The Fall of Gondolin

By: J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien

Narrated by: Timothy West, Samuel West

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

Presented for the first time as a stand-alone work, the epic tale of The Fall of Gondolin reunites fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Balrogs, Dragons and Orcs and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

This audio production features Samuel West, voicing J. R. R. Tolkien’s original writings, and Timothy West, reading the editorial commentary by Christopher Tolkien. 

Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable, is central to the enmity of two of the greatest powers in the world.

Morgoth of the uttermost evil seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city of his Elven enemies, while the gods in Valinor refuse to support Ulmo Lord of Waters' designs to protect it.

Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, and guided unseen by Ulmo he sets out on the fearful journey to Gondolin to warn them of their coming doom. Then 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.

©2018 J. R. R. Tolkien (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

wonderful compilation of the fall of Gondolin

very insightful, learned more of Tolkien's lore that I hadnt known from the silmarillion and a wonderful account of Gondolin. Shame he was never able to finish such a deep story or bring it to fulfillment in detail and stature as it was obviously meant to be. Still loved it

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Wowzer

Loved it - Children of Hurin levels of heroics, but one great stand right after another in rapid-fire. An experience, to be sure. Plus great insight from Christopher's notes/commentary. Very, very good.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Outstanding

Enjoying JRR Tolkien’s thought process is riveting. We need the history of Middle earth on audio.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Odd

Guess I should have read the fine print. This is like listening to a screen play, stage directions included. Not what I expected.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A fitting setting to this work

Of the three great tales of the Elder Days in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, this one has always moved me most deeply, in part because of the tragedy of its incompleteness. Christopher Tolkien presents the magnificent shards of this story in a fitting way that shows us what might have been, or at least a glimpse of it, as it might be in a vision of far-away and inaccessible Valinor. The first and last tellings of this tale contain some of JRRT's best writing.
This is an essential part of any Tolkien lover's collection. Yes, you could find it all in the History of Middle EArth, but Christopher pulls the story out of the academic thicket into which the HoME books sometimes descend, and shows us the luminous word of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin.

Middle Earth History Lesson

There is a reason J.R.R. Tolkien never published this novel while he was alive. Even with the material added by his son, Christopher Tolkien, The Fall of Gondolin reads more like a synopsis than a story. Little effort is made to develop characters or build suspense. Key events are skimmed over rather than played out, and all tension and emotion are wrung out of the prose by the necessity of keeping the majestic narrative flowing. And yet it is that majestic narrative that saves this book from obscurity. Tolkien's words are beautiful and a joy to listen to, especially as performed by Samuel West. Tolkien nerds will probably overlook the book's literary shortcomings and appreciate the depth added to the Middle Earth lore.

No good

Didn't like this book at all. No real storyline to speak of. It's more just notes and half story's. It was boring to boot.

1 of 16 people found this review helpful

Good but lots of filler

The actual story content chapters are great but there's lots of what seems filler content.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Added so much to what I love

If you love Tolkien and have read most of his other works you will live this if you have only read LORs this might me hard going.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful