Born in the darkest time of the First Age, he was chosen by Ulmo to be the last hope of the Noldor.
After living most of his life with the elves, he would be counted as one himself, and his
descendants would shape the fortunes of the world.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the life and travels of Tuor and his wife, Idril.
After Huor and his brother Hurin return from their time in Gondolin, Huor marries Rian
of the House of Beor.
While Rian is pregnant, Huor gives Tuor his name, and is drawn away by the war with Morgoth.
He marches with his brother and the men of Dor-lomin in alliance with the elves under Fingon.
Despite being reinforced by Turgon and the elves of Gondolin, this battle would end in utter defeat.
Knowing the end is at hand, Huor and Hurin instruct Turgon to flee with his people, so
that the hidden city may still bring Morgoth fear.
Huor and the men of Dor-lomin would give their lives to protect Turgon and the secret of
Hurin would be captured and taken to Morgoth.
When news of the battle comes to Dor-lomin, a still pregnant Rian becomes distraught,
leaving to wander alone in the wild.
Rian would be rescued by the elves of Mithrim, who take her to the mountains to live with them.
Later that very year, Tuor is born and given to the elves to be fostered.
Rian, who was told by their leader Annael that Huor was indeed dead, makes her way to
the Haudh-en-Nirnaeth, the Hill of Tears, or the Hill of Slain.
This hill was a great mound beneath which laid the bodies of the elves and men killed
in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, including Huor.
There, Rian lays down in her grief and dies.
Meanwhile, Easterlings loyal to Morgoth had come to Hithlum to lord over the lands and people of the realm.
Annael takes Tuor and his people to the caves of Androth, where they take refuge from the incomers.
When Tuor reaches the age of 16, he wishes to make war upon the Orcs and Easterlings
who had oppressed the lands of his fathers, but Annael forbids it.
Instead, he decides to take his people south to more friendly lands.
In 488, they decide to pass the Annon-in-Gelydh (the Gate of the Noldor) and make their way
to the Mouths of Sirion - far from the lands affected by Morgoth.
However, soon after they leave the mountains, they are waylaid by orcs and the group is
scattered in the night.
As the elves flee, Tuor resolves to stand his ground, slaying many before being captured.
Tuor is made a thrall in the House of Lorgan, the chief of the Easterlings of Dor-lomin.
For three years, he is treated harshly by the invaders because of his high lineage,
but he endures, biding his time.
One day, he is sent into the woods on an errand and kills the guards, fleeing into the hills.
The Easterlings hunt Tuor with dogs, but to no avail.
For the hounds of Lorgan were friends of Tuor, and if they came up to him, they would fawn
upon him and then run home at his command.
Thus, Tuor escapes his captors and attempts to find the hidden Gate of the Noldor to escape Hithlum.
After years of searching, the vala Ulmo sends Tuor a sign, leading him to the gate.
There, he meets two messengers from Cirdan - Gelmir and Arminas - who were searching for Gondolin.
The elves show Tuor the mountain pass to Nevrast, coming to the shores of the Great Sea in 495.
This makes Tuor the first man ever to reach the shores of Middle-earth.
In this moment, a great sea-longing awakes in Tuor’s heart, and he lingers by the sea
until Autumn of that year.
He receives a second sign from Ulmo, following seven swans south along the shoreline to Vinyamar
- the abandoned city where Turgon had once dwelt before the creation of Gondolin.
Before moving to Gondolin, Turgon had been instructed by Ulmo to leave a sword, amor,
and a shield bearing the insignia of a white swan on a field of blue.
Tuor takes these up himself and goes down to the shore.
As a great storm rages about the sea, Ulmo, the Lord of Waters himself finally appears to Tuor directly.
Ulmo tasks Tuor with going to the hidden city to take a warning to Turgon.
He gives Tuor a great cloak, to mantle in him in shadow from the eyes of his enemies.
The next morning, Tuor meets an elf of Gondolin named Voronwe.
Voronwe had been saved by Ulmo himself from a shipwreck off the coast and brought to Vinyamar.
After Tuor speaks the words of Ulmo to Voronwe, the elf agrees to guide him to the hidden city.
He leads Tuor through the lands of Nuath during a bitter winter in Beleriand.
They would eventually come to the Pools of Ivrin, where Tuor catches a brief glimpse
of his cousin, Turin Turambar as he makes his way north to Dor-lomin.
After the Fell Winter, in 496, Tuor and Voronwe finally arrive at the great elven city of Gondolin.
They are taken as prisoners and brought to Ecthelion of the Fountain, a great lord of the city.
Ecthelion recognizes from Tuor’s armor that he has been sent by Ulmo and welcomes them
into the city with honor.
Tuor is brought before King Turgon, where he delivers Ulmo’s warning - saying the
Doom of Mandos was nearing its fulfilment, and that Turgon should abandon Gondolin and
take his people to the Havens of Sirion.
