Turgon was the second son of Fingolfin, brother of Fingon and Aredhel, and father of Idril. He came to Beleriand with Fingolfin's host and for a time lived at Vinyamar, in Nevrast, by the sea.1
Ulmo sent him a dream, and Turgon, guided by it, found a hidden valley in the Encircling Mountains, and there he and his people built the city of Gondolin, whose walls were of white stone and whose king's tower rose above the rest. It was hidden from Morgoth for about four hundred years, and few outside it knew where it lay.2,3
After the death of Fingon in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Turgon became the High King of the Noldor, and at the same time drew back into Gondolin more closely than ever, sealing the entrances. When Tuor came as the messenger of Ulmo and warned him, he refused to leave his city, and it was at last betrayed to Morgoth, who sent Orcs, dragons and Balrogs against it.4,3
Turgon fell with Gondolin, in the fall of the Tower of the King. His daughter Idril and her husband Tuor carried the survivors down Sirion, and the line of the High Kings passed to Gil-galad, son of Fingon.3
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and Tolkien's late writings on the Elder Days, assembled by Christopher Tolkien from his father's papers.
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, ch. 13, “Of the Return of the Noldor”
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, ch. 14, “Of Beleriand and its Realms”
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, ch. 23, “Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin”
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, ch. 20, “Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”