Contents of this entry
The road to the Hidden CityEscape and a tradition of an exceptional fatePrimary referencesRelated encyclopedia entries
The road to the Hidden City
Raised among Elves after his father’s death, Tuor later endures captivity and travels towards the western coasts. At Vinyamar, Ulmo reveals a task and provides a means of approaching Turgon’s realm. Voronwë becomes his guide on the difficult journey inland, turning the discovery of Gondolin into an encounter shaped by memory and trust.
Tuor’s message warns against treating concealment as a permanent answer to Morgoth. Turgon nevertheless remains in the city. Tuor stays, is honoured among its people and marries Idril Celebrindal, the king’s daughter. Their son Eärendil joins the histories of the Houses of Hador and Fingolfin.
Escape and a tradition of an exceptional fate
When Gondolin falls, Idril’s preparations for escape are decisive. Tuor helps lead the survivors through the way she has arranged, and the family eventually reaches the Havens of Sirion. Preservation of the child and of a remnant of the people becomes more important than the defence of a city that can no longer survive.
Tuor later sails west with Idril. The published account preserves a tradition that he was numbered among the Elves. It should be identified as an exceptional reported fate, not treated as a general possibility available to any mortal who sails far enough.
Unfinished Tales contains a much fuller later account of his early journey and arrival at Gondolin, but that narrative breaks off before the city’s fall. The separately published Fall of Gondolin gathers different versions rather than supplying a newly completed late novel of the whole life.
Primary references
The Silmarillion, “Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin”; Unfinished Tales, “Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin”; The Fall of Gondolin, edited by Christopher Tolkien.
