Shadows of the Future

[Susan Delgado]

I was chatting earlier and Silme started a discussion on foreshadowing in LotR. She's not a forum wight, so I got her permission to bring it here for further discussion, since it was interesting but fizzled rather quickly there.

We came up with a few examples, the most obvious being when the Hobbits in the Green Dragon are talking about seeing trees walking in the Old Forest and later we find that there are, in fact, walking trees.

Not far from the road-meeting they came on the huge hulk of a tree: it was still alive and had leaves on the small branches that it had put out round the broken stumps of its long-fallen limbs; but it was hollow, and could be entered through a great crack on the side away from the road. The hobbits crept inside, and sat there upon a floor of old leaves and decayed wood.

This tree could be a foreshadowing of either Old Man Willow or the Cracks of Doom.

When the Hobbits awake the morning following their meeting with Gildor Inglorian and company their meal from the night before seems to still be with them, though they've slept since they ate. We thought this could mean lembas.

At one point, someone (we thought it was Pippin, but weren't sure) comes "shrieking in" to the scene, which could be foreshadowing of the screams of the Nazgul.

[ December 08, 2002: Message edited by: Susan Delgado ]