Understand how Gondolin and Nargothrond were built, how Thingol learned the truth about the Kinslaying at Alqualondë and banned the Quenya tongue in Doriath, and what role letters and secrecy play in the fate of the Noldor.
Content guide
What the chapter is about
This chapter shows how the Noldor settle in Beleriand and how a hidden rift grows between them and the Sindar.
The main events:
— At the bidding of the Vala Ulmo, Turgon finds the hidden vale of Tumladen and builds Gondolin there, a copy of lost Tirion in Aman. It is built in secret; few know the way in. Turgon's sister Aredhel goes there too.
— With the help of the Dwarves of Nogrod, Finrod builds Nargothrond in the caves above the river Narog and is named Felagund, in the Dwarves' tongue “hewer of caves” / “lord of caves.” In gratitude the Dwarves give him the necklace Nauglamír.
— In Doriath the minstrel Daeron, in love with Lúthien, devises letters, the Cirth (the runes of Daeron): the legendarium's “Sindarin alphabet.” Runes like these will later appear in “The Lord of the Rings.”
— And the key turning point: Thingol learns from the sons of Finarfin (and the rumor is then confirmed) that the Noldor shed kindred blood at Alqualondë, the Kinslaying at the haven of the Teleri, Thingol's kin. Shaken, Thingol BANS Quenya in his kingdom. From then on Sindarin is spoken all over Beleriand, and Quenya becomes a kind of “Latin,” a language of learning and secrecy.
This ban is a quiet but weighty revenge, and a sign that the shadow of the Oath of Fëanor and the Kinslaying has fallen on the whole people of the exiles, even the innocent.
Lesson notes
What the chapter is about
This chapter shows how the Noldor settle in Beleriand and how a hidden rift grows between them and the Sindar.
The main events:
— At the bidding of the Vala Ulmo, Turgon finds the hidden vale of Tumladen and builds Gondolin there, a copy of lost Tirion in Aman. It is built in secret; few know the way in. Turgon's sister Aredhel goes there too.
— With the help of the Dwarves of Nogrod, Finrod builds Nargothrond in the caves above the river Narog and is named Felagund, in the Dwarves' tongue “hewer of caves” / “lord of caves.” In gratitude the Dwarves give him the necklace Nauglamír.
— In Doriath the minstrel Daeron, in love with Lúthien, devises letters, the Cirth (the runes of Daeron): the legendarium's “Sindarin alphabet.” Runes like these will later appear in “The Lord of the Rings.”
— And the key turning point: Thingol learns from the sons of Finarfin (and the rumor is then confirmed) that the Noldor shed kindred blood at Alqualondë, the Kinslaying at the haven of the Teleri, Thingol's kin. Shaken, Thingol BANS Quenya in his kingdom. From then on Sindarin is spoken all over Beleriand, and Quenya becomes a kind of “Latin,” a language of learning and secrecy.
This ban is a quiet but weighty revenge, and a sign that the shadow of the Oath of Fëanor and the Kinslaying has fallen on the whole people of the exiles, even the innocent.
Secrecy, language, and fate
Recurring motifs worth noticing here:
— SECRECY AS DEFENSE AND AS A TRAP. Gondolin and Nargothrond survive by hiding. But in the legendarium everything hidden is found and betrayed in the end: both Nargothrond and Gondolin fall precisely when their secret is broken. Tolkien shows that fate cannot be escaped, only delayed.
— LANGUAGE AS DESTINY. The ban on Quenya is a very rare case of a plot turn resting not on a sword but on a language. For Tolkien the philologist, languages were living beings: a change of speech means a change of age and a break with the past. The Noldor lose their native tongue, as they once lost the light of the Trees.
— FELAGUND AND THE NAUGLAMÍR. Finrod's epithet and the Dwarves' necklace seem like passing details. In fact the Nauglamír sets up great disasters: later a Silmaril will be set in it, and it will cause wars and slaughter in Doriath itself. Tolkien likes to plant objects that “go off” later.
— THE LINK TO “THE LORD OF THE RINGS.” The runes (the Cirth) described here are the very ones used for the inscriptions on the tombs of Moria, the runes the Dwarves use. And Galadriel, Finrod's sister, whom we meet among the Noldor of Beleriand, will thousands of years later become the Lady of Lórien. The First Age and the Third are linked by living people.