I am a Tolkienist. This defines me as a fantasy reader. It also means that I do not reach for anything with such joy as for the next songs by the Master. Especially the "new" ones. Such is the work of the item Upadek Gondolinu, recently published in Poland . What is this volume about? You will learn about this and many other things in this review. I invite you!
And said Ilfinol, son of Bronweg, “I am sorry for Gondolin!”
The story of the fall of Gondolin is one of the foundations of all the mythology created by the Master. This story belongs to the great three works from the Ancient Days of Middle-earth. In addition to the Ballad of Leithian and the Tales of the Children of Hurin, it is the foundation of the entire Legendarium, and its influence is felt even in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.. The book that I am going to review you is a piece crowning a certain era. Published over forty years after the author’s death, it is also the last work edited by Christopher Tolkien. There will be no more new things signed with this very characteristic name. Not because of the lack of material, but because of the age of the Professor’s youngest son, he is over ninety. In the preface, he himself wrote directly that this was his last novel and that nothing would happen afterwards. So much for the introduction. So let’s move on to the proper description of the book. I promise that I will try to be as substantive as my emotions will allow me. I gave them a lot of discount in the review of Beren and Luthien , so here I will try to curb personal threads.
They call me the Gondolin, the City of the Seven Names!
As in the case of Beren and Luthien , the Fall of Gondolin is a cross-section of the various stages of the evolution of the text of the story. We begin with the earliest, over a hundred years old, version from the Book of Lost Tales . Surprisingly, it is the only one that is finite. The rest break off at different times. Then we associate with something that even surprised me, namely excerpts from the text of Turlin and the exiles from Gondolin . Another version is the one contained in Quenta Noldorinwa . It turns out to be very similar to the text we know from The Silmarillionbecause it is practically devoid of any ornaments and descriptions. It summarizes the story fairly efficiently, but it lacks the depth of the version of The Book of Lost Tales . The last text describing the fall of Gondolin contained in the reviewed volume is a work in Unfinished Tales . It is the most perfect in terms of workshop version, but it is not finished. It stops when Tuor arrives at the very edge of Tumladen and looks at the Gondolin visible in the distance. However, we do not reach the city itself, which is a pity.
All these versions are accompanied by Christopher’s commentary and something like an introduction, which has its origins in the so-called Sketch of Mythology.
Lord of the Springs, do not stop the envoy of the Lord of Waters!
By reading The Fall of Gondolin , it is fairly easy to observe the evolution of the whole story. However, these changes are not as big as in the case of the Ballad of Leithian or the Tales of the Children of Hurin . In practice, only the names of the heroes, or their lineages and places of action, change. It is known – events occur once and then disappear, but nevertheless the Fall of the Gondolin is the most coherent and complete. Comparing the first version with the final version, it is hard to notice any major discrepancies. You can see that the Master had an idea for this particular story, for Tuor’s great journey with Ulm’s mission to the Hidden City. He also didn’t experiment like he did with other stories.
Unfortunately! Like Glorfindel with Balrog!
Now let’s move on to the summary, or rather to the description of the book’s appearance. It was released in the style that Prószyński attributed to Tolkien’s works, i.e. a beige cover, for which Dark Crayon himself was responsible. It pleases the eye and looks nice on a shelf with other works by the Master of Prószyński. In addition, inside we find, just like on the front cover, phenomenal graphics by Alan Lee himself. In addition, the book contains a map of Beleriand and the genealogical trees of the Eldar from the Finwe family and the Edain from the Beor family. Christopher Tolkien also included a glossary of place names and terms, and it really makes reading a lot easier. So for the release itself, I put the six plus.
In summary, the Fall of Gondolin is a worthy culmination of Christopher Tolkien’s work and an extremely successful farewell to Middle-earth. It hurts me that this is the last song, but no one is forever. One would like to say something, write something, but unfortunately I just lack words – both thanks to the Master and his son, and describing my inner sadness. I feel depressed and abandoned, but at the same time pleased, because I did not expect that I would have the pleasure to review something signed with the Master’s name again. Nevertheless – only Gondolin is sorry!
