Battle of Gondolin, from the Book of Lost Tales Quiz

Answer: 12

The people of Gondolin were arrayed in the form of the 11 houses of Gondolin and there was also an elite bodyguard led by Tuor, which is also called the House of the White Wing. The Houses of Gondolin were: the King's kinsmen led by Turgon himself; Heavenly Arch; Swallow; Sable Mole; Pillar; Tower of Snow; The Tree; Golden Flower; Fountain; Hammer of Wrath; and the Harp.

Answer: House of the Fountain

Ecthelion, the Guard of the Fountain led the people of the House of the Fountain. According to the book of Lost Tales, "...silver and diamonds were their delight; and swords very long and bright and pale did they wield, and they went into the battle with the music of flutes." Ecthelion would of course be immortalized(pun unintended)in song for his great achievement of killing Gothmog single-handedly.

Despite having been badly wounded in a previous skirmish, he managed to drown his enemy in the basin of the king's fountain, before he himself drowned in the pool.

Answer: True

These brave folk had managed to escape from the pits of Morgoth's prison and find their way to Gondolin where their hate for their earlier tormentors, especially the Balrogs, would be channelled into an almost unstoppable fury.

Answer: North West

Idril, Tuor's wife, who had misgivings about Meglin's loyalty, had asked Tuor to get a deep escape tunnel built from their house into the plain when Earendil was barely a year old. Although the tunnel was not fully complete by the time of the battle, they managed to escape in the ensuing confusion.

Answer: False

It is said that Morgoth never lost more Balrogs in one day than he did in the battle for Gondolin. In fact, he had never lost any Balrogs before this battle to Men or Elves. Most of the Balrogs were killed by the men of the House of the Hammer of Wrath, led by Rog, who attacked the Balrogs with an almost unstoppable fury, until greater numbers and a fire drake put an end to all of them.

Answer: Galdor

Galdor, the lord of the House of the Tree was acclaimed as the bravest warrior in all of Gondolin, second only to Turgon. He, like the people of his house, fought with Iron studded war clubs or slings. Galdor comes to the rescue of Tuor and Ecthelion when the latter two are retreating, outnumbered by a large number of Orcs.

They trip, and are nearly killed, but for the onslaught of Galdor and his men.

Answer: House of the Harp

Salgant, the leader of the House of the Harp is said to be squat and short, an unlikely figure in the popular imagination of Tolkein fans of tall and slender elves. He was also a follower of Meglin, but did not know of the former's pact with Morgoth. Although he was a hearty, well loved fellow, he was a total coward and hid under his bed for the most part of the battle.

However, the men of his house fought valiantly, protecting the rearguard of Glorfindel and his men, when the latter were outnumbered and retreating, before being killed by overwhelming foes and a fire drake.

Answer: Monsters of Metal and flame

When he captured Meglin, Morgoth found out from him the true extent of Turgon's forces and defences in Gondolin, which could withstand Morgoth's armies in a seige for several years without being defeated. To counter the high walls and marksmanship of the Gondolithrim, Morgoth devised monsters of flame and iron, which could withstand any shot, coil themselves around any defence and allow the armies of orcs within them to burst forth and attack the defenders at close range. Ultimately this proved decisive in the battle as these monsters of flame and iron shrugged off the darts of the defenders of Gondolin and made it up to the walls of the city itself.

Answer: False

The escape of the few folk who had gathered around Tuor, was helped by the fact that most of the troops were pre-occupied with the battle for the Palace where Turgon and his kinsmen put on a stout, but hopeless defence on the tower, until the tower was brought down by the dragons at its base.

Answer: Legolas Greenleaf

You must remeber, this was written much earlier than the "Lord of the Rings" and Tolkein ultimately used the name of Legolas Greenleaf for the character in the War of the Ring. In the acount in the "Book of Lost Tales", Legolas is an Elf of the House of the Leaf who leads a few of the survivors of Gondolin in the cover of dark and mist into the mountains and escape. He is also the first of the names later found in the "Lord of the Rings", along with Gimli, an elf who appears in the "Tale of Tinuviel".

I hope you enjoyed the quiz. This quiz is based on the early version of the "Silmarillion" written by Tolkein and before suggesting any corrections, I sincerely request that you refer to the second volume of the "Book of Lost Tales".