Well, since Middle-earth has kind of a pseudo medieval character, the marriage=political alliance aspect is consistent with that. Marriages did tend to be made on that basis: Ferdinand and Isabella, William of Orange and Mary, Henry VIII and ... well, alliances don't always last for very long! [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]
But you do have a point that Tolkien didn't seem very fond of writing about romancy and certainly not about sexuality. This device provided a convenient reason not to have to.
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