The "White Shores" and the "Far Green Country"

[Eljorahir]

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First page of 'Fog on the Barrow Downs':
'...either in his dreams or out of them, he could not tell which, Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind: a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it was rolled back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise.'

The last ship, the last page, the last we hear of Frodo's story:
'...And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.'
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In comparing Frodo's dream/vision in Tom's house to what he actually sees as he ascends into the "realm of hidden things" there's a notable difference: The White Shores are missing from his dream/vision in Tom's house. Why?

Are the "white shores" and the "far green country" simply elements of the geography of Tol Eressea or Valinor? Or, do the "white shores" represent something fundamentally different from the "far green country" in such a way that Frodo could not be allowed to see the White Shores early in the story but he could be shown the Far Green Country? Had he not yet earned the grace to see the White Shores even in a vision of his own future?

Maybe the "far green country" is where all hobbits go in the end, and the "white shores" (of course) are normally only for the elves.

A little off my own topic, but "swift sunrise" is also interesting. The best way I can think of to get a sunrise that's faster than any other sunrise is to see it from orbit. I wonder if Tolkien had the celestial perspective in mind when he chose the words "swift sunrise". I think the space station sees a sunrise once every 90 minutes or so. The astronauts probably never tire of seeing the swift sunrises.

Probably not this swift though:

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

A little off my own topic, but "swift sunrise" is also interesting. The best way I can think of to get a sunrise that's faster than any other sunrise is to see it from orbit. I wonder if Tolkien had the celestial perspective in mind when he chose the words "swift sunrise". I think the space station sees a sunrise once every 90 minutes or so. The astronauts probably never tire of seeing the swift sunrises.

Probably not this swift though:

On Earth, the closer you are to the equator, the swifter the sunrise and sunset. The sun disappears below the horizon very quickly.

 

[Eljorahir]

On Earth, the closer you are to the equator, the swifter the sunrise and sunset.

I hadn't thought of that, but I see it's true. Thanks!

Since we're in a LOTRs thread, I should warn this post contains a Silmarillion spoiler.

Last night I noticed another "far green country" reference. And I'm finding it interesting that just like the LOTRs use of the phrase, again here it's used for a territory that also has an element of life-after-death associated with it. It's where Beren and Luthien lived after their reincarnation.

The Silmarillion, "Of Beleriand and its Realms":
"From Ered Luin flowed the six tributaries of Gelion: Ascar (that was after named Rathloriel), Thalos, Legolin, Brilthor, Duilwen, and Adurant, swift and turbulent streams, falling steeply from the mountains; and between Ascar in the north and Adurant in the south, and between Gelion and Ered Luin, lay the far green country of Ossiriand, the Land of Seven Rivers."

Ossiriand, The Land of Seven Rivers, is described as "the far green country". After their "reincarnation" Beren and Luthien lived on Tol Galen, the island in the river Adurant near the lower right in this image. The area around the island is also called Dor Firn-i-Guinar, or The Land of the Dead that Live.

Ossiriand, The Land of Seven Rivers, is described as "the far green country". After their "reincarnation" Beren and Luthien lived on Tol Galen, the island in the river Adurant

A few more thoughts related to the "far green country" topic...

Tolkien's choice of the place-name Ossiriand always sounded a little unusual to me; it's a bit too close to the real world's Assyria.

Along the same line of thinking, I recently considered the similarity between the names Osiris and Ossiriand and was surprised to learn that Osiris was the God of the dead, resurrection, and the afterlife. All three of these are very pertinent to southern Ossiriand: Dor Firn-i-Guinar, the Land of the Dead that Live, was the name given by the Eldar to the region surrounding the isle of Tol Galen in southern Ossiriand, where Beren and Lúthien lived after their return from the dead.

I wonder if Tolkien had Osiris in mind when he chose the name Ossiriand.