The people of Gondolin were divided into kindreds or houses, each named after their own emblem or sigil.1 Those Elves who dwelt in the southern part of the city belonged to the group known as the Fountain (or, in full, the Fountain of the South). Arrayed in diamonds and silver, the soldiers of the Fountain fought with long swords and were known for their tradition of marching into battle to the sound of flutes.
The Lord of this people was Ecthelion, who was thus commonly titled 'Ecthelion of the Fountain', or 'Ecthelion Lord of the Fountains'. At one time Warden of the Great Gate, it was Ecthelion who admitted Tuor to Gondolin, and he was later famed for his defeat of Gothmog Lord of Balrogs (in a battle in which he himself was slain).
Notes
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We have accounts of numerous houses of this kind in The Fall of Gondolin (in volume II of The History of Middle-earth) including the Heavenly Arch, the Pillar, the Swallow and others besides. In the published Silmarillion only two of these kindreds are mentioned directly: Ecthelion's House of the Fountain, and Glorfindel's House of the Golden Flower.
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- Updated 7 December 2014
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