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- "It was the ringing of this Gong on the Shadowy Seas that awoke the Sleeper in the Tower of Pearl that stands far out to west in the Twilit Isles."
- —Vairë to Eriol in The Book of Lost Tales Part One, I. "The Cottage of Lost Play"
Tombo, also known as the Gong of the Children or the Gong of Littleheart, was a gong in the earliest version of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium,[2] accounted in The Book of Lost Tales.
History[]
Tombo's origin or background is untold. Near the end of the First Age, it was in the possession of Littleheart, also called Ilverin, on Vingilot during Eärendil's many voyages in seeking the city of Kôrtirion. Upon traversing the Shadowy Seas, Littleheart rang Tombo to wake up the Sleeper in the Tower of Pearl on Tol Withernon,[3] the westernmost of the Twilit Isles.[2][4]
Sometime after reaching Kôrtirion, Tombo would be brought to stand outside the Hall of Play Regained where Littleheart soon became the Gong-warden, being "given the hammer of his gong" by Vairë.[5] It was used to summon the children to meals in the main cottage hall and for tale-telling in the Room of the Log Fire. Littleheart rang it once for meals and thrice for tale-telling. The gong's "sweet noise" was followed by "the laughter of many voices" and "a great pattering of feet". Littleheart believed that the best part of the day was striking Tombo thrice.[2]
Sometime during the Seventh Age, a man named Eriol sailed the Straight Road to Tol Eressëa and heard "the voice of Tombo" ringing once and thrice while he stayed at the Cottage of Lost Play.[2]
Etymology[]
Tombo is Quenya for "gong", derived from tumu ("swell (with the idea of hollowness)") as well as tumbë ("trumpet, large horn"),[6] tumbo ("deep vale, valley"),[7] and tumna ("deep, profound, dark or hidden").[8] Tombo's Gnomish cognate is To.[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Parma Eldalamberon 15, "Sí Qente Feanor and Other Elvish Writings", pg. 7
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, I. "The Cottage of Lost Play", pgs. 15, 17
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon 11, " I-Lam na-Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue", pg. 3
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, V. "The Tale of Eärendel", pg. 256
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, X. "Gilfanon's Tale: The Travail of the Noldoli and the Coming of Mankind", pg. 27
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon 12, "Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa", pg. 95
- ↑ The Nature of Middle-earth, pg. 351
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I", pg. 230 (entry Tombo)