Tolkien and the Monsters

[davem]

Originally Posted by Bethberry

There is a reason why so many of the descriptions of Shelob refer to her gender--constantly and continuously is the pronoun 'she' repeated, even, of course, in her very name, Shelob. The female glutton whose appetites are so deadly and whose body is so foul and putrid. Even the orcs' mockery of "Her ladyship" is significant.

(adopts Vienese accent): 'Sometimes a psychopathic giant spider is just a psychopathic giant spider'