Tianwen·Magweth Pengolodh

history? "

Said Pengolod: "No. When Rumir returned to Middle-earth, his wife remained in Valinor. We Elves hold that marriage is eternally binding. Yet it did not matter when I met him, for He was castrated in the dungeon of Thangorodrim." Alfwine cursed softly towards the dusk.Pengolod said sadly: "It is their custom to do this with their captured slaves, and to do other harm, so that - they think - it is unlikely that those who loved them will try to rescue them." He turned to face Alfwine, "I'm sorry. That's an inauspicious word, and we had such a happy day, and you were so kind to take me to the carnival. I'm still single myself, and I haven't talked about elves in detail. marriage, but I have a story that you will be interested in. In fact, I think that you are much more similar to the man in this story than Rumir."

Alfwine noticed his choice of words."A mortal man?" he asked.

"Yes. For this is Tuor's tale."

****

Before I left, when I was drinking red wine with you, I talked about the battle of tears and rain.I told the story again at the king's table, but not in such detail as I told you.Among my own relatives, two nephews and grandchildren were killed in battle, and my family has been mourning for this.Most families in the city have suffered such misfortunes.For those who were born and raised in Gondolin and never saw the outside world, the impact of this battle was even more catastrophic-their relatives set off into mysterious conditions, in the unknown die in terror.Turgon was then High King of all the Noldor, and his first decree was to shut the gates; and it seemed all right to these men.No more messengers came in or went out.

After the Battle of the Rain of Tears, Gondolin lay dormant.At first, the city's inhabitants were steeped in grief, and when we began to feel cut off from the larger world, people were more eager to talk about the news in the city, trying to fill the void.Gossip, however trivial, is exaggerated.We had more contests of skill, with more weapons than we were used to.Maeglin oversaw the building of the Seventh Gate, with all the skill of the inhabitants of Gondolin in the height of their power, and a splendid iron palisade, as high as your tall ships.

As I said before, Rumir went into seclusion and no longer served as a director.After the War of Tears he advised our king Turgon, but his advice did not please Turgon, and he lost some of the king's favor.But what the father ignored, the daughter listened.Idril was troubled by many visions, haggard and restless.She remembered the foresight in Rumir's divination, so she came to him for further consultation.I'll let her in and watch while they talk.After several meetings like this, Idril no longer looked sad.She seemed to have mastered her inner premonition, and gained poise and wisdom from it.In the years to come, this is a blessing.

Those days began when Turgon's ban was broken.As I said, the city was completely closed, but two people managed to pass through the cold gate.They were protected by a power, the protecting hand of Ulmo himself, which could not be turned away.All the legends say that Tuor the Mortal was one of those two.I heard the shouts to welcome him and rushed to the window to look out into the street.Tuor wore shining chainmail, and carried a long shield of blue painted with white wings.Turgon had left these tokens in Vinyamar, at Ulmo's charge, to be brought by future messengers of Ulmo's protection.It was so long ago, so long ago that we all thought we were abandoned, but we were not, because a warrior worthy of those tokens came.Tuor was not a handsome boy like Huor his dead father.He has been living a hard life, and he is not yet 30 years old, and there are wrinkles on his rough face.But he was still a man in his prime, potential given to him by the fate that the Valar had bestowed upon him.I just saw him glance around, surprised but cautious.My old friend Voronwe strode after him, half-stretched with hunger, with tousled hair braided in sailor's braids, with a soldier's look in his eyes - like those on the battlefield of the Battle of Tears A person who has lost some of his spirit.I called out to him, but he was too shocked and tired to answer.I saw them again soon, and Tuor stood before the king, and delivered counsel—Gondolin should be abandoned, and the people of the city should return to the sea.

