Most missed absentees

I've not read the books in some while, but I probably have read them through 3 total times, the last being after the theater release of The Fellowship. Other than Glorfindel and Farmer Maggot (tough name to forget), I don't recognize any other name you folks have been throwing out. I guess my point is...a character's importance to the story may be suspect when someone who has read the books several times can't conjure up their names in memory. My memory isn't the best, but it isn't the worst either. People who haven't read the books didn't miss a beat with the omissions, and they probably make up the bulk of the masses watching the films.<P>I loved ROTK, but boy did it look hurried. My own belief is that 3 movies simply cannot capture 3 books, especially books that were greatly dependent on thousands of years of Middle-Earth history. Thus, <I>drastic</I> cuts had to be made, especially with marginal characters that, at best, augmented the storyline.