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Originally Posted by Raynor
Mark Luthien for me. I'll give quotes anytime you want, although I guess it is quite pointless, no matter how superb she is portrayed, if our tastes vastly differ.
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Yes, I imagine you could come up with quotes... you are certainly this website's quote-master. But much as "Studies show..." can be used to promote any position in the book, quotes can back up just about any position one wants to take on any subject. Tolkien certainly changed his mind about enough things enough times to make that the case.
In any event, you seem to be taking "seductive" a bit too literally. It is not my intent to suggest that Smaug or Glaurung has a greater sexual appeal to the reader (or other characters) than Lúthien. Seduction is not, of course, a term limited in its usage purely to sexual matters. By seductive here, I was meaning the ability to draw the reader in, to fascinate the reader, to make the reader like the character despite his/her "real life" dislike for anything the character would actually be in the real world.
Though I am sure that face-to-face, Lúthien would (by simple reason of being human in appearance, gorgeous, possessed of a positive personality, and there being a strong case for her being persuasive) be much more seductive than either dragon, as a CHARACTER to a READER, the ones that seduce are more often the dragons.
It might make a good Poll question, if Fordhim or someone ever wants for another topic there, to ask who readers think is more seductive, as a character to a reader: Lúthien or the dragons. My hunch? The dragons. I've heard a lot of people on this site say that Lúthien is boring... or a bore to read, anyway. I haven't heard anyone say that of Glaurung or Smaug that I am able to recall.