Dark Guard

The Dark Guard, also known as the Outer Guard or the Guard,Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part One: The First Age, I: "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin", pg. 45-50 was a group among the Gondolindrim whose purpose was to guard the Gate of Wood from anyone seeking to enter Gondolin. They were garrisoned in the dark cavern at the start of the Orfalch Echor.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion: "Of Maeglin"
== History ==
By the year 116 of the First Age when Gondolin was fully built, the Dark Guard was formed and positioned at the Gate of Wood, though it may have existed in some prior form as early as the year 53 to keep the construction of the city a secret. Elemmakil was appointed to be the captain of the Dark Guard. Like the guards of the other gates, the Dark Guard had a representation as part of the army of soldiers on the high sward overlooking the Vale of Tumladen.
In FA 400, the Dark Guard were approached by Aredhel, who was returning to the city after fleeing from Nan Elmoth with Maeglin, her son. The guards greeted them with joy. Shortly afterwards, however, they were met by Eöl who had creeped in past them "to the Dark Gate" by stealth. After taking him captive and questioning him, Eöl amazed them by claiming to be Aredhel's husband and demanded to be brought to Turgon. As a result, the Dark Guard "sent a swift messenger to the City" where Aredhel confirmed Eöl's words.
On October 19 of the year 495, the Dark Guard were awoken from sleep by the voices of Tuor and Voronwë when they entered the dark cavern. They immediately initiated an interrogation before learning of Tuor's mission from Ulmo. After which, the Dark Guard led them part of the way to the Gate of Stone before Elemmakil sent them back to the Gate of Wood because there was no longer any need of them.
It is untold whether they survived the Fall of Gondolin in FA 510., Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIII: "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
== In other versions ==
In The Book of Lost Tales, the Dark Guard were unnamed, being the only guard division of the pass between the only two gates. In that version, Tuor and Voronwë manage to outrun the guards in the dark, but are stunned upon coming out with the sounding of a great gong. They were then "surrounded by warriors in steel" and the guards announced themselves as being "the guardians of the issue of the Way of Escape". They were friendlier to them than they are in the later version., Vol. II: , III: "The Fall of Gondolin"
== Translations ==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Donker Garde
Albanian 	Roje e errët
Amharic 	ጥቁር ጠባቂዎች
Arabic 	الأوصياء المظلمة
Asturian 	Guardia Escuro
Azerbaijani 	Qaranlıq Mühafizə
Basque 	Guardia Ilun
Belarusian Cyrillic	Цёмны ахоўнік
Bengali 	অন্ধকার পাহারা
Bosnian 	Tamna garda
Breton 	Diwaller teñval
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Тъмна Гвардия
Burmese 	အမှောင်ကိုယ်ရံတော်
Cambodian 	ឆ្មាំងងឹត
Catalan 	Guàrdia Fosca
Cebuano 	Itom nga Guwardiya
Chinese 	暗卫队
Croatian 	Tamna garda
Czech 	Temná garda
Danish 	Mørktgarden
Dari 	گارد تاریک
Dutch 	Donkere Garde
Esperanto 	Malluma Gvardio
Estonian 	Tume Eestkostjad
Faroese 	Mørkvardur
Finnish 	Pimeäkaarti
French 	Garde Noire
Frisian 	Tsjustere Garde (Western)
Friulian 	Guardie Scure
Galician 	Garda Escura
Georgian 	ბნელი გვარდია
German 	Dunkle Garde
Greek 	Σκοτεινή Φρουρά
Hebrew 	משמר אפל
Hindi 	अँधेरा रखवालों
Hungarian 	Sötét-gyámok
Indonesian 	Garda gelap
Irish Gaelic 	Garda Dorcha
Italian 	Guardia Oscura
Japanese 	ダークガード
Javanese 	Pengawal Peteng
Kannada 	ಡಾರ್ಕ್ ಗಾರ್ಡ್
Kazakh 	Қараңғы Қамқоршылар (Cyrillic) Qarañğı Qamqorşılar (Latin)
Konkani 	काळोख आशिल्ले राखणदार
Korean 	암흑경비원
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Кара кароолчу
Laotian 	ກອງມືດ
Latin 	Excubitores Nigra
Latvian 	Tumšā apsargāt
Lithuanian 	Tamsioji gvardija
Luxembourgish 	Donkel Bewaacht
Malayalam 	ഇരുണ്ട കാവൽ
Malaysian 	Pengawal gelap
Maltese 	Gwardja Skura
Manx 	Guardianyn Dorrinagh
Marathi 	गडद पहारेकरी
Nepalese 	डार्क गार्ड
Norwegian 	Mørkgarden
Occitan 	Garda Escura
Pashto 	تياره ساتونکي
Persian 	گارد تاریک
Polish 	Ciemna strzec
Portuguese 	Guarda Escuro
Punjabi 	ਡਾਰਕ ਗਾਰਡ
Romanian 	Garda Întunecată
Russian 	Тёмная Гвардия
Sardinian 	Guàrdia Oscura
Serbian 	Тамна Гарда (Cyrillic) Tamna Garda (Latin)
Sicilian 	Guardia Nìvira
Sindhi 	ڪارو محافظ
Sinhalese 	අඳුරු භාරකරුවන්
Slovak 	Temná garda
Slovenian 	Temna straža
Somali 	Ilaalada Mugdiga
Spanish 	Guardia Oscura
Swahili 	Walinzi ya Giza
Swedish 	Mörkgardet
Tamil 	இருண்ட காவலர்
Tatar 	Кара сакчы
Telugu 	చీకటి గార్డు
Thai 	อารักขามืด
Turkish 	Karanlık Muhafızlar
Turkmen 	Garaňky Garawul
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Темна Гвардія
Urdu 	تاریک گارڈ
Uzbek 	Қоронғу Қоровул (Cyrillic) Qorong'u Qorovul (Latin)
Venetian 	Vàrdia Oscura
Vietnamese 	Người giám hộ của bóng tối
Welsh 	Gard Tywyll
Yiddish 	טונקל וועכטער
Yoruba 	Oluso Dudu
== References ==
Category:Characters in The Silmarillion
Category:Characters in Unfinished Tales
Category:Elves
Category:Elves of Gondolin
Category:Gondolin
Category:Organizations
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