to him. This was the ruler of the waters that existed in all of Arda.
Ulmo asked Turgon to follow him, heading for a secret valley called Tumladen. It was a hidden enclave in the middle of a mountain range, the Crissaegrim and the Echoriath, inaccessible to any creature except the eagles of Thorondor.
It was in this hidden enclave that Turgon saw the possibility of escaping the threat of Morgoth. He decided to build his new kingdom in that region and, with the help of Ulmo, built a walled city.
For two hundred years, and with the help of the Vala of the seas, he erected the fortress of white stone. Upon completion, Ulmo blessed it and gave it all the divine protection it was capable of.
The city was considered the most beautiful in all of Beleriand. It was rumored that it was because Turgon built it inspired by the city of Tirion, the city of the Noldor located in Aman (land of the Vala), and that he had admired before his return to Middle-earth.
With the construction of Gondolin completed, Turgon undertook the great move with his people: all the inhabitants of Nevrast crossed the secret pass through the mountains and settled in their new kingdom.
Over time the city was known by many names:
In the original Quenya, it was called Ondolindë, Stone Song.
In Sindarin, it was called Gondolin, Hidden Rock, and was the name by which it was known in Beleriand.
It was also called Gondomar (The City of Stone), Gondothlimbar (The City of Stone Dwellers), and Gar Turion (The Secret Place).
However, its inhabitants called it Loth (The Flower) or Lothengriol, The Flower that blooms in the meadow.
That the name by which it was known throughout Beleriand was that of Gondolin had its reason for being since Turgon never revealed to the rest of the elven kingdoms where his kingdom was located.
Moreover, according to the city’s primary law, anyone who had seen it could not leave its walls again.
The internal organization of Gondolin orbited around the existence of twelve houses, whose internal structure was independent and had its leaders.
Bar-en-Alphram (House of the swan’s wing) was the escort of Tuor (son of Turgon), the place where the bravest gathered
House of the mole: those loyal to Maeglin, nephew of Turgon. It was mainly made up of miners.
Bar-en-Duilin (House of the Swallow): home of the best archers of Gondolin.
House of the Heavenly Bow: home of the richest archers in the city.
House of the Pillar: house run by Penloth, an Elf of great importance in Gondolin.
House of the Snow Tower: house also commanded by Penloth.
Bar-en-Galadh (House of the Tree): house of raiding warriors who wielded slingshots and iron truncheons.
Bar-en-Lothglor (House of the Golden Flower): one of the most distinguished houses, commanded by Glorfindel, one of the most extraordinary elves ever seen.
Bar-en-Eithel (House of the Fountain): another house of warriors who marched into battle accompanied by flute music.
House of the Harp: house of brave warriors who unfortunately had a leader who was not up to the task.
Dar-en-Damba (House of the Wrathful Hammer) was the most prominent house with the most fearless warriors. They were blacksmiths and craftsmen for the most part and distrusted Maeglin.
Bar-en-Aran (King’s House): the most important of all the houses, composed of the royal family and their escort. It was the house that ruled the entire city.
Despite not relating to the outside world and remaining hidden for centuries, Gondolin left for the history of Middle-earth artifacts that endured over the centuries and even came to be in the hands of characters in The Lord of the Rings (such as Glamdring, Turgon’s sword that Gandalf would wield; Dardo, a dagger that Bilbo and later Frodo would use; Elessar, the Elfstone that Aragorn will wear in his crown when he is crowned in Gondor).
The years passed, and Gondolin remained unscathed by Morgoth’s destruction in Beleriand. Nevertheless, Turgon went to the Nírnaeth Arnoediad with ten thousand warriors. From the disastrous outcome, he barely escaped (thanks to Huor and Húrin) to return unseen to his kingdom.
But nothing lasts forever, and in the year 511 of the First Age, the city was devastated by the full power of Morgoth. Orcs, balrogs, wolves, and dragons burst into the valley after the betrayal of Maeglin, who, in love with his cousin Idril, gave in to the deceit of the Dark Lord and revealed the location of the kingdom.
Before the fall, Ulmo himself tried to warn Turgon through Tuor, a man. However, the king of Gondolin believed himself impregnable, and his heart was too attached to the city, so he did not listen to Vala’s warnings.
Thus, with the fall of the hidden city of Gondolin, the so-called Doom of Mandos, proclaimed by the Vala Mandos many centuries ago and by which he predicted that all those who followed Fëanor on his journey to Middle-earth would find only pain and death, was fulfilled.