Everything about Tuor totally explained
Tuor is a fictional character from
J. R. R. Tolkien's
Middle-earth legendarium. He is the grandfather of
Elrond Half-elven and one of the most renowned ancestors of the Men of
Númenor and of the King of the
Reunited Kingdom Aragorn Elessar. Along with
Beren Erchamion and Aragorn, Tuor was one of only three Men ever to marry one of the
Eldarin Elves.
Tuor's story is one of many told briefly in the 23rd chapter of
The Silmarillion. A very early version, written circa 1916–17, is found in
The Book of Lost Tales II, part of
The History of Middle-earth.
Unfinished Tales contains the start of a more mature and complete narrative, which Tolkien began after finishing
The Lord of the Rings in the 1950s. However, it gets no further than Tuor's first sight of
Gondolin.
Literature
Tuor was a great hero of the
Third House of
Men in the
First Age, the only son of
Huor and
Rían and the cousin of
Túrin Turambar. Huor was slain covering the retreat of Turgon, King of Gondolin, in the
Nírnaeth Arnoediad in . Rían, having received no tidings of her husband, became distraught and wandered into the wild. She was taken care of by the local
Grey-elves, and before the end of the year she bore a son and called him
Tuor. But she delivered him to the care of the Elves and departed, dying upon the
Haudh-en-Ndengin.
Tuor was fostered by the Elves in the caves of
Androth in the Mountains of
Mithrim, living a hard and wary life. When Tuor was sixteen their leader
Annael resolved to forsake the land, but during the march his people were scattered and Tuor was captured by the
Easterlings, who had been sent there by
Morgoth and who cruelly oppressed the remnant of the House of Hador. After three years of thraldom under
Lorgan the Easterling, Tuor escaped and returned to the caves.
For four years he lived as an outlaw, but never saw a way of escape from
Dor-lómin; he slew many of the Easterlings that he came upon during his journeys, and Tuor's name was feared. Meanwhile
Ulmo,
Vala of Waters, heard of his plight and chose Tuor to bear a message to
Turgon, Lord of the Hidden City of
Gondolin, and give a hope for the Elves and Men. By Ulmo's power a spring near Tuor's cave overflowed, and following the stream Tuor passed through Dor-lómin to
Ered Lómin. Under the guidance of two Elves sent there by Ulmo,
Gelmir and Arminas, he passed through the ancient
Gate of the Noldor (
Sindarin Annon-in-Gelydh) into
Nevrast, where Tuor is said to have been the first Man to come to the shore of the Great Sea,
Belegaer the shoreless. Thence he was led by seven swans, and came at last to the old dwellings of Turgon at
Vinyamar.
Tuor found arms and armour in the ruins of Vinyamar left there centuries ago by Turgon at the command of Ulmo, and then met Ulmo himself at the coast of
Belegaer. He appointed Tuor to be his messenger and told him to seek King Turgon in Gondolin, and sent him an Elf
Voronwë, saved by Ulmo from a shipwreck, to guide him. Voronwë led Tuor along the southern slopes of
Ered Wethrin, and they caught a brief glimpse of Tuor's cousin Túrin near the
Pools of Ivrin, the only time the paths of the two ever crossed. Journeying through the fell winter, they eventually reached Gondolin in Y.S. 495. They were admitted, but Turgon didn't hearken to the counsel of Ulmo and wouldn't forsake the Hidden City.
Tuor remained in Gondolin, and wed Turgon's daughter,
Idril Celebrindal. This was the second union between the
Eldar and the
Edain, after
Beren and
Lúthien. Their only child was
Eärendil the Mariner. Tuor was the leader of the House of the Swan Wing, one of the twelve houses of Gondolin, and won the hearts of the Gondolindrim. During the sack of the city Tuor defended his wife and son from Orcs and
Maeglin, whom he slew. With the remnant of the people of Gondolin he escaped the sacking of the city by a secret way contrived by Idril, encountering a
Balrog in the mountain heights; saved but by the valour of
Glorfindel, chief of the House of the Golden Flower.
At last they reached
Nan-tathren and the
Mouths of Sirion. Tuor eventually felt a longing for the Sea, and built the ship
Eärramë (Sea-wing). The Mouths of Sirion were now held by Eärendil and
Elwing, but Tuor sailed to the
West with Idril, and it was a tradition under the Eldar and Edain that they arrived in
Valinor, bypassing the
Ban of the Valar, and that Tuor alone of Men was counted as Elven kindred, still living there now. In a letter Tolkien indicated that Tuor's "conversion" was allowed by
Eru Ilúvatar as a unique exception, just like
Lúthien's assumption of a mortal fate.
Names and titles
For the question of etymology of Tuor's name see
House of Hador. In later histories he was often titled
Eladar "Starfather", as the father of Eärendil, and
Ulmondil "Friend of Ulmo".
Concept and creation
In the original
Fall of Gondolin Tuor is said to have carried an axe, called
Dramborleg "Thudder-Sharp", that "smote both a heavy dint as of a club and cleft as a sword". The Axe of Tuor is referred to in later writings as preserved in
Númenor as an heirloom of the
Kings, though the name must have been rejected as unfitting later language conceptions.
In early versions of the story Tuor was supposed to have travelled all the way from Dor-lómin along the shores of the Sea to the Mouths of Sirion. There he met Voronwë (or "Bronweg"), and in Nan-tathren Ulmo appeared to them. The journey to Gondolin was thus up the
River Sirion.
In some texts Tolkien spells his name
Tûr, but finally decided on
Tuor.
Descent of Tuor Eladar
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tuor'.
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