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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Book 1, Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Become a Wraith:
Shortly after Aragorn and the hobbits leave Bree for Rivendell, an innocuous joke by Frodo foreshadows later events in the novel.
Already they were getting used to much walking on short commons—shorter at any rate than what in the Shire they would have thought barely enough to keep them on their legs. Pippin declared that Frodo was looking twice the hobbit that he had been.
"Very odd," said Frodo, tightening his belt, "considering that there is actually a good deal less of me. I hope the thinning process will not go on indefinitely, or I shall become a wraith."
"Do not speak of such things!" said Strider quickly, and with surprising earnestness.
Book 2, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Will-o’-the-wisp:
Tolkien alludes to will-o'-the-wisps, creatures in British folklore, in a scene in which the Fellowship follows Gandalf through the dark and dangerous mines of Moria:
Unlock with LitCharts A+For eight dark hours, not counting two brief halts, they marched on; and they met no danger, and heard nothing, and saw nothing but the faint gleam of the wizard’s light, bobbing like a will-o’-the-wisp in front of them. The passage they had chosen wound steadily upwards. As far as they could judge it went in great mounting curves, and as it rose it grew loftier and wider. There were now no openings to other galleries or tunnels on either side [...] Evidently they had struck what once had been an important road.
Book 2, Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Galadriel's Mirror :
In a scene that heavily foreshadows later events in the novel and series, Samwise looks into the dark and magical mirror of Galadriel:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As if a dark veil had been withdrawn, the Mirror grew grey, and then clear. There was sun shining, and the branches of trees were waving and tossing in the wind. But before Sam could make up his mind what it was that he saw, the light faded; and now he thought he saw Frodo with a pale face lying fast asleep under a great dark cliff. Then he seemed to see himself going along a dim passage, and climbing an endless winding stair.
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