   thumb|right|245px|the fall of turgon's tower gondolin"tolkien explained its origin in his "name-list to "the fall of gondolin" thus: "gondolin meaneth in gnomish 'stone of song' (whereby figuratively the gnomes meant stone that was craven and wrought to great beauty)". tolkien, j.r.r. the book of lost tales, part ii. p. 216. is a fictional city in j. r. r. tolkien's legendarium inhabited by elves. ==the fall of gondolin== the city is first described in the fall of gondolin which was the foundational completed tale for all of tolkien's middle-earth stories.carpenter, humphrey, editor, the letters of j.r.r. tolkien, george allen and unwin, 1981, isbn 0-395-31555-7, letter 163, "...the first real story of this imaginary world almost fully formed as it now appears was written in prose during sick-leave at the end of 1916: the fall of gondolin". the story was read aloud by tolkien to the exeter college essay club in the spring of 1920.tolkien, j.r.r. the book of lost tales, part ii. p. 147. in this tale first one of tolkien's main literary themes which would be repeated throughout his major works appears: the caution against possession. in the lord of the rings it is the possession of power through the one ring, in the silmarillion it is the lust to possess the beauty of the jewels and in the fall of gondolin it is the possession of the city of gondolin itself. ==internal history== gondolin was founded by king turgon in the first age. it was originally named ondolindÃ«. according to the silmarillion, the vala ulmo, the lord of waters, revealed the location of the vale of tumladen to turgon in a dream. under this divine guidance, turgon travelled from his kingdom in nevrast and found the vale. within the echoriath, the encircling mountains, lay a round level plain with sheer walls on all sides and a ravine and tunnel leading out to the southwest known as the hidden way. in the middle of the vale there was a steep hill which was called amon gwareth, the "hill of watch". there turgon decid
Middle-earth_cities_and_towns