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Tuor

Meaning: The Etymologies suggest a derivation from túgore, meaning 'strong-haste'.

Location(s): Mithrim, caves of Androth, Nevrast, Gondolin, Mouths of Sirion

Race/Species: Man

Type/Kind: 1st Age Edain

Dates: I 472 - 560

Parents:
father: Huor
mother: Rían
foster-father: Annael of the Grey-elves

Spouse: Idril

Children: Eärendil

Description:
Tuor was the orphaned son of Huor, who was slain at the Fifth Battle, and Rían, who died shortly thereafter. Tuor was raised by Annael, an elf of Mithrim, but at age sixteen was captured by Lorgan the Easterling, who kept him three years in bondage until Tuor escaped.

Fleeing, Tuor lived as an outlaw for four years, until he came to Nevrast and the ruins of Vinyamar, where, in a ruined house, he found armor and weapons bearing the device of a swan's wing, which he took as his own.

"Then Tuor arrayed himself in the hauberk, and set the helm upon his head, and he girt himself with the sword; black were sheath and belt with clasps of silver. Thus armed he went forth from Turgon's hall, and stood upon the high terraces of Taras in the red light of the sun. None were there to see him, as he gazed westward, gleaming in silver and gold, and he knew not that in that hour he appeared as one of the Mighty of the West, and fit to be the father of the kings of the Kings of Men beyond the Sea, as it was indeed his doom to be; but in the taking of those arms a change came upon Tuor son of Huor, and his heart grew great within him."
Unfinished Tales, "Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin."

And it was there at Vinyamar that Ulmo, Lord of the Waters, appeared to him and gave him a message to bear to Gondolin. A guide, Voronwë, found him on the shore and led him inland to the Hidden Way and the Seven Gates of Gondolin, where at last he delivered his message to Turgon the King.

"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."
The Silmarillion, Ch XXIII, "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin."

"...and he was fair of face, and golden-haired after the manner of his father's kin, and he became strong and tall and valiant, and being fostered by the elves he had lore and skill no less than the princes of the Edain, ere ruin came upon the North."

In Gondolin, Tuor fell in love with and married Turgon's daughter, Idril Celebrindal. Their son was Eärendil. When Gondolin fell, Tuor and Idril led the survivors to safety by the mouth of the river Sirion, where they settled. In old age, Tuor built a ship called Eärrámë and, with Idril, sailed into the West.

Contributors:
Lyllyn 1.6.03, Zimraphel 7.16/03

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