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"So you forsake your father and his kin, ill-gotten son! Here shall you fail of all your hopes, and here may you yet die the same death as I."
Eöl to Maeglin in The Silmarillion

The Caragdûr was a steep, black precipice of rock that was located on the north side of Amon Gwared near the northern gate of the city of Gondolin.[1]

History[]

After the accidental killing of his wife, Aredhel, Eöl the Dark Elf was sentenced to be executed by being flung down the Caragdûr. Just before his fall, Eöl cried out to Maeglin, saying that he would die in that same place.[2] Many years later, during the Fall of Gondolin, Maeglin had laid hands upon Idril but was forestalled by Tuor. Tuor fought with Maeglin and cast him far out so that Maeglin's body struck thrice upon the slopes of Amon Gwared. Although Maeglin was not said to have died falling from the Caragdûr, he did share the fate of Eöl in a nearby location.[3]

Etymology[]

Caragdûr is a Sindarin name meaning "dark-spike". It comes from the words carag ("spike, tooth of rock") and dûr ("dark, gloomy, hellish").[4]

In other versions[]

In late revisions, J.R.R. Tolkien considered and rejected the name Caragdar.[5]

The idea of Maeglin's body striking thrice was included by Christopher Tolkien into his version of The Silmarillion to fulfill Eöl's words, but it was taken from the first version of "The Fall of Gondolin", which had no premonition nor Caragdûr.[6]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Amharic ካራግዱር
Arabic كاراجدور
Armenian Կարագդուր
Assamese কাৰাগদুৰ
Belarusian Cyrillic Карагдур
Bengali কারগদুর
Bulgarian Cyrillic Карагдур
Chinese 卡拉督爾
Danish Karagdûr (Den Sorte Klippespids)
Georgian კარაგდური
Greek Καραγδΰρ
Gujarati કારગદુર
Hebrew קאראגדור
Hindi कारागदुर
Japanese カラグドル
Kannada ಕಾರಗದೂರು
Kazakh Карагдұр (Cyrillic) Karagdur (Latin)
Konkani कारागदुर
Korean 카라그두르
Kurdish Sorani) کاراگدور
Kyrgyz Cyrillic Карагдур
Macedonian Cyrillic Карагдур
Malayalam കാരാഗ്ദൂർ
Marathi कारगडूर
Mongolian Cyrillic Карагдур
Nepalese कारागढुर
Pashto کارګدور
Persian کاراگدور
Punjabi ਕਾਰਗਦੁਰ
Russian Карагдур
Sanskrit कारगदुर
Serbian Карагдур (Cyrillic) Karagdur (Latin)
Sindhi ڪارگدور
Sinhalese කරග්දූර්
Tajik Cyrillic Карагдур
Tamil கரகத்தூர்
Tatar Карагдур
Telugu కారగ్దూర్
Ukrainian Cyrillic Карагдур
Urdu کاراگڈور
Yiddish קאַראַגדור


References[]

  1. The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "Gondolin"
  2. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter 16: "Of Maeglin"
  3. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter 23: "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
  4. "Caragdûr" on eldamo.org
  5. The History of Middle-earth, vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part Three: The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion, III: "Maeglin", pg. 325
  6. The History of Middle-earth, vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, III: "The Fall of Gondolin", Notes and Commentary, pg. 212