Orfalch Echor as depicted by Alan Lee
The Orfalch Echor, also known as the Way of Escape[1] and the Hidden Way, was a great ravine in Beleriand that the Dry River of the Echoriad ran through.[2]
The overall length of the Orfalch Echor, from beginning to end, was roughly ten miles.[3]
History[]
The Orfalch Echor was once a river tunnel of the Dry River, which was a former tributary of the river Sirion.[3]
When Gondolin was first built, the Orfalch Echor was fortified by seven sturdy gates throughout the ravine, which were heavily guarded by many Elves.[3] At the beginning of the ravine was an arched gate[1] that led to the Gate of Wood, which was guarded by the Dark Guard. Tuor and Voronwë were guided through here by Elemmakil on their way to the Gate of Steel, where the Warden of the Great Gate awaited. The ravine opened up at that end to a high sward that overlooked the Vale of Tumladen with a clear view of the city itself.[4]
In YS 502, after Húrin was released by Morgoth, he went to the Orfalch Echor in the Dry River and discovered that the old Way of Escape had been caved in by "a great fall of stones beneath a sheer rock-wall". Even the arched gate was buried. He called out to Turgon afterwards, and went away after receiving no response, though some spies reported this development to Morgoth in Angband.[1]
Etymology[]
Orfalch Echor was a Sindarin[5] name possibly meaning "High Cleft of the Outer Circle", containing the Noldorin word or ("above"), and the Sindarin words falch ("cleft, ravine") and echor ("outer circle; encircling").[5][6]
In other versions[]
In the earliest form of The Fall of Gondolin, the Orfalch Echor was an artificial ravine that was built by the Gondolindrim to act as an evacuation route Morgoth learned of this route from Maeglin, and set a dragon at the entrance which killed many of the survivors who refused to travel through Idril's secret way.[7]
In adaptations[]
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey[]
In the first film of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy, the Longbeards of Thorin II's company pass through a ravine called the Hidden Pass, which an Amazon X-ray trivia note specifies is a typical entrance to an Elven realm. Despite this note, the only realm that ever had such a pass was Gondolin, thus making this pass an adaptation of the Orfalch Echor.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ዖርፋልጭ ዐችሆር |
| Arabic | أورفالش إيكور |
| Armenian | Որֆալճ Եճոր |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Орфалч Ечор |
| Bengali | ওর্fঅল্ছ এছর্ |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Орфалч Ечор |
| Danish | Orfalch Echor (De Omkransende Bjerges Kløft) |
| Georgian | ორფალხ ეხორი |
| Greek | Ορφαλχ Εχορ |
| Gujarati | ઓર્ફાલ્ચ ઇકોર |
| Hebrew | אורפאלך אכור |
| Hindi | ॐर्फ़ल्छ एछोर् |
| Kannada | ಆರ್ಫಾಲ್ಚ್ ಎಕೋರ್ |
| Kazakh | Орфалцһ Ецһор (Cyrillic) Orfalch Echor (Latin) |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Орфалч Ечор |
| Malayalam | ഓർഫാൽക്ക് എക്കോർ |
| Marathi | ऑर्फॅल्च इकोर |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Орфалч Ечор |
| Nepalese | ॐर्फ़ल्छ एछोर् |
| Pashto | ورفالچه ېچهور |
| Persian | ورفالچه هچهور |
| Russian | Орфалч Ечор |
| Sanskrit | ॐर्fअल्छ् एछोर् |
| Serbian | Орфалч Ечор (Cyrillic) Orfalch Echor (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ඕර්ෆල්ඡ් ඒඡොර් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Орфалчҳ Ечҳор |
| Tatar | Орфальч Эчор |
| Telugu | ఓర్fఅల్ఛ ఏఛొర |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Орфалч Ечор |
| Urdu | ورفالچه ےچهور |
| Uzbek | Орфалч Эчор (Cyrillic) Orfalch Echor (Latin) |
| Yiddish | ױרפֿאַלשה ײשהאָר ? |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The History of Middle-earth, The War of the Jewels, Part Three. The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion: I. "The Wanderings of Húrin", pgs. 271, 302
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, chapter XXIII: "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin", pg. 239
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "Gondolin"
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part One: The First Age, I: "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Silmarillion, "Appendix", entry echor
- ↑ Orfalch Echor on eldamo.org
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, chapter III. "The Fall of Gondolin", pgs. 163, 189