The twelve houses of gondolin

Turgon's followers had, already in his old realm of Nevrast, developed heraldic customs that seem to have been unique in Middle-earth, and closer to the heraldry of the middle ages. Their emblazonry consisted of symbols set against a single-coloured background, and the shields they were applied to were "long and tapering". In Gondolin this heraldry was probably not used for personal devices, but were -- perhaps solely -- applied to the devices of the "Twelve Houses" (c.f. Idril). These were groups of nobles, possibly household or guilds, who appears to have been responsible for the defense of the city.

The detailed description of the heraldry comes from a source which is usually considered rather unreliable [10]; but the design of one of the devices has been confirmed by a much more trustworthy text [11], and apart from slight discrepancies I see no reason to believe that the other devices aren't accurately described as well. The coats of arms below are all reconstructed from the descriptions, and should of course not be considered authorial in any way.

T he House of the King. Turgon and his house had the emblems of "the moon and the sun and the scarlet heart" and their signifying colours were white, gold, and red, each doubtless connected with one of the emblems. I have here grouped the three symbols into one device, although it is possible the house actually had three different devices. The heart represented the heart of Fingolfin, Turgon's father, who was buried north of the city. I have assumed that the sun is connected with the sun in the device of Finwe's house (Turgon being Finwe's grandson), and therefore given it the same number of rays.

T he House of the White Wing. The stoutest of the King's men wore swans' or gulls' wings on their helmets, and the device of their shields was a swan's wing on blue. Of this kind was the shield and helm that Tuor found in Nevrast, destinying him to ultimately join and lead the house. [11]

T he House of the Mole. Maeglin, who led the House of the Mole, was a masterful miner, and apparently associated himself with a mole. But the shields of the house were sable and unblazoned, just like Morgoth's shield. In the end, it was Maeglin who betrayed Gondolin to Morgoth.

T he House of the Swallow. This house consisted of formidable archers, dressed in white, dark blue, purple and black. Their leader was called Duilin and their shields were charged with an arrowhead. The Swallow might be reminiscent of an arrow, flying speedily through the air and always finding its mark.

T he House of the Heavenly Arch. The members of Egalmoth's house were all very wealthy and enjoyed jewels and gold. On their helmets was set a large opal, and their shields were sky-blue. In the centre of the shields was "a jewel built of seven gems": ruby, amethyst, sapphire, emerald, chrysoprase, topaz and amber. The arrangement of the gems is my own; the "Heavenly Arch" was most likely intended to be the rainbow, and I have assumed that the topaz was yellow, to complete the rainbow colour gradient indicated in the order of the other stones.

T he House of the Golden Flower. Glorfindel led this house, whose device was charged with a rayed sun. The background colour I have chosen because of the house's name, and the description of Glorfindel's clothing as reminding of "a field in spring".

T he House of the Harp. The members of this house wore tassels of silver and gold, and on their shields were set a silver harp on a sable background. The leader of the house, Salgant, fawned on Maeglin, and his on device only the harp was golden. It is notable that the device shares the black of the House of the Mole, perhaps by direct influence of Maeglin on Salgant.

T he House of the Hammer of Wrath. A group of smiths and craftsmen, this courageous and strong house, lead by Rog, fought with maces and had heavy shields. Their emblem was the stricken anvil, but their shields showed "a hammer that smiteth sparks about it". No indication is given of the colouring of the device, but a clue might be that "red gold and black iron was their delight".

The devices of the remaining houses aren't described. What we know is this:

• The House of the Pillar and The House of the Tower of Snow were both lead by Penlod. No hint whatsoever is given regarding their attributes.

• The House of the Tree was lead by Galdor and its members were dressed in green.

• The House of the Fountain was lead by Ecthelion, the one who slew Gothmog, lord of Balrogs. The members of the house enjoyed silver and diamonds, whose glitter and colour no doubt influenced their emblem.

The Hildor

THE EDAIN OF THE FIRST AGE

When the Edain entered Beleriand, they seem to have adopted the rules (and perhaps the very concept) of heraldry almost immediately. A forerunner of this was doubtless Beor, whose close friendship with Finrod gave him the oldest of the known Human devices. The first of these tended to use more warm and earth-like colours than their Elvish counterparts, and the designs were usually only symmetrical around the vertical axis, distinguishing them from the entirely symmetrical devices of the Elves. They also seem to have ignored the "point" symbology, with one exception. The illustrations below are all based on preserved devices.

B eor. Beor's device was probably the first to be created for a Man according to the Elvish rules of heraldry, and in many ways it is the most elf-like of the Human devices (not counting Earendil the Half-elf's device). It is entirely symmetrical and has the common Eldarin shape for males. Still it lacks the splendour of the Elvish devices, and seems more earth-bound with its warm and natural colours. [2]

H ador. The reason for the design of Hador's device is not clear. Hador was a great friend of Fingolfin, and one might perhaps discern the "fiery" colours of Finwe and his heirs in this device. The symmetry is vertical, even in the "spearhead" designs, the one at the bottom being more pointed than the one at the top. [2]

B eren. In the centre of Beren Erchamion's device is the Silmaril that Beren and Lúthien took from Morgoth. Above it the Thangorodrim looms, the three peaks of Angband, where the Silmarils were. Below the Silmaril is a red hand, seemingly stretched out to grab the stone. It may also symbolize the hand that Beren lost to Carcharoth. The meaning of the star at the top is unclear, unless it is a foreboding of the star of Earendil as the fate of the Silmaril. The device shows the vertical symmetry common for Men, broken only by the naturally assymetric hand. [2]

E arendil. The focus in Earendil's device lies in the Silmaril of Earendil depicted in the centre, radiating six light beams towards the edges. In the dark corners the moon in its phases is shown. The presence of the moon might reflect Earendil's destiny to become a star, but it is also the only thing that prevents this device from being entirely symmetrical. This perhaps distinguishes him as being Half-elven. The six light rays are accompanied by six others, that seem to go in the opposite direction. Thus forming twelve "points", a clear relatedness with Idril's device is seen (Idril being Earendil's mother), which is reinforced by the shared blue background of the two devices. [1]

T he House of Haleth. The device of the Haladin shows a tree of an unspecified order, a pair of white flowers, and a number of orange dots that might be stylized nuts or leafs. The tree seems to be entwined with a trailer. The Haladin in general were fond of solitude and forests, which might be indicated in this device. It is notable that the device breaks the Elvish rules of heraldry, using a lozenge for an impersonal device. [2]