[akhtene]

I guess it's just that the world was younger in the times of the Silm, and romance had to be part of it. By the time described in LotR many are killed, others depart or feel weary of life... They've become a sophisticated race, guided by lore and reason, rather than by feelings. Something to say against long lifespan. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Anyway I don't have a feeling there's not enough love in LotR. Apart from the greatest romances of the Silm in songs and poems, there are Arwen&Aragorn, and Eowyn with her hopeless and newly found love, and Sam running to see Rosie after his long absence (one of my favourite scenes, actually)
Enough for a book embracing only a couple of years and far fewer characters than Silm has.