Pre-1980 fantasy with active, interesting female characters?

When choosing which fantasy books to read, I usually stick to those published since 1990, with a very occasional dip into the ‘80s. Though I have read Lord of the Rings, and I love The Last Unicorn and Watership Down, in general I shy away from fantasy older than 1980. The reason is simple: female characters tend to play more important and interesting roles in later books. In older books, men left women behind to go on adventures; now, women get to take part in those adventures.

I’ve been thinking I should try to read the occasional older, touchstone type work, but the lack of women in active, sympathetic roles is a deal breaker for me. Are there some good older books that feature cool women doing cool things? Recommendations would be much appreciated. (Example: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, already on my radar.)

No Marion Zimmer Bradley, please.

How about McKillip's Riddle-master books? The second one is told entirely from the heroine's point of view. I remember enjoying it though don't remember why I never finished book 3.

Do you mind reading children's books? The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland qualify.

The Tomb of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (second of the Earthsea series but I did read this one first back in the day and didn't mind going back to Wizard of Earthsea later)

Dreamsnake by Vonda N McIntyre (might be more sf/post-apocalyptic)

Chronicles of Morgaine by C.J. Cherryh (again might be slightly more on the sf side of things)

Anne McCaffrey's Pern series qualifies, I think. It is actually sf, but it feels like fantasy.

Jane Gaskell's novels spring to mind. Also one of the contenders for first fantasy novel, The Water of the Wondrous Isles by William Morris.

The Changeover by Margaret Mahy was published in 1984. I re-read it last year and it held up pretty well. The main character is a teenage girl with pretty sharp wits.

C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry has to have been the first woman action heroine back in the 30s/40s. Glorious purple prose, too.

I would recommend Tanith Lee; most things I have read by her I liked. A particular favorite is Biting the Sun, which is a combination of two books originally published in the 70s. It's set in a futuristic society centered around pleasure and the freedom to change bodies, and the main character is a dissatisfied teenager, essentially. Lovely writing style and interesting world.

mostly children's/ya, because for whatever reason the non-kid titles I thought up were all from around 1982, but:

Beauty by Robin McKinley (1978)
Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer (1969)
A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley (1939)
The Broken Citadel by Joyce Ballou Gregorian (1975)
Below the Root by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1975)
Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl (1970)
Greenwitch by Susan Cooper (1974)
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (1974)
The Spellcoats by Diana Wynne Jones (1979)

I see you've read Barbara Hambly, but perhaps have missed the Winterlands, beginning with Dragonsbane. I love spending time with Jenny Waynest (and John Aversin).