Editing Tuor and Idril (section)

== Fictional history ==
[[File:Sketch Map of Beleriand.svg|thumb|upright=2.2|Sketch map of [[Beleriand]] in the First Age. Tuor's city of [[Gondolin]] is top centre.]]
Tuor Eladar, also known as Ulmondil ("The Blessed of [[Ulmo]]"), is the central character of ''[[The Fall of Gondolin]]''.<ref name="Thomas 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2013 |title=Inklings |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA72 |last=Thomas |first=Paul Edmund |orig-year=2007 |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |pages=71–72 |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1}}</ref> He is a great hero of the Third House of [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]] in the [[First Age]] of [[Middle-earth]], the only son of Huor and Rían and the cousin of the ill-fated [[Túrin Turambar]]. Huor is killed covering the retreat of [[Turgon of Gondolin|Turgon]], King of Gondolin, in the Battle of Tears Unnumbered, the ''[[Nírnaeth Arnoediad]]''. Rían, having received no news of her husband, becomes distraught and wanders into the wild. She is taken care of by the local [[Grey-elves]], and before the end of the year she bears a son and calls him Tuor. But she delivers him to the care of the Elves and departs, dying upon the lonely green grave-mound, the Hill of the Slain, at the site of the Battle of Tears Unnumbered.<ref name="Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" group="T"/>

Tuor is fostered by the Elves in the caves of Androth in the Mountains of Mithrim, in the [[Hithlum]] region of [[Beleriand]], living a hard and wary life. When Tuor is sixteen their leader Annael decides to leave, but during the march his people are scattered. Tuor is captured by the Easterlings, Men who had been sent there by the Dark Lord [[Morgoth]] and who had cruelly oppressed the few people<!--of the House of Hador--> left there. After three years of thraldom under Lorgan the Easterling, Tuor escapes and returns to the caves.<ref name="Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" group="T"/>

For four years he lives as an outlaw, seeing no way of escape from the region of Dor-lómin, which is bordered by mountains. He kills many of the Easterlings that he comes upon during his journeys, and his name is feared. Meanwhile, the godlike [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Vala]] [[Ulmo]], Lord of Waters, hears of Tuor's plight and chooses Tuor to bear a message of warning to Turgon, Lord of the Hidden City of [[Gondolin]]. By Ulmo's power a spring near Tuor's cave overflows, and following the stream Tuor crosses Dor-lómin to the mountains of Ered Lómin. Under the guidance of two Elves sent there by Ulmo, [[Gelmir and Arminas]], he passes through the ancient Gate of the Noldor into the land of [[Nevrast]], becoming the first Man to reach the shore of the Great Sea, [[Belegaer]]. From there he is led by seven swans, arriving at last at Turgon's old dwellings at Vinyamar.<ref name="Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" group="T"/>

Tuor finds arms and armour in the ruins of Vinyamar, and meets Ulmo himself on the seashore. Ulmo appoints Tuor to be his messenger, and tells him to seek King Turgon in Gondolin. He gives Tuor the Elf Voronwë as his guide. Voronwë leads Tuor along the southern slopes of [[Ered Wethrin]], and they catch a brief glimpse of Tuor's cousin Túrin near the Pools of Ivrin, the only time the paths of the two ever cross. Journeying through the harsh winter, they reach the hidden city of Gondolin. Tuor tells Turgon of Ulmo's warning that Morgoth now knows of Gondolin's existence, and is about to destroy it, but Turgon refuses to abandon the city.<ref name="Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" group="T"/>

{{anchor|Elenwë}}
Tuor remains in the city and falls in love with Turgon's only child, Idril Celebrindal, whose mother Elenwë died crossing [[Helcaraxë|the northern ice]] during the Elves' return from [[Valinor]]. In contrast to the first [[Half-elf|union of Elves and Men]], that between [[Lúthien and Beren]], Tuor and Idril are allowed to marry without difficulty. Their wedding is celebrated with great mirth and joy, as King Turgon had grown fond of Tuor. He makes Tuor the leader of the House of the Swan Wing, one of the twelve houses of Gondolin. Turgon also remembers the last words of Huor, which prophesied that a "star" would arise out of his and Turgon's lineage which would redeem the Children of Ilúvatar (Elves and Men) from Morgoth. However, the marriage angers Turgon's influential nephew Maeglin, who had desired Idril for himself. Maeglin defies Turgon's order to stay within the mountains, and is captured by [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs]] during a trip to gather resources. Morgoth promises Maeglin both Gondolin and Idril in return for telling him where the hidden city is. Noticing that Maeglin is behaving suspiciously, Idril decides to construct a secret passage out of Gondolin.<ref name="Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" group="T"/>

During the ensuing sack of Gondolin, Tuor defends Idril and their only child [[Eärendil]] from [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs]] and the traitorous Maeglin, who threatens to murder the child by throwing him from the city wall. After killing Maeglin, they lead a remnant of the people of Gondolin to escape through the secret passage. In the mountain heights they meet a [[Balrog]], which [[Glorfindel]], chief of the House of the Golden Flower, fights and defeats. They reach the estuary of the [[Mouths of Sirion]]; Tuor and his people live there for a while, also founding a town on the Isle of Balar.<ref name="Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" group="T"/> 

Longing for the Sea, Tuor builds the ship ''Eärramë'' ("Sea-wing"). He and Idril sail to the West; the Elves and Men of Beleriand believe that the two of them arrived in [[Valinor]], bypassing the [[Ban of the Valar]] that prohibited mortals from entering the Undying Lands, and that Tuor alone of Men is allowed to be treated as an Elf. Eärendil inherits the Elfstone Elessar from Idril; it is a magical green gem which bestows healing powers on those who touch it. The Elfstone is passed down to their descendant [[Aragorn]] by the end of the Third Age, as narrated in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''; when he becomes king, he takes the name Elessar.<ref name=Idril/><ref name="Elessar">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Elessar |encyclopedia=[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=147–148}}</ref><ref name="Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" group="T"/>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" heights="220px" widths="220px" caption="Illustrations by [[Tom Loback]], 2007">
File:Tuor and Idril.jpg|The wedding of Tuor and Idril
File:Tuor slays Othrod cropped.jpg|Battle for [[Gondolin]]:<br/>Tuor kills the Orc Othrod
</gallery>

=== Family tree ===

{{Half-elven family tree}}
<!--{{TúrinTuor family tree}}-->