I agree about the the female characters in the Odyssey - who are very complex, as well, not lending themselves to stereotypical evil/good polarities - Homer is the author I usually compare Tolkien with when complaining about the absence of females. I am not sure that Norse myth and saga is short of females, by the way. Or, indeed, sex. Read about the way Freya gets the necklace Brisingamen. Or how Loki taunts her, and the other goddesses. And what was going on in the Ring cycle? There were some strong women involved in the settlement of Iceland and Vinland. But not a lot in Oxford colleges.

When I first read LOTR, I identified with Eowyn, but then began to find that unsatisfying, since she is only active in a masculine way, and I grew out of wanting to do that. There is another female - very minor but important in plot terms. I think her name is something like Iorwerth? She works in the house of Healers in Gondor, and is the only one who knows where to get athelas for Aragorn. she is active in a female way, but talks too much! Possibly like the college cleaning women. (Sorry, can't remember whether they are scouts or bedders, and I don't care about the invented differences between Oxford and Cambridge anyway.)

Penny