Tuor
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Tuor is a fictional character of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. He is the grandfather of Elrond of the Half-Elven and one of the earliest ancestors of the Men of Númenor and their first ruler after the War of the Ring—King Elessar, or Aragorn. Like Aragorn, Tuor was one of the few Men who married one of the Eldar.
Tuor's story is one of many told briefly in the 23rd chapter of The Silmarillion. An early unpublished version is found in The History of Middle-earth. In Unfinished Tales, we find the start of a more mature and complete narrative, which Tolkien began after finishing Lord of the Rings. Sadly, it gets no further than Tuor's first sight of Gondolin.
[edit] History
Tuor was a great hero of the Third House of Men, the only son of Huor and Rían. He was the cousin of Túrin Turambar.
Huor died in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in F.A. 471 (right before Tuor's birth), and Rían died two years later.
Tuor was first fostered by Elves, then captured by Easterlings, who had been sent there by Morgoth and who cruelly oppressed the remnant of the House of Hador.
Tuor later escaped, and lived the life of an outlaw. He was ordered in a dream by the Vala Ulmo to go to Gondolin, to warn King Turgon. Tuor passed through the old Gate of the Noldor (Sindarin Annon-in-Gelydh) into Nevrast, where he is said to have been the first man to come across the great sea, Belegaer the shoreless. 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. Ulmo appointed Tuor to be his messenger and told him to seek King Turgon in Gondolin, and sent him an Elf, Voronwë of Gondolin, to guide him.
Voronwë led Tuor through Núath, where he caught a brief glimpse of his 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 the hidden city of Gondolin.
Tuor remained in Gondolin, and eventually married 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 Wing, one of the twelve houses of Gondolin at the time of the sack of the city by Morgoth. During the sack of the city Tuor and his family, along with a remnant of the people of Gondolin escaped to the Mouths of Sirion, along Idril's secret way. Tuor eventually built the ship Eärramë (Sea-wing) and 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 as a unique exception, just like Lúthien's assumption of a mortal fate.
| Preceded by Túrin |
Chieftain of the House of Hador | Succeeded by Eärendil |
| Preceded by Turgon |
Leader of the Survivors Gondolin(with Idril) |
