I think he was fighting Goblins by the south entrance or something of that nature. At least Ecthelion made his end as valiant as possible. He died taking down the lord of balrogs.
Three balrogs. Still, for an elf, a mighty feat.

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"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? "

^
yeah I also think that Ecthelion made his end as valiant as possible. Killing the lord of the Balrogs was a very great deed after all.

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[!+~^$#&:;]

Ecthelion knew he was going to die. He was simply attempting to save Tuor's life, and to kill Gothmog, if he could, before he died. Glorfindel, on the other hand, was not intending on dying. He outfought his opponent, but was pulled over the cliff by his hair. How in the world is he supposed to make his death as valiant as possible if he wouldn't have died except for that? He could have lived. Ecthelion was too grievously wounded to survive.

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Mabe your right. But, the last bit I dont agree wholly with. He could have survived, he only suffered a wound or two. He could have survived but chose not too. Glorfindel had no choice in the manner of his death so he couldnt make that final choice to die an valient death I agree.
Its harder to choose a consequence with a negative outcome than to be " given" it if you like.

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"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? "

.....maybe you should read that section again--Ecthelion had to be supported by Tuor. Tuor had already saved Ecthelion's life by getting him into the Court of the Fountain, since he couldn't get into it himself. I'm not trying to attack Ecthelion or anything, since he's one of my favorite characters from The Silmarillion/The Book of Lost Tales II, but he really was seriously wounded.

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He still could have healed. He wasnt mortally wounded as in he would die of his injuries anyway. If he hadnt sacrificed himself and if he had left gondolin he would have survived. But he chose to to defend tuor and to try to make Morgoths victory dear bought.

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"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? "

But it was likely that he wouldn't have survived the battle regardless--he would have needed treatment to keep from bleeding to death from his wounds, and time was needed to give treatment, and I'm sure you remember that time was something they had in short supply.

But still, I don't think we can really compare Glorfindel to Ecthelion all that well, at least in terms of prowess. They both died for the refugees. Ecthelion figured he was going to die anyways, and he did die, but Glorfindel figured he could survive, and he died because the Balrog pulled him over the edge.

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Shall we bury this thread or does someone else want to post here?

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"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? "

I think we might as well bury it until someone else comes along to post their opinion--we've all mentioned ours by now, so there's not much point in keeping it up on the first page.

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Then may it sleep, till some person will come to waken it. Like King Arthur in some respects, except its less knight-esque and more Briton-esque.

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"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? "