Gondolin headcanons
1. The idea of the Houses originates from the trek across the HelcaraxĂŤ. Turgonâs followers were spread out in a thin line and Turgon couldnât reach them all, so some people spontaneously started taking up the role of captains over smaller groups. These groups later became the Houses and the âcaptainsâ their Lords.
2. Originally, Gondolin counted 8 Houses, the Houses of the Tree and the Tower of Snow were later additions as the Sindarin popularion of the city grew, the Houses of the Mole and the White Wing would later make it 12
3. The Houses function as political and economic units within the city. Every citizen is part of one (if only for administrative purposes).
4. The House of the Tower of Snow became a refuge for orphans after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.
5. While Gondolin is theoretically a monarchy, in practice it functions more like an oligarchy. The city is ruled by majority vote by a Council made up of the Lords and the King. Turgon doesnât have any more voting power than the Lords do, with the exception that he has a veto he can use âin extreme circumstancesâ. This last phrase isnât actually very clearly defined by law, which causes problems later on.
6. While Turgon is technically the highest judge the Gondolindrim can appeal to, he doesnât actually do much adjudicating. Most court cases are handled by the Lords and lower magistrates.
7. Gondolin is divided into districts based on the Houses. The Lords are the highest power in each district. They rule their own districts as they see fit in accordance with Gondolin law as written by the Council.
8. Because the districts are ruled individually they have developed very distinct architectural styles. The District of the Fountain has muted colours and many canals and elegant bridges. The District of the Golden Flower uses warmer tones, flower-patterned tiles, tons of mosaic. The District of the Tree is very garden-y: many large parks, very little tiled road infrastructure only where necessary.
9. While the Houses are pretty strictly separated this way there is actually a lot of interaction between them both for social and economic purposes. The city canât run without any of them. There is actually a lot of intermarriage between the Houses too.
10. It is possible to live and/or work in the district of one House but be a part of another. Especially in the later years itâs actually pretty common, although it is a bit of an administrative nightmare.
11. The official state language of Gondolin is Quenya, but Sindarin quickly became the more prevalent language spoken in the streets.
