In the Tale of The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar.

Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. It was built and peopled by Noldorin Elves who, when they dwelt in Valinor, the land of the gods, rebelled against their rule and fled to Middle-earth. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city, while the gods in Valinor in heated debate largely refuse to intervene in support of Ulmo's desires and designs.

Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, the instrument of Ulmo's designs. Guided unseen by him Tuor sets out from the land of his birth on the fearful journey to Gondolin, and in one of the most arresting moments in the history of Middle-earth the sea-god himself appears to him, rising out of the ocean in the midst of a storm. In Gondolin he becomes great; he is wedded to Idril, Turgon's daughter, and their son is Eärendel, whose birth and profound importance in days to come is foreseen by Ulmo.

At last comes the terrible ending. Morgoth learns through an act of supreme treachery all that he needs to mount a devastating attack on the city, with Balrogs and dragons and numberless Orcs. After a minutely observed account of the fall of Gondolin, the tale ends with the escape of Túrin and Idril, with the child Eärendel, looking back from a cleft in the mountains as they flee southward, at the blazing wreckage of their city. They were journeying into a new story, the Tale of Eärendel, which Tolkien never wrote, but which is sketched out in this book from other sources.

Following his presentation of Beren and Lúthien Christopher Tolkien has used the same 'history in sequence' mode in the writing of this edition of The Fall of Gondolin. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, it was ‘the first real story of this imaginary world’ and, together with Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin, he regarded it as one of the three 'Great Tales' of the Elder Days.

J.R.R. 托尔金（J.R.R. Tolkien）

英国文豪，天才的语言学家，生于1892年1月3日，1925年开始担任牛津大学教授。他创作了一系列脍炙人口的中洲世界史诗，影响最为深远的是《霍比特人》和《魔戒》。这两部巨作，被誉为当代奇幻作品的鼻祖。1972年3月28日，托尔金获英国女王伊丽莎白二世颁发的大英帝国指挥官勋章。

托尔金于1973年9月2日在牛津逝世。托尔金身后，其作品声名未减，至今已畅销2.5亿余册，《魔戒》在英国Waterstones书店和第四频道合办的票选活动中被选为20世纪之书，被亚马逊网络书店票选为两千年以来最重要的书籍。

克里斯托弗·托尔金（Christopher Tolkien）

J.R.R. 托尔金的小儿子，托尔金文学遗产执行人，整理编辑有《精灵宝钻》《胡林的子女》以及十二卷本《中洲历史》等作品，曾为《魔戒》绘制地图。

艾伦·李（Alan Lee）

英国插画大师。生于1947年，尤擅水彩与铅笔素描。曾为众多文学经典创作插图，以《伊利亚特》获得英国童书最高荣誉格林纳威奖，更以《霍比特人》获得世界奇幻大会年度最佳艺术家奖。

“托尔金创造的世界，艾伦·李让我们看见。”李的插画是托尔金笔下宏大世界的视觉化基础，得到全世界读者与影迷的承认和热爱。凭借为电影《指环王》作出的卓越贡献，李荣膺2004年奥斯卡最佳艺术指导奖。

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邓嘉宛，专职译者，英国纽卡斯尔大学社会语言学硕士。从事文学与基督教神学翻译工作二十余年，译有《魔戒》《精灵宝钻》《胡林的子女》等五十余种作品。喜欢一个人有书有猫做伴的生活。

石中歌，资深托迷，又名Ecthelion、喷泉。热爱托尔金教授笔下那个名为阿尔达的世界，长年累月迷路其中，且乐不思返。

杜蕴慈，台湾政治大学咨询管理学毕业。著有欧亚丝路纪行《地图上的蓝眼睛》《迭里温·孤山》。喜爱阅读民族史诗、传说，欧亚草原历史地理。