You Númenóreans honor the Valar, and I see you wonder how we can ignore a message from Ulmo himself.Let me explain.It was a blessing to see my friend Voronwe return alive, but alas, his return was turned into a political disaster by a message from Tuor.We are told that Voronwe alone escaped the wrath of the Valar among the messengers sent by Turgon in the seven ships, only to lead Tuor here.He told a terrible story: one boat after another, everyone else was buried under the water.His intention was simply to comfort the family of the deceased, saying that their loved one was brave.There was an uproar in our parliament, led by Maeglin.He said, if the Valar were good for us, shouldn't our sailors be kept alive and one of them bring a message instead of a mere mortal?The debate on this matter continued for many days.At last Turgon wavered.He ordered us to stay, and Tuor to stay in Gondolin all his days, and not to go.Don't forget that we were still under the curse of Mandos at that time, and even though many actions of the elves seemed correct (such as the Battle of Tears), in the end, they were either in vain or reaped bad results.

Therefore Tuor remained with us all the inhabitants of Gondolin, and shall not escape.He immediately proves to us with undeniable presence how smart it actually is for Hurin to leave.More than one wished Tuor to stay out of the way, and Turgon agreed that Rumir and his men should teach Tuor.It was Maeglin's suggestion, but Turgon agreed, for he knew that Tuor would not change Rumir's mind--they had agreed, but it did them no good.Furthermore, Rumir is learned but weak in arms, and therefore unlikely to instigate rebellion like our people of Nargothrond.

We scholars, in order to know what to teach Tuor, must first know what he already knows.For many days we listened fascinated to his early life among the green elves, how he had survived his time as a slave to a cruel easter, and his quest to find those who had raised him but The desperate and bloody actions taken by his lost elf kin.He was far more like us than Húrin and Huor, for he was adopted at birth by the Green Elves, and had wisdom and prudence beyond his years.In fact, his early years as a slave could not have prepared him better for the government situation in Gondolin, which had become a hornet's nest.After talking to him for a few days Rumir said: "I have great hopes for you—you may still fulfill the mission of Ulmo, if you do one thing—you must learn to read and learn to speak Dolin's Quenya, so as to gain greater trust in the Council of Gondolin." You know, the Green Elves can't read, and they don't speak Quenya.Tuor could write his name in the runes, and knew about half the letters of the Daelon runes, and that was all.He had scarcely spoken seriously with the Noldor until he met Voronwë.Tuor could not speak the Quenya dialect of the city, and was forced to converse only with those who persisted in speaking Sindarin.

Learning to read and speak Quenya meant more than just enabling him to read and speak.It was always held by the Noldor that a noble must be a learned man, who knew the ways of writing and writing.I can guarantee this is not always the case.Thanks to his mother's poor teaching, Maeglin's handwriting was very ugly, so he asked others to write letters and documents for him. As a result, his signature appeared on four kinds of paper with different handwriting.He does this because he understands the importance of maintaining the image of being able to write well.

We only had to explain it to Tuor once, and he threw himself into his studies with the same zeal he once hunted the Easters.His ignorance helped.He has no wrong habits to correct, and the beginner is correct.Voronwe was with him even when he had mastered the dialect of the city and no longer needed an interpreter.My friend was also Tuor's friend now, and was glad to avoid right and wrong.He still broods over the sea trip and the lost companions, and doesn't understand why his words should turn against him.

Tuor mastered writing, and studied our lore and laws in depth.In less than two years he was quite at home in Gondolin, yet some were still wary of him, and others looked upon him with envy.At first Turgon stays with him for a while out of guilt, but a real appreciation soon develops.Tuor had become cheerful and light enough to remind one of Hurin and Huor's energetic mirth.We scholars also took Tuor to visit the armory in the city, and we said that reading the runes on the weapons is an excellent teaching exercise.As we planned, a swordsman eager for a challenge, seeing how he manipulated such "reading materials", took him in as a sparring partner.Therefore Tuor was worthy of the association of Turgon, and won his respect, both in mind and in strength with arms.

He won more than that.

As I said, although my teacher Rumil