The role of Fate in Middle Earth

[Mithalwen]

Teh twist of fate in the Lord of the Rings that interests me - and ties in to this week's chapter which I shall have to read incase it provides enlightenment - is the arrival of the "unsummoned" participants at the Council of Elrond. Gimli and Legolas' timely arrivals may be attributed to the unfolding of events - the visit of Sauron's emissary and Gollum's escape. Boromir is a different matter. HE was summoned by a dream but the fact that it was Faramir received the dream first and more frequently might indicate that Boromir was defying fate by taking his brother's place. This raises various interesting questions. Because I can't help thinking that Boromir's "treachery"was vital for the success of the quest ( a possible paralel would be Judas Iscariot! - whose betrayal was a vital component to bring about the sacrifice of the Messiah and so universal redemption - though I am a better Tolkien scholar than I am a theologian so I will get back to the point ).

If Faramir had been part of the Fellowship there would have been a different discussion at Parth Galen or none at all. Either they would have all carried on together towards Mordor and would have not stopped so long - though it is quite possible that they would have merely delayed rather than avoided an encounter ith the Uruks. Or they would have divided - if Aragorn was speaking honestly when he says that he would have gone on with Frodo, Sam and Gimli - and there would have entailed a different argument if Merry and Pippin refused to comply.

This might have given Frodo grounds to slip off alone in which case the course of the book might not be so much disrupted UNTIL he reached Ithilien where he would surely encounter Boromir .... who is hightly unlikely to have reacted in the same way as his brother in the same situation. I doubt that Frodo would have been allowed to continue his journey and that Gollum's life would have been spared.

Of course if all the company had continued together, events would naturally have taken a different course. If Saurman's Urks had caughtup - would the united fellowship have been enough to see them off? That is, I think unlikely. The ring would have been taken and the free peoples caught between the Red Eye and White Hand. Even if they avoided death or capture on this occasion it would have been a larger and more conspicuous company approaching Mordor. Not only would there have been no distraction of the capture of Merry and Pippin but probably no Ent involvement, probably no Rohirrim left to ride to the Pelennor, and no Army of the dead , and with Minas Tirith downfallen no Gondor to raise a final army to draw the reamioning armies out of Mordor. Even if the fellowship somehow achieved the quest (and I feel that this is so unlikely to be hardly worth contemplating in these circumstances) - I think so much would have been destroyed that it would be a Pyrrhic victory.

While it seems possible that Frodo was "meant" to meet Faramir , I can't help thinking that fate got it wrong if it meant Faramir to be in the Fellowship - maybe fate knew that the bossy big brother would pull rank. Perhaps someone else can interpret this more clearly. Another possibility is that Fate was sending the son of the Steward to bring the heir of Isildur back to Gondor - the first line of the poem is "Seek for the Sword that was broken". What was this fate and did it intervene to delay Boromir? If he hadn't lost his horse at Tharbad he would surely have arrived way in advance of Frodo.

I am sure there are things I haven't thought of and I am beginning to confuse myself - so anyone..Help?!