JRR Tolkien, The Fall of Gondolin review: A vast and fitting last look at Middle Earth

JRR Tolkien still commands a vast legion of fans, on their own epic journey to find more about the world of Middle Earth. Now comes the newest addition to Tolkien’s library of books, one that looks to provide even more detail on the world most famous for playing host to the adventures of The Lord of the Rings.

It is now more than 80 years since The Hobbit was published. Tolkien died in 1973, but works written by him have continued to emerge through a kind of necromancy that wouldn’t be out of place in his books: his son, Christopher, has spent the past decades poring through the stories and scraps left by his father when he died, pieced together to be released to the public.

The new book contains material that is among the oldest ever produced by Tolkien. The story that makes up The Fall of Gondolin was first put together in 1917, as he recovered from the Battle of the Somme. But it remained unfinished and unpublished. Until now.

It is the latest in a run of rescued books, painstakingly assembled by Christopher and published to the world so that they can explore even more of the world of Tolkien’s imagination. But it will also be the last: his son writes at the very beginning of this book that he is certain he will publish no more.

What a fitting finale to that mythology The Fall of Gondolin is. It is set thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, and tells the tale of the founding of the eponymous city, its visit by a hero named Tuor, and the destruction that would come soon after.

It depicts a world inhabited by the most dreadful monsters, with beautiful hidden cities, visited by mysterious travellers. The balrogs, the fiery monsters carrying flaming whips that are so familiar to even the most casual fan of The Lord of the Rings, appear in stunning fashion: commanded as a huge army, spilling forth fire and death on behalf of their mysterious and compelling master. And that’s just one part of the spectacle. Even amid the complexities and difficulties of the book – and there are many – there is enough splendid imagery and characterful prose that readers will be carried along to the end even if they don’t know where they are going.

It is important to note that this book is not really one story, but at least two: one known as “The Tale of the Fall of Gondolin” and the other as “The Last Version”. The latter, in particular, contains some spellbinding descriptions and is among the most propulsive of Tolkien’s writing – before it comes to an abrupt close, with Christopher able only to give us snatches of what might have come later according to Tolkien’s notes.

The third substantial part of the book goes on to make clear that there are in fact many more retellings hiding away, too, since it gives a commentary on the various other versions and details what has been left out.

As such, going through the book is like digging and excavating: putting pieces together yourself, running up against dead ends, teaching yourself to enjoy the excitement of multiple possibilities and not settle into the ease of a definite answer.

If all of this sounds a little much like hard work, it is a collection worth having for the trappings alone. It is decorated throughout with sublime illustrations from Alan Lee depicting events from the story – not only on its front and back, but throughout, helping you get back into the world if everything gets a little heavy.

As “The Last Version” comes to a close, we finish as the hero Tuor looks up towards the city that has been his aim. Except we don’t see that city, because this is the point that Tolkien gives up: we see only those snatches Christopher has been able to pull together from the notes left by his father. We would hear how beautiful the city was, he writes, of the splendour of its gates and fountains, trees and houses.

Assembling that great city – like the rest of the story – is left up to you, the reader. But there is plenty to fill those gaps with: this book might make JRR Tolkien’s vision complete, but it is far from finished.