Much has already been made of some of Christine O'Donnell's notable quotables in the past, especially in the wake of her huge upset over Rep. Mike Castle in Tuesday's GOP Senate primary in Delaware.

But did you know this? O'Donnell once led a discussion on the depiction of women in the "Lord of the Rings" triology.

C-SPAN's video archives reveal O'Donnell's participation in a December 2003 Intercollegiate Studies Institute event held at the Heritage Foundation, where O'Donnell served as communications director at the time. ISI published a book in 2002 called "J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth," by Bradley Birzer.

"You see Tolkien's wisdom applied to just about everything: Tolkien and communism, Tolkien and industrialization," said O'Donnell. "In researching this topic I even found a book on Tolkien and sexual fetishes.

"It's so surprising, then, especially in today's very hyper-sensitive, post-Gloria Steinem world, that there's such a lack of commentary on Tolkien and women. ... Is it that people assume that women don't have an interest in Tolkien? ... Whatever the reason that this topic hasn't been explored, it's an excellent topic."

O'Donnell rejected the notion that Tolkien should have given more ink to female characters. "These books were written from a hobbit's perspective. It would be like saying, that Rob Reiner was a chauvinist because there aren't enough women in 'Stand by Me,' to throw in a female just to appease the misguided demands of today's movie goers would severely take away from the film's legitimacy."

"And each of these women — through drastically different in personality, at the very corp of their identity possess a very true womanly virtue of feminitiy," said O'Donnell, before getting thick into "Lord of the Rings" characters.

"There's the gentful and hopeful Arwen, in whose presence everything becomes peaceful and calm. There's the tumultous and restless Eowyn, whose free spirit leads her to triumph over her greatest foe. There's the regal matriarch Galadriel, whose strength provides a timeless haven for her people. And finally there's the overlooked Belladonna Baggins and it is from her blood line that Bilbo Baggins inherits his adventurous spirit."

(She's not a total Tolkien geek, however: At one point, she has to ask a colleague for help on pronouncing the name of Glorfindel's horse, Asfaloth).

In 2003, O'Donnell penned a piece entitled, "The Women of Middle Earth." A copy of the piece seems to be posted on FreeRepublic.com and, in it, O'Donnell, says, "Tolkien’s portrayal of women in Lord of The Rings is bold and courageous. The bittersweet complexities of true womanhood are daringly depicted in each of the female characters."

Her byline for the piece reads: "She has been described as sassy, stubborn and sweet, and by those who disagree with her as "the girl you hate to love." This young woman who National Review Magazine says "blends the flare of the Bible with Cosmopolitan," shatters the stereotype about her generation"

As much as O'Donnell exhibits her love of Tolkien, she takes exception with director Peter Jackson's vision of the books for the big screen.

O'Donnell calls Arwen "the epitomy of femininity. She is beautiful, gentle, long-suffering. When her beloved goes out to battle she demonstrates devotion and faith, utterly believing that they will be reunited. She is there for him. Her greatest contribution to the war of the rings is the strength that she provides to the future king.

Now, to me, that says a lot about women and a lot about the role of supporting your man. Yet, in the movie, Peter Jackson had to change that, as if her softer side was offensive to women."

O'Donnell tried to pick which character — Arwen or Eowyn — was more like herself.

"Look at the significance that he gives to Eowyn, the lady of Rohan. She was a warrior spirit and, to me, that's who I love. I mean, I aspire to be soft and gentle like Arwen, but realistically, I'm a fighter, like Eowyn."

O'Donnell concludes that Tolkien "strikes a very good balance between men and women and the extreme attitudes of feminity. On one hand, there's the attitude that's normally on the conservative side — as a conservative woman, I feel I can say this — that stifles women. There's almost the stereotypical attitude of, to be a true woman, you have to stay at home. And I've actually had people say to me, 'Wy do you choose a career over marriage?' Honestly, I've had only a few significant relationships and they've broken up with me. And one of the things I've been told is, 'If you weren't so strong, you'd be married by now.' So there's the one stereotypical attitude and then there's the extreme that says I don't need to be married. ... And what Tolkien shows, he strikes a very delicate balance between the two."

O'Donnell expands on her thoughts about gender roles. "Men will give up their schedule to watch 'Monday Night Football,' where women generally won't. ... Forgive me for making very broad generalizations but that typically it is the men who are more of those fighters. But I think Tolkien does make the point to show that that wicked humanity is in both genders."

At one point during the discussion, O'Donnell discussed female characters in "Lord of the Rings" out in the fields. "The fact that they valued the wheat and the produce is kind of symbolic of procreation and women valuing motherhood and the desire to procreate and contribute to society that way."