[Guinevere]

I can’t say anything to the discussion above (never having heard about Lilith) but in general I agree very much with what Lalwendë wrote:

„This is why I do not like much literary criticism or analysis, as it seems to me that the critic is simply pulling apart a text to find what they want to find. I want to know what the author intended, I don't want to reconstruct a text for myself, for my own meaning.“

For me, this is the most dramatic, moving, heart-wrenching chapter – I remember so well how I was in tears the first time I read it. I really believed Frodo had died and I felt so much with Sam – his despair, the terrible weight of the choice he had to make, his reluctance to make up his mind resonate deeply with me. And Sam’s faithful, undemanding love for his master affects me more than any lovestory I have ever read.!
Btw Tolkien wrote in a letter to Christopher 1944 (#72):

„ …I read the last two chapters (Shelob’s lair & the Choices of Master Samwise) to C.S.Lewis on Monday morning. He approved with unusual fervour, and was actually affected to tears by the last chapter, so it seems to be keeping up.“

Perhaps because I myself hate nothing as much as making decisions, I can relate so well to Sam in this situation.

„what shall I do, what shall I do?“ „Why am I left all alone to make up my mind?“

What also strikes me in Sam’s inner debates is how he is so humble and not sure of himself, always doubting his own abilities.
When he takes the starglass he says „It’s too good for me „ and when he finally makes up his mind:

„ But I’ll be sure to go wrong: that’d be Sam Gamgee all over.“

I wonder if that is because his father has called him too often a “ninnyhammer“ etc. in his childhood?

„You fool, he isn’t dead, and your heart knew it. Don’t trust your head, Samwise, it is not the best part of you.“

he says after the shock of hearing that Frodo is still alive.and

„I got it all wrong, I knew I would.“

But instinctively he always does the right thing!
As Faramir already told him :

„ If you seem to have stumbled, I think it was fated to be so. Your heart is shrewd as well as faithful, and saw clearer than your eyes.“

I was also very intrigued by the (untranslated) Elvish invocation Sam uttered. In time I found out the meaning, but it still is mysterious how this came to be.

About the Orcs: I noticed that their style of speaking seems quite modern , as opposed to the noble speech of the Gondorians and Rohirrim.

About spiders:

...Or was she (Shelob) simply a horrific childhood memory ‘mythologised’ (‘seen through enchanted eyes’ as John Garth put it)?

I don't think so, because Tolkien wrote in a letter that though he'd been bitten by a Tarantula when very small, he didn't remember it, and had only been told about it.

I do not dislike spiders particularly , and have no urge to kill them. I usually rescue those whom I find in the bath!

Isn't that nice! That’s what I do too!