I have to agree with
Balin here and that it was Eru who sent these "dreams." And this is Tolkien playing with the idea of fate.
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To my mind, that points towards Gandalf as the purpetrator of the dream (rather than Elrond), as even though Frodo hadn't yet set off, Gandalf had certainly put into motion his forthcoming journey.~Sardy
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But the only problem with that is as stated Elrond and Gandalf didn't send out invitations to come see the new gift in Rivendell. Rivendell had been a place where all races and people came to seek council from the great Elrond, and this was no different. It was by chance that all these people came together at the same time to deliver their news and seek advice from Elrond.
Boromir had gone to Rivendell to get answers to the dream he and Faramir had. He couldn't understand it, and so he went to Elrond to ask what it meant. Then also to ask for council on the growing threat of Sauron and Gondor is getting beat back. So, it just doesn't seem likely to me that Elrond (or Gandalf) would send this dream. As they didn't do any sort of advertising for the Council of Elrond, all those who came showed up by chance to receive council.
Mithalwen raised an interesting question, on whether Faramir was the one "destined" to go, and Boromir's insistance screwed up fate. Rather interesting, never considered that before, but I still have to disagree with her.
I think it was destined for Frodo to meet Faramir AND Boromir. Because though they be brothers they are two totally different characters and personalities. If anything the Fellowship needed was strength. I mean they had an old man, a short dwarf, a singing elf, and 4 hobbits, the only one with a bit of muscle was Aragorn, without Boromir's added strength the Fellowship could not have made it through Caradhras, Moria, or Sarn Gebir. Could Faramir have provided this? I don't know, but the Fellowship needed strength to get them through the hardships, and Boromir provides that.
Also, what's important to consider is let's say Faramir and Boromir switch, they swap. Faramir goes to Rivendell and joins the Fellowship, Boromir stays back and defends his city. How grave would this be? Frodo running into Boromir alone in the woods as opposed to Faramir. Boromir capturing Frodo with no old man or wannabee king saying "tisk tisk Boromir, no no." How grave would that be? Na, I think that both brothers were meant to encounter the ring and Frodo, as they both have to face the test, one succeeds the other stumbles.
Not only that but I think Boromir was destined to meet Aragorn as well. I mean the Steward's son meeting the claimed to be King of his realm? Had Boromir stayed back he would have resisted Aragorn's claim to the throne and as we've seen before with Pelendur the Stewards had quite a bit of influence and power in deciding whethey they can relinquish their throne or not. But, in going to Rivendell, Boromir goes through many months with Aragorn, starts out a bit rocky, but in the end Boromir accepts Aragorn and bestows upon him to "Save his people."
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The most curious thing in the dream in my opinion is that Faramir sees it many (damn my memory) times and Boromir just once. The fact has always intrigued me. Maybe Faramir was more sensitive to the message? And did that actually hint that he should have been the one to go to Rivendell?
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The only thing that I can think of is the fact that Faramir had a deeper love for lore than Boromir. Boromir's only care was of ancient battles and heroic feets, Faramir loved to study much more and was a better student (
). This dream had really nothing to do with Boromir's interests. I mean it wasn't about war or heroes, he didn't care for this "lore business" and so he didn't have it as many times as Faramir who loved that kind of stuff. That's the only thing I can think of however, there may be, and probably is more to it.