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Shade of Carn Dûm
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<img src="http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/posticons/onering.jpg" align=absmiddle> Re: Hmm. . .
Just to push it a little further...
Is the Ring indeed the source of Sam's vision? Here's the passage you mentioned about Sam's fantasies:<blockquote>
Quote:<hr> His thought turned to the Ring, but there was no comfort there, only dread and danger. No sooner had he come in sight of Mount Doom, burning far away, than he was aware of a change in his burden. As it drew near the great furnaces where, in the deeps of time, it had been shaped and forged, the
Ring's power grew, and it became more fell, untameable save by some mighty will.<hr></blockquote>Sam senses a change in the Ring when he comes within sight of Mt. Doom. He feels its power grow, and it is at this point that he has fantasies of becoming Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age. But when he has his first vision, they are leagues away from Mordor and Mt. Doom.
Also, if he Ring is the source of the visions, then what is the significance of the imagery? Why the lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud the first time and the figure robed in white the next?
Here's the first thing Sam saw when he woke up in Ithilien: "...Gandalf stood before him, robed in white..."
And for one final thought: Mithadan, if I recall aright, we both more or less agreed in another thread that Gandalf knew even before the quest began that Frodo never really had any hope of throwing the Ring into the fire. How then are we to explain him going along with the scheme of sending it to Mordor? Did he trust to mere blind luck? Did he simply have faith that Good would triumph over Evil? Or did he have a little extra insurance that he planned to use to help make things come out right?
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