Turgon, in his pride, does not heed Ulmo’s warning.
Instead, he blocks the hidden door to the city and isolates it completely from the rest of the world.
Tuor remains in Gondolin, where he learns much from the elves - just as his father and
uncle had during their stay in the city.
He meets Idril Celebrindal, Turgon’s daughter.
Idril is unique among the elves, as she is of the third ever generation of the Noldor.
And of this third generation, only three took part in the exile from Valinor - the other
two being Galadriel’s nephew Orodreth, and Celebrimbor - the grandson of Feanor and future
craftsman of the rings of power.
During Idril’s time in Gondolin, the great craftsman Enerdhil creates for her a great
gem which she wears known as the Elessar - the very gem that would one day pass to Aragorn,
and give him his crowned title of King Elessar.
Tuor and Idril fall in love and are married in 502 FA.
We are told that Turgon had little cause to oppose this union, for he saw in Tuor a kinsman
of comfort and great hope.
Thus the second ever union between man and elf came to pass, following that of Beren
and Luthien and preceding by thousands of years that of Aragorn and Arwen.
Great fondness grew among the elves of Gondolin for Tuor, and he was even made the leader
of one of the twelve great houses of Gondolin - the House of the Wing.
The only person in all of the city who had ill feelings toward Tuor was Maeglin, the
king’s nephew who had loved Idril.
And Maeglin harbored a secret hatred and jealousy that would bring great evil.
Shortly after their marriage, Tuor and Idril have a son, who they name Earendil, meaning
“sea-friend”, and Tuor’s love of the sea would indeed be passed to his son.
We are told that there was great happiness in their family during this time in Gondolin,
but soon, great evil would come for the city.
Morgoth would release Tuor’s uncle Hurin from captivity in 510 FA, and in his wanderings,
Hurin would inadvertently give Morgoth a general idea of where the hidden city was in Beleriand.
Still, Morgoth would not have found Gondolin, were it not for the treachery of Maeglin.
One day, Maeglin leaves the city, defying the order of the king that no one should leave.
He is captured by orcs and brought to Angband.
There, Morgoth promises to give Maeglin the lordship of Gondolin...and Idril.
Maeglin betrays his people, giving Morgoth the exact position of Gondolin.
He returns to the hidden city, pretending that nothing is amiss, but seeming different to all.
Many came to believe that Maeglin had changed for the better.
However, Idril in her wisdom, suspected some evil may be at play - and began work on a
secret tunnel leading out of the city.
Then, one night, as the elves of Gondolin were celebrating the festival of the Gates
of Summer, the city was attacked by a massive force of orcs, dragons, and balrogs.
Maeglin uses the opportunity to make his move and attempts to kill Earendil and take Idril for himself.
However, Tuor catches Maeglin, and they fight upon the walls of the city.
Tuor throws Maeglin from the walls, and the elf strikes the mountain three times before
falling into the flames below.
With the city lost and both Turgon and Ecthelion slain, Tuor and Idril lead the survivors of
Gondolin through Idril’s secret way.
As they pass through the mountains with their son and the other refugees, they are attacked
by a group of orcs and a single balrog.
The orcs are waylaid by the great eagles, while the elf lord Glorfindel remains behind
to fight the balrog to the death.
His sacrifice allows the survivors to escape the downfall of Gondolin, and they make their
way down the vale of Sirion.
Protected by Ulmo on their journey, they finally arrive at the Havens of Sirion - the very
last refuge of the Elves of Beleriand.
Tuor, Idril, and Earendil would live for a time at the Mouths of Sirion.
With Turgon dead, Tuor and Idril would become leaders of their people in their new home.
In the days to come, they would also welcome Elwing, the granddaughter of Beren and Luthien.
However, the calling of the great sea would grow stronger and stronger in Tuor and in
525, he builds a great ship Earrame (sea-wing) and sails into the West with Idril by his side.
It is said among the Eldar and the Edain that they arrived in Valinor and that, by the grace
of Iluvatar himself, Tuor is counted among the Eldar, living in Valinor as the world's
only ever immortal man.
Tuor and Idril’s son would stay behind at the Havens of Sirion, where he would marry
Elwing and they would have two sons - Elrond and Elros.
It would be through the son of Tuor and Idril that Huor’s prophecy would be fulfilled
- from you and from me a new star shall arise.
For it would be Earendil who would sail to the West, rousing the Valar to make the War
of Wrath upon Morgoth, and sail everafter the skies of Middle-earth, a silmaril on his brow - as the great Star.
The Star of Earendil, descended from Tuor and Idril - from the houses of Huor and Turgon,
would lead Elros to the island of Numenor and would forever be a sign of hope for both elves and men.
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