View Single Post
Old 01-06-2007, 06:31 PM   #7
littlemanpoet
Itinerant Songster
 
littlemanpoet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
littlemanpoet is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.littlemanpoet is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
On Galadriel, you can bet that if she had accepted the Ring, there would have been an outright matriarchy ... but not a good one. (Note that I distinguish between "matriarchy" and "evil/bad"; they are not necessarily the same thing. )

Regarding Melian, you are still dealing with a patriarchal society. Thingol was still the one who made the decisions, usually listening and making use of Melian's wise counsel, but not always; and when he failed to take her counsel, his decisions failed.

I find it very interesting and gratifying how Tolkien consistently included wise women as powerful influences for good within patriarchal societies.
littlemanpoet is offline   Reply With Quote