I consider Rose Gamgee nee Cotton to be significant, if only (like Arwen) because she's an inspiration; she inspires Sam (and by extension, the other 3 Hobbits) to persevere.
Eowyn is the only female character to *act* - even Galadriel is just window-dressing. Her little display with the Mirror was entirely selfish: by rejecting the temptation of the Ring, she bought her way back into Uttermost West (she had been banished for disobedience and not stopping the Kinslaughter). The help she gives the Fellowship could have been done by Celeborn - it wasn't *particular* to her. Eowyn was *particular*.
Arwen was the prize Aragorn won for destroying Sauron; Elrond said, "Nope - not letting a rootless vagabond marry MY immortal gorgeous daughter. Become King, you tramp!"
So he did. And then she spat in dad's eye and sacrificed her immortality (and gave it to Frodo).
There are other minor named female characters - Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Goldberry, Mistress Ioreth of the Houses of Healing - but really, LotR is a Boy's Best Adventure tale.
I consider Rose Gamgee nee Cotton to be significant
Oh, DUH. Yes, she's important, even if she's only in about 5 pages out of several thousand.
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins?
Shelob?
(this was x-posty, I was trying to think of a 4th)
What about Luthian? Or Aragorn's mom?
Farmer whatsisname's wife with the mushrooms? Goldberry?
Goldberry is Bombadil's wife; you're thinking of Mrs. Maggot, "a Queen amongst Hobbits" :) I don't think she's given a first name.
I keep meaning to memorize the Dwarven poem re: Moria, because the flow of the language is so gorgeous in that.
The World was Young
The poem I'm slowly memorizing is from the History of Middle-earth, volume 3 - "Lays of Beleriand". The Lay of Larethian - 3223 lines. I have 180 committed to memory; the rest just won't stick. The best parts, of course, describe Morgoth:
"Far in the north hills of stone
In caverns black there was a Throne
By flame encircled..."
yeah yeah - 3223 lines of epic poem, 180 memorized.
But do you remember birthdays?
I love Lobelia! I wonder if Sackville-Baggins was a reference to the Sackville-Wests.
Mmm...Shelob. I never think of her as a "female character", because she's a gigantic spider-demon. But you're right, she *is* hugely important.
Luthian isn't in Lord of the Rings. :)
However, you're ALSO very correct about Gilraen mother of Aragorn; though she doesn't appear in LotR, her behavior totally informs Aragorn's early life - and is so tragic.
"I gave Hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept no hope for myself."
The world is grey, the mountains old,
The forge's fire is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls:
The darkness dwells in Durin's halls;
The shadow lies upon his tomb
In Moria, in Khazad-dum.
I shivered the first time I read that.
But do you remember birthdays?
Except for very rare exceptions, no - that's what Google Calendar is for. (The exceptions are holidays - mine is April 1, my sister's is July 4, my mom's is Kitty Hawk Day - I got my maternal grandfather's birthday wrong by a week MY ENTIRE LIFE.)
My brain is full of *useless* trivia, nothing *useful*. :)
