Apologies for missing Monday’s post. I blame the machinations of Morgoth. Or possibly a busier weekend than I was expecting. One of the two.
Summary
In secret Turgon built the city of Gondolin in hidden valley that Ulmo had shown him. When it was completed, he led the Sindar and Noldor of Nevrast there, hidden from sight by Ulmo’s power so no one would see where they had gone. And Ulmo cautioned Turgon that Gondolin would endure the longest of the Noldor’s realms in Beleriand, but was still under the Doom of Mandos. When that point was drawing close, Ulmo would send a messenger with a warning. To prove his veracity, Turgon left arms and armor made according to Ulmo’s specifications in his halls in Nevrast for this future messenger to bear.
Meanwhile, while Finrod was building Nargothrond, Galadriel was living in Doriath and Melian. None of the Noldor had said anything about what had happened between the death of the Trees and their arrival in Middle-earth, and they had especially not said anything to Thingol’s household. Melian pressed Galadriel on this, and made a number of very shrewd guesses as to all that had happened, and Galadriel spoke a bit more, telling Melian of the Silmarils and the death of Finwë. She said nothing of the Oath of Fëanor, the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, or the burning of the Swan-ships, though, and Melian knew she still held things back. Melian told all she had heard, and all she suspected, to Thingol, who wasn’t overly concerned. To him the news just proved the Noldor would be stronger allies against Morgoth, though Melian urged him to be wary of the Sons of Fëanor especially.
Eventually, however, rumors of all that had happened reached Thingol, and he confronted Finrod and his brother Angrod about it. Finrod was reluctant to speak against the other princes of the Noldor in front of Thingol, but Angrod spoke bitterly about the Kinslaying and the Doom of Mandos and the crossing of the Helcaraxë. Thingol was (justifiably) angry, but prepared to maintain friendship with the houses of Fingolfin and Finarfin. But he forbade the use of the tongue of the Noldor in his realm, and commanded the Sindar to shun those who spoke it. This they did, and the language of the Noldor disappeared from everyday use.
After Nargothrond was completed, Galadriel asked Finrod about his having no wife. Finrod, with foresight, said that he would one say swear an oath and would need to be free to fulfill it, and that in any case he wouldn’t leave anything for a son to inherit.
Commentary
So this is a chapter where not a huge amount of stuff happens, at least according to the definition of “stuff happens” used by the crowd that dismissed LotR as being a book with “just a bunch of walking.” Turgon moves to Gondolin, which we knew he was going to already, and Thingol has finally (and inevitably) heard about the Kinslaying. That largely sums it up.
But there’s a lot that’s significant here, and a lot that is ominous. Working backwards, I’m going to start with Thingol banning the use of the Noldorin language. On the surface, it probably doesn’t seem like that big of a thing, and I certainly thought so for a long time. But I’ve learned a lot since I first read the Sil. Tolkien was a philologist first and foremost, and knew the importance of language. I can promise you that he would have felt Thingol’s response was huge. Furthermore, language is inextricably tied to culture. The Noldor and Sindar had already been mingling. By making the language of the Sindar the everyday tongue and cradle language of the Elves of Middle-earth, Thingol was essentially assuring that the culture of the Sindar would be the dominant one. Guy Gavriel Kay’s excellent Tigana is built on this idea: you erase a language, you erase the names of a place, you erase the culture. Is it Mount McKinley or Denali? Ayers Rock or Uluru? Names matter. The Irish or the Welsh no doubt would have much to say on how erasing a language damages a culture, but not many could say it in Gaelic or Welsh.
Plus we get a ton of foreshadowing. It’s easy to forget about the Doom of Mandos in this stage of the Sil, when everything is going great for the Noldor. But remember that it’s foreordained that all their works in Middle-earth will fall, and the Oath of Fëanor and the Kinslaying will continually be a problem. I have a very particular fondness for stories that tell me ahead of time that everything is doomed, keep reminding me that things are doomed, and yet I keep hoping it’s going to turn out ok, but then when the doom falls my heart gets broken (Wizard and Glass, I’m looking at you). Ulmo warns Turgon that Gondolin isn’t going to last forever, and Finrod foresees that he will have nothing for a child to inherit (to say nothing of this oath he’s going to swear). More on this in chapters to come.
Monday we’ll get yet another Elf name thrown at you, though at least Maeglin doesn’t begin with an F.
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