I can't think of any other deadly-sin animals - oh wait, of course I can. There's the glutton, which is the old name for a wolverine (gulo gulo in Latin, which of course is the same thing). I suspect there are probably more scientific names which reference the deadly sins. I like the idea of duck-billed despair, though!

I like Aravis and Lasaraleen too, even though we only got one chapter of them.

I think part of the problem with Eowyn/Faramir, for me, is that it comes over with a fatal hint that each of them has been awarded the other for services rendered. It's the too-convenient ending which Wimsey/Vane so triumphantly avoids.

I can see why you feel that way, but I do think they work together; I think it's because they've got a surprising amount in common - both having been overshadowed by older brothers, and having to cope with the mental and emotional problems of Theoden and Denethor, and both not quite fitting into the role that their society expects of them. And I don't think the story is too perfunctory in the context of the "Lord of the Rings" - it gets more development and exploration than either Aragorn/ Arwen or Sam/ Rosie.

I've never read any Renault; I ought to remedy this!