Luthien & Galadriel

[Mithalwen]

Make that no psychological depth - she doesn't speak..... she doesn't do anything until that gloop Beren turns up, she achieves nothing but death for anyone other than herself. She allows herself to be imprisoned in a tree. Idril whose tale is told in the same way is far more interesting .... As a feminist find nothing likeable or endearing about Luthien.... to put it mildly

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

... and she was not motivated by Luthien's self interest.

Her love for Beren was self interest? Well, I suppose that you could look at it that way. But doesn't that rather take the magic away ...?

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Am I missing something here? What did Beren ever do to earn such mockery? As far as I can tell he was a fine warrior, a fantastically brave soul, and a devout and wonderfully loving man. Just about the perfect role model for us boys, methinks.

And saying that Luthien achieves nothing but death for others is like saying the oppressed should not fight back. She could have just stayed in the tree, but that would have been quite uninteresting; and the death would have been instigated by Morgoth all the same. All this death that she 'achieved' was already written in the stars.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Eomer of the Rohirrim

Am I missing something here? What did Beren ever do to earn such mockery? As far as I can tell he was a fine warrior, a fantastically brave soul, and a devout and wonderfully loving man. Just about the perfect role model for us boys, methinks.

And saying that Luthien achieves nothing but death for others is like saying the oppressed should not fight back. She could have just stayed in the tree, but that would have been quite uninteresting; and the death would have been instigated by Morgoth all the same. All this death that she 'achieved' was already written in the stars.

Anyone who has such power who allows them to be locked in a tree or anywhere else has no self respect.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

She escaped pretty easily. Seems as though she didn't mind being in the tree. Maybe she had nothing better to do?

Or maybe it was respect for her father? I don't exactly know what Tolkien was meaning by this. It seems like an odd affair to me.