[Theron Bugtussle]

Originally posted by Kronos
We know that they came to Faramir first and he dreamt them several times. They came to Boromir later and once only.
The implication is clear. The dreams meant for Faramir to go to Rivendell and (we assume) join the Fellowship.

This sounds like good speculation to me. And I have thoughts on it, but I will wait. I intend to check out the thread posted by Angry Hill Troll.

Note: Oops! I couldn't resist...see the rest of my post, especially the end!

Now as per the original intentions of the Fellowship this would have been the preferred option. Faramir would be unlikely to cause the breaking of the Fellowship and without it it's possible that Frodo would not have found the courage to try to leave alone. However we know that the breaking of the Fellowship was the best thing that could have happened.

Agreed, Faramir would not have caused the breaking, in my opinion. So why was the breaking of the fellowship the best thing? Eru shows grand oversight and ultimate authority in redeeming bad situations. So would it not be "easier" for him to accomplish his will in better situations?

In addition, the reason that Frodo struck out on his own was he saw the evil influence of the Ring on the members of the Fellowship, especially Boromir, as a major obstacle to his task. Without Frodo picking up the 'vibes' from Boromir, it probably would have been decided much more quickly the route or routes to take, and the continuance of the entire Fellowship as a unit, or its splitting up by agreement. The group would then have set out before the orcs attacked. It was Frodo's asking for time to think, Boromir's subsequent attempt on the Ring, and Frodo's flight that delayed the party until the orc attack.

If [the fellowship] had not [broken] then Aragorn and Faramir would have likely gone to Gondor. Gimli and the Hobbits (maybe Legolas too) would have gone with Frodo to Mordor.
The latter group would not be ideal in terms of stealth, would have been unlikely to snare Gollum and therefore would not have found the secret way into Mordor.

Stealth, I think, was only a minor side issue that was fitting to the way Tokien developed the story after the breaking of the Fellowship. Otherwise, the Council of Elrond would have known ahead of time that stealth was ideal, and sent off far fewer than nine in the fellowship. The nine walkers versus the nine riders was only a poetic matchup, after all. The fellowship did not directly encounter the Nazgul.

Aragorn and Faramir likely would have gone to Gondor--but via which route? I can imagine the whole fellowship going through Ithilien, with Aragorn and Faramir splitting off at Osgiliath, if they so desired. Their going directly to Minas Tirith (via any route) before accomplishing the destruction of the Ring is not in any way a proscribed outcome, though.

Certainly, if Faramir could "capture" Gollum, then so could Faramir and Aragorn. (If I am not mistaken, had not Aragorn already captured Gollum at one point?) Then, the wisdom of Aragorn and Faramir would have been applied to the knowledge of the route Gollum proposed--Cirith Ungol--and the betrayal of Frodo to Shelob would have been countered. The fellowship could have made it through that pass more or less intact, in my opinion. Further speculation along that line is probably useless.

Also no Hobbits would come to Fangorn and Rohan would have probably fallen.

This is an obvious problem with our kind of speculation--after the fact, and without the wisdom and years of mental investment that the author had built up. Who is to say that an entirely different route, such as via the Gap of Rohan, could not have been justified by Tolkien? With the hobbits entering Fangorn via some other separation technique?

Or that Fangorn and Treebeard were even needed? Tolkien did not put the hobbits there on purpose to stir up the Ents, according to his Letters. That part of the story just developed once the hobbits showed up in Fangorn. How much of the story was altered or forced into its ultimate path because of that? So our speculation here is probably baseless.

So if the dreams did come from the Gods did they get it totally wrong? Why did they pay more attention to Faramir?

Because Faramir had the superior wisdom, self control, and learning of lore from Gandalf, his father, and his own research, I suspect, to make a far better member of the Fellowship.

It would have been Denethor who, seeing this, but refusing it in his warped way, would have refused to permit Faramir to go to Imladris. Then, when Boromir got the dream (Eru's/Valar's Plan 'B'), Denethor would be all ready to send his favored first-born off to glory...and unintentionally, his ultimate death.