Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarumian
There is also no problem with love that people of the same sex can feel to each other as there is nothing "sexual" in such love. It is a kind of philia or even agape, rather than eros. I would risk to say this about Frodo and Sam as well as about Legolas and Gimli, but in Middle Earth the lack of lust is typical even for relationship between different sexes. |
I'm inclined to agree on this regarding Frodo and Sam. There's a deep love between them, and presumably also between Legolas and Gimli, although we know less about that, which also demonstrates itself physically, but I've never been able to see a sexual tension. Not in the book, not in the films (even if the latter did spark discussion about homoerotic elements). I'm happy about it, because it tires me that love is so oftren connected with sexual attraction.
It's true, though, that
most lust shown in Tolkien's works is evil. There's also one passage that hasn't been pointed out explicitly but which I find the most outrageous of all - in one of Tolkien's earlier writings, Melkor actually raped Arien because she refused to marry him. Anyhow, pretty much everyone who has been mentioned here as experiencing sexual desire, with the exception of Beren and Lúthien (and elves and their healthy sex lives in general), are evil in one way or another.