YMMV / The Fall of Gondolin

• Fridge Brilliance: Rather than demanding the fulfillment of some easily achievable task like stealing Morgoth's favorite jewels or restoring a kingdom which died three millennia ago, Turgon simply accepts that Túor is marrying his daughter. It is stated that Turgon remembers Húor's words during the Unnunmbered Tears ("Though we part here for ever, and I shall not look on your white walls again, from you and from me a new star shall arise.")...but it is also true that Gondolin was a multicultural society wherein mixed marriages were common (Voronwë himself is the son of a Ñoldor and a Grey Elf) and all members of the royal family are of mixed ancestry. So it makes sense that Turgon didn't kick up a fuss about his daughter marrying a Man.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In the 1916 draft, Maeglin belongs to the House of the Mole. Fifty-eight years later, the "mole=sleeper agent" meaning was introduced to the public by John le Carré's novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, published three years after Tolkien's death. Admittedly, spies are called "moles" in Sir Francis Bacon's Historie of the Reign of King Henry VII (1626), but it is not known whether Tolkien even read that book.
• Moral Event Horizon: See here.
• Realism-Induced Horror: Despite featuring Elves, Orcs, Dragons, and a Dark Lord, the story is a disturbingly accurate depiction of the hell of war, written when WWI was still ongoing by someone who had just survived the Battle of Somme: a power-hungry tyrant sends his army to destroy the last city which defies his rule. His war machines -newly created and built expressly to ensure the success of the siege- burn the fields surrounding the city before smashing down its walls and gates. His troops invade the city, slaughter or capture its inhabitants, loot anything valuable, and burn everything down, erasing its people's history and culture. As the city is being razed to the ground, some few hundreds manage to flee as being chased and harassed by the invading forces. After escaping from the valley, the survivors spend one year living like refugees, wandering around unknown lands, suffering from hunger and thirst, and putting up with bad weather until they find one place where they can settle down.

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