Awesome / The Fionavar Tapestry

• To end a killing drought, Paul Schaffer volunteers to take the king's place as a sacrifice on the Summer Tree, which requires him to hang on the tree for three days and nights — a process that has killed 100% of people in the past. Everyone expects that Paul will die; the only question is whether he'll live long enough for his sacrifice to matter. Not only does he survive until the end, but he uses the time to overcome the mental torment that made him suicidal in the first place, reaching death with a clear conscience. It's such an unexpected performance that the god of the forest bows to Paul before the end.
  • And that's all before Paul becomes the first person to survive the Summer Tree, which gives him the power of a god.
  • Paul gets another at the end of book one, when he stands up against Aileron's egotistical rant about this being "his war." Especially when you remember Aileron was willing to kill his own brother moments ago.
  • Two more for Paul in The Darkest Road: first when he convinces the ghost of the world's first mage to give them a lift on a spectral ship, and second when he spares Galladan and forces him to repent, then immediately afterwards summons the sea to carry Arthur, Jennifer, and Lancelot to Avalon. It's no wonder Jaelle fell for him after those performances.
• For a person who never considered herself especially good at anything, Kimberly Ford succeeds where it counts. Her finest hour comes when she refuses to allow the Baelrath to summon the crystal dragon of Calor Diman to war, knowing that pulling the dragon away would effectively mean the end of the Dwarves as a culture. She accepts the true responsibility of the Seer by understanding that some prices are too high to pay, even in the name of the Light.
• Dave Martyniuk helps kill an urgach, one of the most fearsome beasts in the army of Rakoth, on his first night in Fionavar — a place he didn't even want to go at first.
• Kevin Laine spends much of his time in Fionavar feeling useless, as he seems to be the only one of his friends to not get a fantasy glow-up. The only thing he's exceptional at is making love. However, on a midsummer celebration where everyone is encouraged (and even magically compelled) to have one-night stands in honor of the goddess Danna, who does Kevin seduce? The goddess herself. Their coupling is powerful enough to overcome an enchanted winter. Yes, Kevin dies in the process, but he dies just after having the greatest sex anybody has ever had, in any universe.
• Jennifer mocking Rakoth Maugrim to his face, even after he has raped her repeatedly while taking the forms of the men she loves most.
  • Jennifer gets a lower-key but even more significant moment in the third book when she finally meets her son, Darien. While everyone else tries to convince Darien to make his choice one way or another, Jennifer refuses to actively influence him toward the Light, hoping he will see that she trusts him enough to decide on his own. This choice ultimately pushes Darien to the Light.
• Darien himself being the one to kill Rakoth Maugrim. Just like his mother, he withstands the Unraveler's psychic assault with part of his soul still intact, and overcomes Rakoth with his own death when it's clear nothing else will work.
• To protect Darien, Lancelot battles an incredibly old, unimaginably powerful beast for an entire night — and then kills it with its own hammer.
• Matt Soren's "word-striving" against the usurper Cain. Cain is a silver-tongued politician who lambastes Matt for abandoning his duties as king, getting the entire audience eating out of his hand. Matt cannot speak with such eloquence, but he has one thing on his side: he's actually undergone the trial that makes a dwarf into a king. When the moot decrees that the lake will decide the contest, and said "lake" turns out to be an ancient and powerful crystal dragon, Cain's illusions are completely shattered, and the dwarf of true character wins without striking a blow.
• Levon performing Revor's Kill, an incredibly rare hunting trick that requires the hunter to ride directly in front of a herd of charging animals.
• Tabor dan Ivor, at the final battle, defeats a dragon single-handedly. His weapon? A KAMIKAZE UNICORN. Even through the tears, it's hard not to call it one of the most badass kills in the history of fantasy literature.
• Ivor himself leading the Dalrai on a hard ride to intercept Rakoth's army, a feat so impressive it's commemorated in song before the war is even over.
• While Lancelot, Guinevere, and Arthur bicker over who will fight a brutally strong urgach commander, Diarmuid rides past them and claims the battle for himself. He even wins, though he gives his life in the process.
• Lila, who is serving as high priestess of Danna at the age of fifteen, saves Fionavar from the Wild Hunt by commanding Finn through their psychic link.
• Coll commanding his ship in a very violent storm.
• Gereint sending his spirit out to help forge a link between Paul and Liranan the sea god at a critical moment.