Frodo's visions at Amon Hen

[narfforc]

Originally Posted by JeffF.

At the breaking of the fellowship Frodo puts on the Ring and sits on the seat on the Hill of Seeing Amon Hen. There he has visions of war, the land of the Beornings is aflame, darkness issues from Moria, Misty Mountain orcs are mustering, smoke rises from the borders of Lorien, Men & Elves battle with orcs and fell beasts beneath the eaves of Mirkwood, Corsairs set sail and endless lines of Easterlings march to war.

When I compare these visions to the timeline in the Appendices of RotK it seems that Frodo is seeing some things in the future. It is 26 February when Frodo sees these visions but the first assault on Lorien is on 11 March and Thranduil's Battle Under the Trees is 15 March. The rest of the visions seem timely but the strife in the land of the Beornings is nowhere else mentioned. Though the orcs of the Northern Misty Mountains were mostly destroyed in the Battles of Azanulzibar & Five Armies there are probably still few left beneath Mount Gundabad and it is likely these that are attacking the Beornings.

I know Amon Hen used to serve Gondor as a watch tower but is there any writings of visions of the future being seen there (or perhaps it was the enhancing effect of Frodo donning the Ring)?

Christopher Tolkien notes that the present text replaced one in which the power of Amon Hen follows immediately and explicitly on the description of the inhibiting effect of the Ring on sight: 'At first he could see little: he seemed to in a world of mist in which there were only shadows. The Ring was on him [Then the virtue (written above:power) of Amon worked upon him' (The Treason of Isengard).