Why do so many fantasy stories contain a prophecy? In particular, a prophecy about a "chosen" one? I'm not really sure. In the past there were many stories with prophecies (the Narnia books come to mind), but these days so many have them as a quick and dirty way to make the main character particularly special. That's fine, until you make the prophesy so important it takes on a character all it's own (such as the Star Wars prequel about the "one who will bring balance to the force.")
As a function of the story, prophecies are a stepping stone to get the audience involved. Usually these are mysterious, riddles, or plain gibberish. It's easy to cheat these, saying the audience has information without actually giving anything. These should function within the story just like any other part, it must have a purpose. Beyond giving the observant audience some especially useful information, it should advance the plot, add to the mystery, or improve characterizations in some manner. And, if the prophecy is fulfilled (that is the purpose, right?) the audience should be able to look back and understand all the clues and what happened and why. If not, then it's what mystery writers would call a "red herring" and is only useful to distract the audience.
My personal preference is to have the prophecy as a cut out quote at the very beginning of the book (directly after the chapter number, where poems typically are placed). "Jurassic Park" does this very well, though it's not really a prophecy but a prediction. I think it's good to let the audience gradually figure out the prophecy prior to its fulfillment, because then you have the audience on the side of the story and eager to watch it all play out. Audience participation is a fantastic trick, and prophecies are definitely one way to manage it.
- M
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