Wooden Gate

The location of the Wooden Gate within the Orfalch Echor (not to scale)

The Hidden Way was the secret entrance to city of Gondolin, a dark tunnel that led from a concealed opening into the depths beneath the Encircling Mountains. A traveller venturing into the tunnel from outside would eventually find their way barred by a heavy portcullis, which was the first of Seven Gates that guarded the road to the vale of Tumladen where the Hidden City stood. Each of the Seven Gates was constructed from its own distinct material, and as the First Gate was made of wood, it was known as the Wooden Gate or the Gate of Wood.

Lying deep within a dark tunnel, the Wooden Gate was also called the Dark Gate, and it was protected by a force of Elves known as the Dark Guard, who would only open the Wooden Gate for those known to them. Those permitted to pass the gate would travel on into the narrow ravine of the Orfalch Echor that ran through the mountains, itself guarded by six further gates. The first of these after the Wooden Gate, half a league onward up a steep slope, was the Second Gate, the Gate of Stone.