A question about class in Middle Earth

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Dragging this back to Tolkien . . . I rather like Morthoron's patrician to describe the sense of class in LotR.

Interestingly enough, Smeagol's Stoor line that remigrated from the area of the Angle and settled back in the Vales of Anduin was matriarchal (or at least, that's the assumption based on the gleanings we get from Tolkien), one of the few instances (Haleth and perhaps Galadriel -- being equipollent with Celeborn -- being others) where strong female leaders were present. I suppose you could add the ruling queens of Numenor before Ar-Pharazon usurped the crown and forced marriage upon the last presumptive queen, Miriel. Sadly, thereafter primogeniture seems to have been the rule in Gondor among the kings and ruling stewards (as you perceptively stated, the daughters of Elessar didn't even warrant a mention).