Turgon

Lineage and the crossing of the Ice

Turgon was the second son of Fingolfin and Anairë, brother of Fingon and Aredhel, and grandson of Finwë. In Aman he married Elenwë of the Vanyar, and their daughter was Idril. He was the closest friend of his cousin Finrod, and the two shared a temperament: patient, far-sighted, and inclined to build. When the Noldor left Aman, Turgon went with his father's host and crossed the Helcaraxë; Elenwë died on the ice, and Turgon carried the grief and a lasting hatred of the house of Fëanor into Middle-earth.

Nevrast and the vision of Ulmo

In Beleriand Turgon settled in Nevrast, the coastal country south-west of Hithlum, and built the halls of Vinyamar beneath Mount Taras. Many Sindar of the coast joined his people. In F.A. 50 he and Finrod, travelling together along the Sirion, slept beside the river and both dreamed dreams sent by Ulmo, warning them that the peace of Beleriand would not last and urging each to prepare a hidden refuge. Finrod found the caves that became Nargothrond. Turgon, guided by Ulmo, found the hidden vale of Tumladen in the Echoriath, a ring of mountains east of the Sirion where a lake had once been, with a hill of rock at its centre. He returned to Nevrast and began in secret to plan a city.

The building of Gondolin

The work took fifty-two years. Turgon's people built Gondolin on the hill of Amon Gwareth in the likeness of Tirion, with white walls, the Tower of the King, fountains, and two trees of gold and silver wrought in memory of the Two Trees. When it was ready, in F.A. 116, Turgon led his whole people out of Nevrast in secret and vanished into the mountains. Ulmo spoke to him before he left, warning him that the city would stand only as long as Turgon's own love of it did not grow too great, and instructing him to leave his sword and armour at Vinyamar for one who would come after. Turgon obeyed, and no one in Beleriand knew where the Noldor of Nevrast had gone. Thorondor and the Eagles guarded the mountains, and the Way of Escape under the hills was watched by the Guard. Gondolin became the greatest and most secret of the Elven realms and the only one that Morgoth could not find.

The long secrecy

For nearly four hundred years Turgon kept Gondolin closed. His sister Aredhel grew restless and left in F.A. 316, and returned in 400 with her son Maeglin, pursued by her husband Eöl; Turgon welcomed his nephew and condemned Eöl to death after Eöl killed Aredhel with a poisoned javelin meant for the boy. Maeglin rose high in Turgon's counsel. Two Men, Húrin and Huor, were brought to Gondolin as youths by the Eagles and stayed a year before Turgon let them go under oath of secrecy. After the Dagor Bragollach Turgon began secretly to send mariners west from the Mouths of Sirion to seek Valinor and beg the pardon of the Valar, but none ever returned save one, Voronwë.

The Nirnaeth Arnoediad

In F.A. 472 Turgon did what no one expected: he marched out of Gondolin with ten thousand and came to the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, joining Fingon on the western wing. When the battle was lost, the Men of Dor-lómin under Húrin and Huor held the Fen of Serech to cover his retreat, and Huor told him that from him and from Turgon a new star would rise. Turgon escaped back to Gondolin with the remnant of his host, and the survival of his city became Morgoth's chief concern. Fingon was dead, and Turgon was now High King of the Noldor, a king whom no one could find.

Tuor and the warning

Ulmo's last messenger came in F.A. 495. Tuor, Huor's son, found the arms Turgon had left at Vinyamar and was led to Gondolin by Voronwë. He brought Ulmo's counsel: abandon the city, go down to the Sea, and the Valar might yet be moved. Turgon refused. He had come to love his city too much, exactly as Ulmo had warned; he trusted its secrecy and his own strength, and he shut the passes more tightly than ever. He did not, however, treat the messenger as an enemy. Tuor stayed, won the friendship of the king, and in F.A. 502 married Idril, the second marriage of Elf and mortal; their son Eärendil was born the next year.

The Fall of Gondolin

Maeglin, who had loved Idril and hated Tuor, was captured by Orcs while mining beyond the mountains and bought his life from Morgoth by betraying the location of the city. In F.A. 510, at the feast of midsummer, Morgoth's army came over the northern mountains with Balrogs and dragons. Turgon armed his people and fought. The Houses of Gondolin held the walls and the gates for a day; Ecthelion slew Gothmog at the fountain of the king and died, Glorfindel died killing a Balrog in the mountains, and Tuor threw Maeglin from the walls. Turgon refused Tuor's plea to flee. He climbed the Tower of the King and was there when the enemy brought it down, and he died in its fall, the last High King of the Noldor in Beleriand. Idril, Tuor and Eärendil escaped by the secret way she had prepared, and the survivors came at last to the Mouths of Sirion.

Legacy

Turgon built the fairest city of the Elves in Middle-earth and kept it hidden for three hundred and ninety-four years, longer than any other stronghold of the Noldor endured. His refusal of Ulmo's counsel destroyed it, but his fostering of Tuor and the marriage of his daughter produced Eärendil, who did what Turgon's mariners had failed to do and reached Valinor. His sword Glamdring was found in a troll-hoard in the Third Age and carried by Gandalf. The High Kingship passed to Gil-galad, and the memory of Gondolin became, for Elves and Men alike, the measure of what was lost in the Elder Days.

Died in the fall of the Tower of the King when Gondolin was sacked in F.A. 510.