I can't agree about the goddesses. - Edit 1
Before modification by Legolas at 09/04/2010 04:37:11 PM
That's all I meant by my statement. His writing reflects the times, but moreso in a very conservative community. I feel like he has as many influential women in his story as there are powerful women in classical history.Luthien, Galadriel, Eowyn to history's Cleopatra, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Octavia Augusta, Elizabeth...I mean, the goddesses are almost nonexistent in his mythology. With how heavily influences pantheotic writing is by ancient Greece and Rome, you'd think he would have a couple of goddesses that stand out a bit; the best that can be said for most of the women (namely the goddesses, because we don't see many others) in the series is they serve as companions to powerful/influential men. Sad really.
Don't get me wrong though, I love Tolkien.
I think the most-mentioned Vala in the books has to be Elbereth/Varda, and Yavanna is important as well. They're not really active in battle of course, but Elbereth is mentioned as being the Vala most hated/feared by Melkor/Morgoth. And then there's Melian, Luthien's mother, who after all is a Maia on a level with Sauron. Melian is companion to Thingol, yeah, but it's obvious that she's both wiser and more powerful than he.