Gate of Wood

The location of the Gate of Wood leading into the Orfalch Echor (not to scale)

The First of the Seven Gates that barred the entrance to Gondolin, blocking the inward end of the dark tunnel that led from the Dry River through the Encircling Mountains. While many of the Seven Gates were elaborate structures with their own companies of guards, the Gate of Wood was relatively simple in form: a wooden portcullis held together by iron nails, and suspended between two great pillars. It could be opened by the Dark Guard that patrolled the tunnel, and a single touch by one of these guards would cause the portcullis to silently rise and allow passage into the Orfalch Echor.