Egalmoth

He was the leader of the folk of the Heavenly Arch. He wore a blue mantle upon which stars were embroidered in crystal, and his sword was bent (none of the other Noldoli carried curved swords). However, he trusted more to his bow, for he could shoot further than anyone of his folk.

When the Fall of Gondolin began, a great part of his folk was in the walls of the northern gate, where the main attack happened. However, he was in the south part of the city, in charge of the engines on the wall. When the enemy entered into the streets, he saw that they could not keep fighting in the battlements. Therefore, Egalmoth gathered some men of his house and of the Swallow and casted away his bow. While marching among the streets, they defeated every band of enemies they encountered, rescuing and leading the captives. Finally they reached the Square of the King, where they met with the survivors of all the other houses. In the Square, Egalmoth helped Tuor with the defence of the barricades, but they were sundered and he could not help Tuor when Gothmog lord of Balrogs came forth.

During that sally in the Square, Egalmoth was hurt, but he could survive with the rest of the exiles of Gondolin. He dwelt in the mouth of Sirion, but he later died there in the Third Kinslaying when the sons of Fëanor came for the Silmaril.

Egalmoth is Gnomish for "Broadshoulder", and its Qenya form is Aikaldamor.

In the Name-list to The Fall of Gondolin, the following definition is provided:
"Egalmoth is a great name, yet none know clearly its meaning - some have said its bearer was so named in that he was worth a thousand elves (but Rumil says nay) and others that it signifies the mighty shoulders of that Gnome, and so saith Rumil, but perchance it was woven of a secret tongue of the Gondothlim, yet was he lord of the house of the Heavenly Arch, and got even out of the burning of Gondolin, and dwelt after at the mouth of Sirion, but was slain in a dire battle there when Melko seized Elwing." The "thousand" is from the Gnomish word moth, which had a definition of "moth(in), mothwen 1000. probably = flock. [<< 'moth 1000. mothwen (same.)' Cf. I 270 Uin, II 338 Egalmoth.]"

When Tolkien developed Sindarin, Egalmoth became an obsolete name, but he had already used it for a steward of Gondor in a published work and the name sounded good, so he retained it in later versions as an archaic form. The proper Sindarin name would be Ægamloth, which means "Pointed helm-crest", from aeg ("point") + amloth ("uprising flower, implying a crest on a helmet").

The Book of Lost Tales

In an outline of the last Lost Tale, Tolkien considered that Egalmoth and Galdor led the Noldoli back to Valinor.

The War of the Jewels

Egalmoth does not appear again in any later texts of the legendarium, except in one concerning Aredhel's escort. While writing the story of Maeglin in 1951, Tolkien named him as one of the escorts King Turgon sent to accompany Aredhel on her way out of the Hidden City to her brother Fingon, along with Glorfindel and Ecthelion. However, he realized that these three lords were too mighty to come back to Gondolin after losing Aredhel, so he decided that they should not be the escort. Therefore, Christopher Tolkien kept this decision for his edition of The Silmarillion.

A note from The Nature of Middle-earth

In a very late note dated c. 1972-3, Tolkien seemed to imply that Egalmoth and Ecthelion were of royal lineage, since some Ruling Stewards of Gondor were named after "renowned heroes in the royal lines of old".

1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 25/05/2026.