Awesome / The Fall of Gondolin

• Tuor escapes slavery and becomes an outlaw, waging a one-man guerrilla war against Morgoth's servants who are occupying Dor-lomin and oppressing his kin. The Easterlings put a price on his head, but nobody is strong, cunning or brave enough to collect it.
  Thus he came back at last to the caves of Androth and dwelt there alone. And for four years he was an outlaw in the land of his fathers, grim and solitary; and his name was feared, for he went often abroad, and slew many of the Easterlings that he came upon. Then they set a great price upon his head; but they did not dare to come to his hiding place, even with the strength of men, for they feared the Elven-folk and shunned the caves where they had dwelt.
• Tuor escapes from Hitlum and reaches the coast of Nevrast, becoming the first Man to see the Belegaer, the Sundering Sea. While exploring the land, Tuor arrives in Vinyamar, Turgon's former capital city, which has remained empty for centuries, and finds the suit of armor which Turgon left for Ulmo's messenger before departing. Tuor puts on the blue-and-silver armor, strides out of the ghost city, and Ulmo appears at the shore to entrust a mission to him.
• When the siege of Gondolin begins, Idril dresses her son in a chainmail vest, puts on her own mail, and -in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment- picks a sword. Maeglin tries to kidnap her and Ëarendil, but he did not count on her fighting "alone as she was, like a tigress for all her beauty and slenderness." Tuor then shows up and flings the monster who betrayed Gondolin and intended to rape his wife and murder his son off the city wall.
• When the northern gate is broken, Rog and the House of the Hammer of Wrath charge against the Balrogs, rip the whips from their hands and kill the demons with their own weapons. Seeing that they have been cut off from the city, Rog rushes his troops outside Gondolin where they make their last stand.
• Salgant orders his followers to form a defensive perimeter around his house and focus only on protecting his life. Seeing that their leader is a selfish coward, the House of the Harp abandons him and joins the defense of Gondolin.
• Ecthelion battles against Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs and Captain of Angband; and even though he gets both arms broken and loses his life, he manages to slay the Balrog.
• Tuor and Idril are leading the remnants of the Gondolindrim over the mountain pass when they are ambushed by a company of Orcs led by a Balrog. Though, the Eagles show up and push the Orcs off the cliffs. Meanwhile, Glorfindel engages the Balrog and manages to kill it.
• Tolkien described Idril Celebrindal as "wise and farseeing", and those gifts are NOT an informed ability: Idril knew Maeglin could not be trusted. Idril knew Ulmo's warnings should be followed. Idril advised Tuor to build a secret escape tunnel under their house. Idril commissioned tailor-made chain mails for her and her son Ëarendil. Idril evacuated as many people as she could when the siege began, talked Tuor out of a pointless suicidal attack, and argued against using the old Way of Escape because she rightly guessed it was no longer safe. To sum up, the survival of Tuor, Ëarendil and several hundreds of people rests squarely on her shoulders. If Idril had not been around, Morgoth's triumph would have been absolute.

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