Tuor
|
This article or section needs expansion and/or modification. Please help the wiki by expanding it. |
| Tuor | |
|---|---|
| Adan | |
| File:Luca Michelucci - 1999 - December.jpg | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Other names | Tûr |
| Titles | Lord of the House of the Wing |
| Birth | F.A. 472, Dor-lómin |
| Death | Traditionally made immortal |
| Family | |
| House | House of Hador |
| Parentage | Huor & Rían |
| Spouse | Idril Celebrindal |
| Children | Eärendil |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Dark |
| Gallery | Images of Tuor |
Tuor (born F.A. 472) was a hero of the last years of the First Age.
Born shortly after the disastrous Nírnaeth Arnoediad, Tuor's life coincided with the final defeat of the Edain and the Noldor-in-Exile by the forces of Morgoth. After the deaths of his parents Huor and Rían he was fostered by the surviving Elves of Mithrim. He passed his youth a refugee and an outlaw, before being chosen by the Vala Ulmo as his instrument and coming to the hidden city of Gondolin. There he rose high in the favour of the High King Turgon and wedded the elf-maiden Idril, the King's daughter. He escaped the fall of Gondolin along with Idril and their newborn son Eärendil and came to the Mouths of Sirion. After abiding in that refuge long enough to see Eärendil to manhood he finally succumbed to sea-longing and, with Idril, departed Middle-earth for the West. After that no definitive tale is told of Tuor, but the tradition of the Noldor was that he became the only Man to be accepted as one of the elder kindred, and shared with them an immortal exist in Valinor.
History
Family and Early Life
Tuor was the only son of Huor, of the House of Hador, and Rían, of the House of Bëor. His paternal grandfather was Galdor the Tall, Lord of Dor-lómin. In their youth Huor and his elder brother Húrin Thalion were fostered with their kin in Brethil and from there they went to battle against the hordes of Morgoth that assailed that realm—and all of northern Beleriand—following the Dagor Bragollach. During one of these campaigns the brothers found themselves in mortal peril, but with the aid of Ulmo and Thorondor escaped and were brought to the Gondolin. In this way they became the first men to see the hidden city, and dwelt there for a year as the guests of Turgon – who had been counselled by Ulmo that help would come to him from the House of Hador. Though they learnt much from the Gondolindrim Huor and Húrin eventually sought to return to their own people, so Turgon reluctantly waived his law and let them leave on a condition of silence.[1]
Huor was slain in the Nírnaeth Arnoediad. He fell defending the retreat of Turgon, speaking his last words to the Elven King: "...out of your house shall come the hope of Elves and Men... from you and from me a new star shall arise".[2] Shortly thereafter his son was born, and then Rían made her way to the Haudh-en-Ndengin, where she laid down in grief and died.[3] The orphaned Tuor was taken in and fostered by Annael, a Sinda of Mithrim, amongst the Elves and Men that had taken refuge in the caves of Androth after the Nírnaeth. When Tuor was sixteen the refugees attempted to make their way south to the Havens of Sirion, but they were assailed and Tuor was captured by the Easterlings who now occupied Hithlum in the name of Morgoth.
Journeys in the Wilderness
Tuor was thrall in the House of Lorgan for three years, until finally he made his escape back to the caves of Androth. For a further four years he dwelt there alone as an outlaw, accumulating a large bounty from his attacks on the Easterlings.
Eventually however Tuor was prompted by the Vala Ulmo in a dream to leave Hithlum. He journeyed west across Dor-lómin, the land of his fathers, and came to Annon-in-Gelydh, a tunnel made by the Noldor that led through the mountains separating Hithlum and Nevrast. Using this Tuor escaped from Hithlum in complete secrecy and came to the shores of Belegaer, the Great Sea, and "longing for it were ever in his heart and ear"[4]. He lived by Belegaer until the autumn, and then followed seven swans southward, eventually coming to the abandoned city of Vinyamar where long ago Turgon had left for him a sword and armour at the behest of Ulmo. Then during a great storm the Vala finally appeared to Tuor directly, ordering him to seek the city of Gondolin, and giving him a cloak that would "mantle him in shadow from the eyes of his enemies"[5]. And in the morning he met his guide, Voronwë – an elf of Gondolin who had been shipwrecked off the coast of Beleriand and rescued and brought to Vinyamar by Ulmo.
