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In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, four hobbits—pursued by riders in black—seek safe harbor in the village of Bree. Unbeknownst to the hobbits, the innkeeper of The Prancing Pony, Butterbur, was made aware of their potential arrival by the wizard Gandalf some months prior (“... I was asked to look out for hobbits of the Shire ...”). When you consider the oldest, now-obsolete definitions of harbinger, there are multiple harbingers in this section of the tale. The first is Butterbur himself: coming from the Anglo-French herberge, meaning “lodgings,” harbinger was used as long ago as the 12th century to mean “one who provides lodgings.” Later on, harbinger was also used for a person sent ahead of a main party to seek lodgings. Those sent ahead would announce the approach of those following behind (the hobbits did not send Gandalf to Bree, but he did still herald their eventual arrival—making him a harbinger of sorts), which is how our modern sense of harbinger came to be used for someone or something which foretells a future event—such as how the hobbits’ arrival is a harbinger of the evil pursuing them and threatening all of Middle Earth.
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Examples of harbinger in a Sentence
Kelsey Glennon, Southern Living, 21 Oct. 2024
Alpe du Grand Serre’s closure will serve as a bleak harbinger to numerous other mid-size alpine ski stations also struggling to cope with declining snowfalls, and adds to a growing list of resort closures.
—Joseph Ataman, CNN, 9 Oct. 2024
Every scandal, gaffe, and tragedy seems to take on a new political significance—as a harbinger of a potential electoral outcome or an indicator of societal unraveling.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 19 Sep. 2024
And their story is a harbinger for companies outside the auto sector, too.
—Justin Worland / Detroit, TIME, 11 Sep. 2024
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“Harbinger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/harbinger. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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