Tolkien testosterone

[vulgarweed]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "bluesqueak" <pipdowns at e...> wrote:
> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "lupinesque" <lupinesque at y...> wrote:
> Amy Z wrote
> I don't think the lack of female characters ever bothered me in 
> either The Hobbit or LOTR - I identified with Bilbo in the Hobbit, 
> and Sam Gamgee/Eowyn in LOTR. The two major female characters in 
LOTR 
> especially were SO major, I just didn't notice the relative lack of 
> minor females.
> 
> LOTR especially, was a 'going off to war' story, and I just happily 
> assumed that in the times it was set in, women didn't 'go off to 
> war'. Which is why I liked Eowyn so much, I thought Tolkein was 
> actually very good at portraying a warrior by nature who'd been 
born 
> a girl. 
> 
> And I remember I saw her decision to not be a sheild maiden anymore 
> as a maturing - she'd fought in a battle, won a victory that was 
> beyond the ability of any man, and could now concentrate on giving 
> life, not dealing out death.

I kind of saw it as a bit implausible, myself. But then it's a good 
thing she did, since there weren't any more wars for her to fight!

Aren't we leaving out some admittedly minor female characters who 
nevertheless have memorable moments? Rosie Cotton gets probably the 
funniest line in the whole trilogy (admittedly unintentionally so), 
and the image of crotchety old Lobelia Sackville-Baggins whaling on 
Saruman's henchmen with her umbrella is utterly indelible.

AV
(who, even at 12, didn't give beans about Aragorn and Arwen, 
recognizing instantly that the *real* love story was Frodo and Sam.)