Life in Gondolin
Voronwë led Tuor through Núath, where he caught a brief glimpse of his ill-fated cousin Túrin Turambar near the Pools of Ivrin – the only time the paths of the two men ever crossed. Reaching the hidden door of Gondolin they were taken as prisoners by the guard and brought before Ecthelion of the Fountain, who recognised from his arms that Tuor had been sent by Ulmo. Tuor was thus welcomed into the city and brought before the High King Turgon, to whom he delivered the message of Ulmo: that the Doom of Mandos was nearing its fulfilment and Turgon should abandon his city and retreat to the Havens of Sirion.
Turgon however chose not to heed Ulmo's warning, though it prompted him to block up the hidden door and make Gondolin's isolation complete. Therefore Tuor remained in Gondolin and like his father before him he learned much from the Elves. He fell in love with Idril Celebrindal, the daughter of the King, and she with him, and after Tuor had dwelt in Gondolin for seven years they were married. This union, as well as the favour of the King and the memory of his father, endeared Tuor to the people of Gondolin and he was made the leader of the House of the Wing. Only Maeglin and his followers harboured a secret hatred and jealousy of him.
Fall of Gondolin
One year after the union of Tuor and Idril their only son Eärendil was born. But the location of Gondolin finally been betrayed by Húrin, Tuor's uncle, who had been released from a long torment by Morgoth for this end. Still Morgoth would not have found an entrance to the city were it not for the treachery of Maeglin, who having defied the King's order and ventured outside the encircling mountains was captured by Orcs and brought to Angband – there he betrayed Turgon in return for the promise of the lordship of Gondolin and the possession of Idril.
During the subsequent siege Tuor fought valiantly. He rescued Idril from Maeglin, throwing the Dark Elf from the walls of the city to his death. But in the end Gondolin fell and Turgon was killed. Tuor and Idril led the survivors of the sack in a desperate escape through the secret way Idril had prepared and over the mountains. Protected by Ulmo they journeyed down the vale of Sirion to the Havens at its mouth which was the last refuge of the Elves of Beleriand. On the way the remnant of Gondolin stopped in Nan-tathren to make a feast in memory of the fallen, and here Tuor composed The Horns of Ylmir for his son Eärendil.
Fate
Tuor and Idril dwelt for a while at the Mouths of Sirion. But eventually the sea-longing that had been instilled in him when he first came to the shores of Belegaer grew to strong. He built a ship, Eärrámë (Q: 'Sea-wing'), and sailed to the West with Idril. It was a tradition under the Eldar and Edain that they arrived in Valinor, and that Tuor alone of Men was counted among the Eldar, immortal as other Elves.
Soon however Huor's prophecy on the field of Nírnaeth Arnoediad proved true. Eärendil, son of Tuor and Idril, sailed to Valinor and roused the Valar to the War of Wrath, and so was the saviour of the Elves and Men of Middle-earth.
Genealogy
| Marach House of Hador | Haldad House of Haleth | Bëor House of Bëor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Galdor F.A. 417 - 462 | Hareth born F.A. 417 | Turgon born during YOTT | Elenwë born during YOTT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Morwen F.A. 443 - c. 500 | Húrin F.A. 439 - c. 500 | Huor F.A. 444 - 472 | Rían F.A. 450 - 472 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Túrin F.A. 464 - 499 | Lalaith F.A. 466 - 469 | Nienor F.A. 473 - 499 | TUOR born F.A. 472 | Idril Celebrindal born during YOTT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elwing born F.A. 503 | Eärendil born F.A. 503 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elros F.A. 532 - S.A. 442 | Elrond born F.A. 532 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Etymology
From tû "muscle, vigor, strength" and or "heart, mind". The complete etymology is given as túgore meaning 'strong haste'[6]
In Other Versions of the Legendarium
In some writings he is named Tûr.
See Also
References
General
- J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin".
- J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin".
- J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, The Fall of Gondolin.
Citations
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin".
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Children of Húrin, "The Battle of Unnumbered Tears", p. 58.
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Túrin Turambar".
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin", p. 286.
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin", p. 286.
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, The Etymologies.
