The Fall of Gondolin – Fall of Gondolin
The forces of Morgoth captured half of Gondolin and endless waves of orcs and the dark forces of Morgoth poured into Gondolin.
Glorfindel who was defending the east had to retreat to the center of Gondolin as well. The elves of Gondolin reassembled in the center keep of Gondolin while the forces of Morgoth surrounded the keep.
From the east, west and the north, Morgoth’s forces poured into the inner keep. Gothmog attacked Tuor and Tuor fainted by a blow of Gothmog. Ecthelion of the Fountain spotted Gothmog and Tuor while he was severely wounded.
The Fall of Gondolin – Death of Ecthelion and Gothmog
Ecthelion of the Fountain saw the Gothmog the commander of the forces of Morgoth and when Tuor fainted by a blow of Gothmog, Ecthelion made up his mind and commenced a suicide assault against Gothmog. Ecthelion knew that the ruthless balrog lord was much powerful than him and he didn’t stand a chance against him.
Ecthelion decided to grab Gothmog and put his sword into the chest of Gothmog for a firmer grip and jumped into the Fountain of the King.
Gothmog and Ecthelion drowned together inside the Fountain of the King that was also the water source for the whole Gondolin
Turgon and the House of the King attacked the forces of Morgoth killing numerous orcs and a handful of balrogs which Tuor also woke up and fought together. The Fountain of the King was defiled and contaminated by the bloods of the balrogs and orcs.
Even if by a slight chance Gondolin was defended, there was no chance to survive on Gondolin as the Fountain of the King was contaminated and Turgon would declare the forfeit of Gondolin and ordered all elves of Gondolin to evacuate.
The Fall of Gondolin – Evacuation of Gondolin, Death of Turgon
After the death of Gothmog, the commander of Morgoth’s army, there was a brief chaos among the forces of Morgoth. However, the forces of Morgoth reassembled and started the attack on the royal palace. Turgon declared that he shall remain at the royal palace while he ordered Tuor and Glorfindel to protect the civilians.
Tuor informed the presence of the secret passage of Idril and guided the refugees to the secret way. Tuor requested Turgon to evacuate but Turgon chose his fate to fight until death.
Tuor led the refugees to the secret passage of Idril. Most of the main strength of Morgoth were concentrated on the royal palace so Tuor and the refugees could reach the secret passage of Idril without much resistance.
After Tuor and Idril reunited, the tower of the king collapsed and together, Turgon died in action. Idril froze at the moment she realized her father Turgon passed away but Tuor insisted Idril to be strong for their son Earendil.
The Fall of Gondolin – Paring of the refugee groups
The refugees of Gondolin were divided as Tuor claimed that the refugees should take the dangerous narrow path that headed to the south where Cirith Thoronath was. However, other refugees claimed to take the other passages leading to the Sirion river that was already prepared for safety. Tuor and Idril warned that these passages might be occupied by the forces of Morgoth already.
Yet the refugees divided where Tuor and Idril led a party to Cirith Thoronath and the others took the other passages to the Sirion river.
Like Tuor and Idril thought, the forces of Morgoth ambushed the refugees that took the passages already set for Sirion because Maeglin informed Morgoth of every detailed passage of Gondolin.
The Fall of Gondolin – Evacuation through Cirith Thoronath and the death of Glorfindel
Tuor and Idril led the refuges to Cirith Thoronath while Glorfindel protected the rear. However, another balrog that was overwatching the south attacked the refugees of Tuor.
Throndor and the eagles came to aid and attacked the orcs. However, Glorfindel fell off the steep cliffs of the mountains after a fierce fight with the balrog as the balrog grabbed Glorfindel by his hair. Throndor would pick up the corpse of Glorfindel and later the refugees of Gondolin would bury him and give him a proper funeral.
Glorfindel’s soul would later enter the Halls of Mandos, however he was revived by the Valars and Glorfindel was dispatched once again to Middle Earth by the Valars during the Second Age where he would serve Elrond, the grandson of Tuor and Idril at Rinvendell.
In the movie Lord of the Rings, Arwen would take some of the roles of Glorfindel, however in the original novel, Glorfindel warded off the Nazgul by the river and made the prophecy of the Witchking of Angmar that no living man shall kill the witchking of Angmar.
The Fall of Gondolin – Exiles of Gondolin and the Havens of Sirion
Voronwe, Tuor and Idril led the refugees to the mouth of the Sirion river also known as the Havens of Sirion. The valar Ulmo was able to help the exiles of Gondolin as more the refugees reached towards the mouth of Sirion, the more power Ulmo held as he was the Valar of the sea.
There were sporadic attacks by Morgoth, but the refugees of Gondolin were able to defend themselves.
The balrogs and the dragons also feared the might of Ulmo and halted their advance. The refugees of Gondolin met with humans that escaped from Brethil after the fall of House of Haleth and elf refugees from Doriath at the mouth of Sirion, the Haven of Sirion.
The refugees of Gondolin, Doriath and Brethil settled at the Haven of Sirion. Tuor and Idril also noticed Elwing, the daughter of Dior and took her and took care of her.
The Fall of Gondolin – Collapse of Gondolin and the new Noldor elf king Gil-Galad
After the death of Turgon, the king of Gondolin and the king of the Noldor elves of Middle Earth, Gil-Galad, the son of Orodreth of the House of Finarfin became the king of the Noldor elves of Middle Earth.
Gil-Galad was under the mentorship of Cirdan and they resided on the island of Balar. Cirdan and Gil-Galad would keep a secret port at the Haven of Sirion.
By the collapse of Gondolin, Morgoth had no more enemies to stop him from conquering middle earth. Narogotrhond perished by the tragedy of Turin while Doriath perished by the curse of the Oath of Feanor and Gondlin collapsed by the filthy desires of Maeglin.
However, Morgoth also suffered many losses including his long battlefield commander the balrog lord Gothmog and Morgoth decides to slowly enjoy his final conquest of middle earth.
