J.R.R. 托爾金（J.R.R. Tolkien）

英國文豪，天纔的語言學傢，生於1892年1月3日，1925年開始擔任牛津大學教授。他創作瞭一係列膾炙人口的中洲世界史詩，影響最為深遠的是《霍比特人》和《魔戒》。這兩部巨作，被譽為當代奇幻作品的鼻祖。1972年3月28日，托爾金獲英國女王伊麗莎白二世頒發的大英帝國指揮官勛章。

托爾金於1973年9月2日在牛津逝世。托爾金身後，其作品聲名未減，至今已暢銷2.5億餘冊，《魔戒》在英國Waterstones書店和第四頻道閤辦的票選活動中被選為20世紀之書，被亞馬遜網絡書店票選為兩韆年以來最重要的書籍。

剋裏斯托弗·托爾金（Christopher Tolkien）

J.R.R. 托爾金的小兒子，托爾金文學遺産執行人，整理編輯有《精靈寶鑽》《鬍林的子女》以及十二捲本《中洲曆史》等作品，曾為《魔戒》繪製地圖。

艾倫·李（Alan Lee）

英國插畫大師。生於1947年，尤擅水彩與鉛筆素描。曾為眾多文學經典創作插圖，以《伊利亞特》獲得英國童書最高榮譽格林納威奬，更以《霍比特人》獲得世界奇幻大會年度最佳藝術傢奬。

“托爾金創造的世界，艾倫·李讓我們看見。”李的插畫是托爾金筆下宏大世界的視覺化基礎，得到全世界讀者與影迷的承認和熱愛。憑藉為電影《指環王》作齣的卓越貢獻，李榮膺2004年奧斯卡最佳藝術指導奬。

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鄧嘉宛，專職譯者，英國紐卡斯爾大學社會語言學碩士。從事文學與基督教神學翻譯工作二十餘年，譯有《魔戒》《精靈寶鑽》《鬍林的子女》等五十餘種作品。喜歡一個人有書有貓做伴的生活。

石中歌，資深托迷，又名Ecthelion、噴泉。熱愛托爾金教授筆下那個名為阿爾達的世界，長年纍月迷路其中，且樂不思返。

杜蘊慈，颱灣政治大學谘詢管理學畢業。著有歐亞絲路紀行《地圖上的藍眼睛》《迭裏溫·孤山》。喜愛閱讀民族史詩、傳說，歐亞草原曆史地理。

In the Tale of The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar.

Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. It was built and peopled by Noldorin Elves who, when they dwelt in Valinor, the land of the gods, rebelled against their rule and fled to Middle-earth. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city, while the gods in Valinor in heated debate largely refuse to intervene in support of Ulmo's desires and designs.

Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, the instrument of Ulmo's designs. Guided unseen by him Tuor sets out from the land of his birth on the fearful journey to Gondolin, and in one of the most arresting moments in the history of Middle-earth the sea-god himself appears to him, rising out of the ocean in the midst of a storm. In Gondolin he becomes great; he is wedded to Idril, Turgon's daughter, and their son is Eärendel, whose birth and profound importance in days to come is foreseen by Ulmo.

At last comes the terrible ending. Morgoth learns through an act of supreme treachery all that he needs to mount a devastating attack on the city, with Balrogs and dragons and numberless Orcs. After a minutely observed account of the fall of Gondolin, the tale ends with the escape of Túrin and Idril, with the child Eärendel, looking back from a cleft in the mountains as they flee southward, at the blazing wreckage of their city. They were journeying into a new story, the Tale of Eärendel, which Tolkien never wrote, but which is sketched out in this book from other sources.

Following his presentation of Beren and Lúthien Christopher Tolkien has used the same 'history in sequence' mode in the writing of this edition of The Fall of Gondolin. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, it was ‘the first real story of this imaginary world’ and, together with Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin, he regarded it as one of the three 'Great Tales' of the Elder Days.