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Submitted: February 13
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Story of Tuor, Part 4: Coming to Gondolinby ~neral85

Traditional Art / Drawings / Illustration / Storybook

Then Tuor looked down upon the fair vale of Tumladen, set as a green jewel amid the encircling hills; and he saw far off upon the rocky height of Amon Gwareth Gondolin the great, city of seven names, whose fame and glory is mightiest in song of all dwellings of the Elves in the Hither Lands.
Then Tuor stood before Turgon son of Fingolfin, High King of the Noldor, and upon the King's right hand there stood Maeglin his sister-son, but upon his left hand sat Idril Celebrindal his daughter; and all that heard the voice of Tuor marvelled, doubting that this were in truth a Man of mortal race, for his words were the words of the Lord of Waters that came to him in that hour. And he gave warning to Turgon that the Curse of Mandos now hastened to its fulfilment, when all the works of the Noldor should perish; and he bade him depart, and abandon the fair and mighty city that he had built, and go down Sirion to the sea. But Turgon was become proud, and Gondolin as beautiful as a memory of Elven Tirion, and he trusted still in its secret and impregnable strength, though even a Vala should gainsay it (...) Maeglin spoke ever against Tuor in the councils of the King, and his words seemed the more weighty in that they went with Turgon's heart; and at the last he rejected the bidding of Ulmo and refused his counsel.
And Tuor remained in Gondolin, for its bliss and its beauty and the wisdom of its people held him enthralled; and he became mighty in stature and in mind, and learned deeply of the lore of the exiled Elves. Then the heart of Idril was turned to him, and his to her; and Maeglin's secret hatred grew ever greater, for he desired above all things to possess her, the only heir of the King of Gondolin.
The Silmarillion (chapter 23)

watercolor pencils, soft pastels

Fourth part of my series of illustrations for the story of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin (in the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales), which I drew last summer as a commission for certain Tolkien-fans.
After a long journey from Vinyamar with Voronwë, Tuor arrived to Godolin at last. This journey could itself be made into a series of illustrations and there are many interesting moments (encountering Túrin at Eithel Ivrin, crossing the guarded road, crossing Brithiach, the Seven Gates of Gondolin, meeting Ecthelion) and I am even tempted to make an intermediate part later to fill up this section of the story. However, in the original commission it was not included.
So in the first panel you can see the glorious city of Gondolin, as seen for the first time by Tuor after he passed the Seventh Gate. I wanted it to look a little dreamlike and not too detailed for it was a fulfilment of a vision from his dreams (as stated in the Unfinished Tales).
The central section shows the audience of Tuor before king Turgon. And lo, there is the highest number of characters in a single panel in this whole series (not counting the Easterlings in the background in the first part). I know I have to practice human figure more, but that's just what I am trying to do.

The lower panel shows our beloved couple already happily together (though someone is watching them and he doesn't like it at all). Tuor is already somehow older, so I let him grow a beard (also to distinguish him from elves).
This part is special in a way, that the four smallest panels doesn't show just continuation or variation of the motifs from other panels, but also some information of their own: Emblems of the Twelve Houses of the Gondolindrim. Because they are only vaguely described and not painted by Tolkien himself, it was interesting to make them up (with some inspiration from other fan-artists).
The four devices in the corners show of course Tuor's swan wing (upper left), for the first time device of Idril (lower right), once more that of Turgon (upper right) and also device of the House of Finwë (lower left), because High King of the Noldor was also the head of the House of Finwë.

Part 1: Tuor in Hithlum
Part 2: Journey to the Sea
Part 3: Tuor in Vinyamar
Part 5: The Fall of Gondolin
Part 6: A New Beginning

I hope you like it and I'll appreciate your comments.

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If you like my Tolkien-related art, look at my related journal or gallery folder.
But you can find even more of my pictures on my website Angrenost.cz. It's in Czech, but you can still look at the gallery of illustrations. Enjoy!