I noticed that twice the number eight is used in
Boromir's post above...
Quote:
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For eight dark hours, not counting two brief halts, they marched on...
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Quote:
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The eighth night of their journey came....
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Perhaps, since eight is one less than nine, this number foreshadows a death in the Fellowship. It's used just before Gandalf's death. Then, after Gandalf has returned to life unbeknownst to the rest of the Fellowship, it's used again before Boromir's death, as though their number is destined to be eight.
Or perhaps this is just me reading
way too far into things.
As the company leaves the realm of Galadriel, they spy black swans in the sky, a sharp contrast to Galadriel's white swan-ship. The Elves seem to be very much connected to or enamoured of swans -- seen in the name "Alqualonde" and how in the Lay of Nimrodel, Amroth went "riding like a swan." The black swans are almost like the anti-Elf, the negative image of everything they stand for and love: beauty, timelessness, song. The company enters the barren lands south of Lorien and loses all that; their comfortable stay is without a doubt over.