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Originally Posted by alatar
Was Tolkien trying to say something in that ME's savior is a small 'intellectual' hobbit, and the savior of Merry, Faramir and Eowyn (amongst others) is Ioreth of stature proposed by Mithalwen?
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I have to say that I am not sure I wouldn't go that far.. I wouldn't say that she is particularly significant to the story - other than it oils Aragorn's acceptance by his people, and I think Tolkien meant no more than for her to provide a little light relief at a moment of high tension and as a device to get Aragorn into the city
If you look at the original thread, she crops up as an example of an "ordinary", non-idealised woman. Perhaps she is the only one with a distinctive voice as you put it (and certainly she is distinctive).
If you look at the " Houses of healing", it says that she is an old wife - wife originally simply meant woman - eldest of those who served there. She has some herb lore and if she is ignorant of the what is going on it is becasue she has focused on the sick. Gandalf calls her a "wise-woman" (altogether now "There are two things you should know about the wise woman... one .. she is wise..")