Paths of the Dead

The entrance to the Paths of the Dead

The Paths of the Dead was a haunted pass through the White Mountains. The paths started at the Dark Door at the end of the long valley of Harrowdale, beyond the Firienfeld and the forest of Dimholt, wedged in between the mountains Irensaga, Starkhorn, and the Dwimorberg.

History

After the Dark Door, the pass went under the Dwimorberg, past another door where Aragorn and the Grey Company found the remains of Baldor, son of the second King of Rohan, Brego. The pass then continued past forgotten cities, emerging at the southern end of the White Mountains in Morthond vale, near the Stone of Erech.

In the Second Age, a people related to the Dunlendings had lived in the White Mountains, and they had for a time served the Dark Lord Sauron. They later swore allegiance to Isildur of Gondor, but betrayed him during the War of the Last Alliance and refused to fight on either side. For this reason, Isildur cursed them, proclaiming that, if the Alliance triumphed, they would linger in the mountains until one of his heirs called them again to fight against Sauron.

Isildur's curse succeeded: their people dwindled and eventually died out, until only their ghosts remained at the end of the Third Age. In the early days of Rohan, Brego and his son Baldor rode up to the paths and made to enter. At that point a man so withered they had mistaken him for stone spoke: "The way is shut, his voice said again. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut." Baldor asked when that time would be, but at that moment the man fell on his face and died. Later at the feast celebrating the completion of Meduseld, Baldor rashly vowed to walk the Paths of the Dead. He never returned.

When Aragorn and company took the Paths of the Dead and, deep within the mountains, summoned them to the Stone of Erech, their shades followed him. At the Stone at midnight, Aragorn unfurled his banner, declared himself the Heir of Isildur, and commanded the dead to aid him. In this they obeyed, and defeated the Corsairs of Umbar who were invading southern Gondor. (Supposedly, the only weapon that they required was fear, driving their enemies to cast themselves madly into the sea.) When those foes were defeated and Aragorn could claim the black ships of the Corsairs for his own, he declared that the curse was lifted, and the dead departed forever. When the dead had gone, the men of southern Gondor joined Aragorn in the ships and sailed to the aid of Minas Tirith.

Portrayal in adaptations

Peter Jackson's The Return of the King

In the theatrical release of Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the battle with the Corsairs occurs off-screen and the Army of the Dead accompanies Aragorn to Minas Tirith to defeat Sauron's Orcs, after which Aragorn declares their curse lifted.

The Paths are depicted with an unnatural mist, mass crypts, and piles of skulls. As Aragorn and company travels through, Legolas senses the Dead closing in behind them. When entering a vast clearing in front of a necropolis, the Army of the Dead appears and surrounds them until Aragorn threatens them with a reforged Narsil, holding them to their oaths. The Dead refuse at first, but later reappear by the Anduin river and agree to fight for Aragorn. The Stone of Erech is not featured.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Paaie van die Dooie
Albanian	Shtigjet e të Vdekurit
Amharic	ሙታንን ዱካዎች
Arabic	مسارات للموتى
Armenian	Պատհս ոֆ տհե Դեադ
Basque	Hildakoen Bidezidorrak
Belarusian Cyrillic	Сцежкамі Мёртвых
Bengali	ডেড এর পাথ
Bosnian	Staze Mrtvih
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Пътища на мъртвите
Catalan	Camins dels Morts
Cebuano	mga alagianan sa mga Patay
Chichewa	Njira kwa akufa
Chinese (Hong Kong)	亡者之路
Corsican	Spassighjate di i Mortu
Croatian	Staze Mrtvih
Czech	Stezky mrtvých
Danish	De Dødes Stier
Dutch	Paden van de Doden
Esperanto	Vojoj de la Mortintoj
Estonian	Surnudе rajad
Filipino	Landas ng mga Patay
Finnish	Kuolleiden kulkutiet
French	Chemin des Morts
Frisian	Paden fan 'e Deaden
Galician	Sendas dos Mortos
German	Pfade der Toten
Greek	Μονοπάτια των νεκρών
Gujarati	ડેડ ઓફ પાથ
Haitian Creole	Chemins moun mouri
Hawaiian	Ala o ka poe make
Hebrew	נתיבי המתים
Hindi	मृतकों के रास्तों
Hungarian	Holtak ösvénye
Icelandic	Slóðir Dauðra
Indonesian	Jalan kematian
Irish Gaelic	Cosáin na Marbh
Italian	Sentieri dei Morti
Japanese	死者の道
Javanese	Dalan saka ing antarane wong mati ?
Kannada	ಸತ್ತವರ ಮಾರ್ಗಗಳು
Kazakh	Өлі жолдар (Cyrillic) Öli joldar (Latin)
Korean	죽음의 경로
Kurdish	Riyên ji nav Miriyan (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Өлгөндөрдүн жолдору
Laotian	ເສັ້ນທາງຂອງການຕາຍ
Latvian	Mirušo takas
Lithuanian	Keliai Mirusiųjų
Luxembourgish	Bunne vun de Verstuerwen
Macedonian Cyrillic	патеки на мртвите
Malagasy	Lalan'ny ny Maty
Malaysian	Jalan-jalan mati ?
Malayalam	മരിച്ചവരുടെ പാതകളെ
Maltese	Mogħdijiet tal-mejjet
Marathi	मृत मार्ग
Mongolian Cyrillic	Сөнөсөн замаар ?
Nepalese	मृतकहरूको बाटो
Norwegian	De Dødes Stier
Persian	راه‌های مردگان
Polish	Ścieżka Umarłych
Portuguese	Sendas dos Mortos
Punjabi	ਮਰੇ ਦੇ ਮਾਰਗ
Romanian	Cărările Morții
Russian	Тропы мертвых
Serbian	Стазе мртвих (Cyrillic) Prolazu mrtvih (Latin)
Sesotho	Bafu tsa Litsela
Scottish Gaelic	Frith-rathaidean nam Marbh
Shona	Makwara Vakafa
Sindhi	مردار جا رستا
Sinhalese	මළවුන්ගේ පථ
Slovak	Cesty mŕtvych
Slovenian	Poti od Mrtvih
Somalian	Waddooyinka Dhimatay
Swahili	Mapito ya Wafu
Swedish	Dödens stig
Tajik Cyrillic	мурдагон Роҳчаҳо
Tamil	டெட் பாதைகள்
Telugu	డెడ్ యొక్క మార్గాలు
Thai	เส้นทางแห่งความตาย
Turkish	Ölülerin Yolları
Ukrainian Cyrillic	шляху мертвих
Uzbek	Марҳумлар йўллари (Cyrillic) Marhumlar yo'llari (Latin)
Vietnamese	Con đường của người chết
Welsh	Llwybrau y Meirw
Yiddish	פּאַטס פון די טויט
Yoruba	Awọn ọna ti awọn okú