The Fall of Gondolin - Betrayal of Maeglin and Maeglin’s deal with Morgoth
Maeglin was caught and dragged to Angband in front of Morgoth. Morgoth, however, instead of torturing Maeglin, proposed a deal with Maeglin as Morgoth foresaw the desire of Maeglin to have both Idril and rule Gondolin.
Morgoth proposed to offer the title as king of Gondolin and Idril to Maeglin in return for the entrance of Gondolin. Maeglin was twisted with his desire as the ruler of Gondolin and to marry his cousin Idril and Maeglin has pointed out all the secret passages of Gondolin as well as the exact location of Gondolin in the basin of Tumladen surrounded by the Encircled Mountains.
Gondolin was the last elf kingdom that resisted and stood against Morgoth and Morgoth assembled his troops to invade Gondolin.
Morgoth released Maeglin, the elf who committed the worst treachery ever in the history of the Legendarium for his twisted desires. The visions of Ulmo and the Doom of Mandos now rises upon the last Noldor elf kingdom Gondolin that resisted Morgoth.
The Fall of Gondolin - Gates of Summer
Maeglin not only pointed out all the secret passages to Gondolin but he also pinpointed the best date to attack Gondolin. The Gates of Summer was a great festival and feast of Gondolin that celebrated the Rise of the Sun.
Maeglin claimed that the guard of Gondolin would be the weakest during the Gates of Summer. Although Maeglin was released, he knew that if he disappeared, Gondolin would be alerted of his disappearance and notice his betrayal.
However, Maeglin also knew that Morgoth could not be trusted while Maeglin desired Idril and the crown of Gondolin.
Already Maeglin exiting Gondolin was a crime in Gondolin so Maeglin decides to act as if nothing happened while he prepared to flee before Morgoth invades Gondolin during the Gates of Summer celebration.
The Fall of Gondolin - Construction of the Secret passage of Idril
Idril, the princess of Gondolin and Tuor’s wife noticed that Maeglin suddenly became abnormally quiet. Idril was already extremely nervous that her father Turgon didn’t take additional measures despite the warning of the Valar Ulmo delivered by her husband Tuor.
Also, Idril thought Maeglin was very suspicious as Maeglin was one of the advisors that strongly recommended Turgon not to take further actions despite Ulmo’s message that Gondolin was in danger.
Idril started to construct a secret passage from Gondolin to the outside world by her intuition. Idril kept this secret way strictly confidential especially to Maeglin.
However, Maeglin noticed that some of his mine workers were hired for a project and Maeglin noticed that Idril was up to something.
The Fall of Gondolin - March of Morgoth to Gondolin during the Gate of Summer
During the Gate of Summer festival, the guards and surveillance of Gondolin was loose. Under the command of Gothmog, the lord of the Balrogs, Morgoth has sent his troops with all kinds of terrible weapons, dragons, balrogs and rocs to invade Gondolin.
The forces of Morgoth surrounded the Encircled Mountains from the north, east and west. Morgoth’s forces didn’t approach from the south as the south of the Encircled Mountains held the nests of the eagles.
The Fall of Gondolin - Gondolin Council Assembly against Morgoth
Turgon, the king of Gondolin called for an emergency assembly of the Houses of Gondolin to discuss the strategy against the forces of Morgoth led by Gothmog.
Tuor claimed to abandon Gondolin and head to the mouth of Sirion, however Maeglin who feared that his betrayal might be revealed would take advantage of Turgon’s attachment on Gondolin and claimed to defend the castles of Gondolin.
Turgon chose to defend the walls of Gondolin and assigned each great Houses of Gondolin a sector to defend Gondolin.
The Fall of Gondolin - Siege of Gondolin and Maeglin’s plot to murder Earendil
Gothmog and the forces of Morgoth surrounded Gondolin and with the metal dragons, Gothmog destroyed the North Gate of Gondolin and a group of Balrogs led the spearhead and attacked the elves of Gondolin. The balrogs and the orcs annihilated the defending elves and the north of Gondolin was captured and controlled by the armies of Morgoth.
Maeglin had an evil plot to murder Earnedil the son of Tuor and Idril and ordered Salgant the lord of the House of the Harp to delay Tuor from returning home.
However, Salgant was too much of a coward and feared the consequences of betrayal and the infiltration of Morgoth’s armies so Tuor could return home earlier than Maeglin though.
The Fall of Gondolin - Death of Maeglin
Maeglin arrived at Tuor’s house and while he tried to find and throw Earnedil off the walls of Gondolin, Idril held a great fight against Maeglin. As Salgant fled in fear, Tuor came to his house early to bid farewell to his family before he entered battle.
However, Tuor witnessed Maeglin threatening his son Earendil and wife Idril in his house. Maeglin, after noticing Tuor’s return, quickly caught Earendil and pointed his sword threatening Tuor.
However, Earendil bit the hands of Maeglin and Maeglin dropped his sword. Furious Tuor would grab Maeglin and ran to the cliffs of the walls of Gondolin and threw Maeglin off the walls of Gondolin.
This marked the death of the worst betrayer of the Legendarium, Maeglin.
The Fall of Gondolin - Evacuation of Gondolin by Idril and Voronwe
After the death of Maeglin, Tuor asked Voronwe and his men to escort Idril and Earendil to safety. Idril would lead refugees to the secret passage that she had built.
Idril would first evacuate her son Earendil by the secret passage and with Voronwe, Idril constantly searched for survivors together and led them to the secret passage during the Siege of Gondolin. Tuor would lead the rest of the elves to battle.
The Fall of Gondolin – Tuor and Ecthelion’s Counterattack to the Northgate
The outer balley walls of Gondolin and the castle walls were all captured and controlled by the forces of Morgoth. The forces of Morgoth that infiltrated from the north were at the brink of entering the royal square but due to the heavy damage, they were reassembling their lines before they advanced to the royal halls.
Turgon would order Ecthelion and Tuor to counterattack the north before Morgoth’s forces could regroup and reinforce themselves.
The elves of Ecthelion and Tuor successfully pushed the forces of Morgoth to the north, however another group of dragons broke in as reinforcements to the forces of Morgoth which forced Ecthelion and Tuor to retreat.
