As seen in The Lord of the Rings Online
The Stone of Erech, also known as the Black Stone, was a large unearthly stone upon which the king of the mountains swore an oath to Isildur. It was some six feet in radius (about 3–4 meters in diameter) and seemed to be spherical in shape—half of it was underground at the time of the oath. The other half that was visible/above ground was made out to be as tall as a man. It was located on the Hill of Erech, south of the White Mountains in Gondor.[1]
History[]
In the Second Age, Isildur brought with him, out of the ruin of Númenor, a three meter tall round stone. He set it upon the Hill of Erech, as a symbol of his lineage and Gondor. The Hill of Erech was located in Gondor, at the beginning of Imlad Morthond in the White Mountains. The head of the Blackroot Vale was where the entrance to the Paths of the Dead was located. The stone was brought to the Hill of Erech by Isildur, who rescued it from the sinking of Númenor.
In the very early days of Gondor, the king of the men who lived in the White Mountains swore an oath of allegiance to Isildur on the Stone of Erech. This oath was betrayed when Isildur called upon them to fight Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance. That caused Isildur to curse them to remain undead until they had fulfilled their oath. They haunted the Paths of the Dead for more than 3000 years.
It was on the Stone of Erech that Aragorn called on the King of the Dead, and the other accursed, to fulfill their oaths so that they could rest in peace. This occurred at midnight. The Oathbreakers then followed Aragorn to Pelargir, where they helped him take over the ships of the Corsairs of Umbar. They were finally put to rest by Aragorn, for finally fulfilling their oath.[2][3]
In adaptations[]
In The Lord of the Rings Online, the Stone of Erech is named Orossar and is reimagined as one of the seven Vandassari ("Oath-stones" in Quenya) brought from Númenor. They are the "seven stones" from the rhyme spoken by Gandalf, while the Palantíri are revealed to be the "seven stars". The stones had in them the power that made the oaths sworn in their presence more potent, and thus they were divided much like the palantíri (three to Arnor and four to Gondor) to make pacts friendship with the non-Dúnedain peoples of Middle-earth.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Steen van Erech |
| Albanian | Guri i Erech |
| Amharic | የኢሬቻ ድንጋይ |
| Arabic | حجر ىريچه |
| Armenian | Էրեչ Քարը |
| Azerbaijani | Erech Daşı |
| Basque | Erech harria |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Камень Эрэха |
| Bengali | এরেক প্রস্তর |
| Bosnian | Kamen Erecha |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Ерехски камък |
| Catalan | Pedra de Erech |
| Cebuano | Bato sa Erech |
| Chinese | 埃雷奇石 |
| Cornish | Men Erech |
| Croatian | Kamen iz Erech |
| Czech | Kámen Erech |
| Danish | Erechsten |
| Dutch | Steen van Erech |
| Esperanto | Ŝtono de Erech |
| Estonian | Erechi kivi |
| Filipino | Bato ng Erech |
| Finnish | Erechin kivi |
| French | Pierre d'Erech |
| Frisian | Stien fan Erech (Western) |
| Galician | Pedra de Erech |
| Georgian | ერეკ ქვა |
| German | Stein von Erech |
| Greek | Πέτρα του Έρεχ |
| Gujarati | એરેચના પથ્થર |
| Haitian Creole | Ròc de Erech |
| Hebrew | אבן ארך |
| Hindi | एरेच का पत्थर |
| Hungarian | Erech-i kő |
| Icelandic | Erech-steinninn |
| Indonesian | Batu Erech |
| Irish Gaelic | Cloch Erech |
| Italian | Pietra d'Erech |
| Japanese | エレクの石 |
| Kannada | ಎರೆಕ್ನ ಕಲ್ಲು |
| Konkani | एरेच हाचो फातर |
| Korean | 에레 크 돌 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Эрэц таш |
| Latvian | Erech Akmens |
| Lithuanian | Erech Akmuo |
| Lombard | Pietra d'Erech |
| Luxembourgish | Steen vun Erech |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Камен на Ерех |
| Maithili | एरेच के पत्थर |
| Malagasy | Vatolampin'i Erech |
| Malaysian | Batu Erech |
| Marathi | एरेकचा दगड |
| Maltese | Ġebla tal-Erech |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Эреч чулуу |
| Norwegian | Sconesteinen |
| Occitan | Pèira d'Erech |
| Pashto | د ایرچ ډبره |
| Persian | سنگ هرهچه |
| Polish | Głaz na Erech |
| Portuguese | Pedra da Erech |
| Punjabi | ਈਰੇਚ ਦਾ ਪੱਥਰ |
| Romanian | Piatră Erechului |
| Russian | Камень Эреха |
| Sardinian | Pedra de Erech |
| Scots | Stane o Erech |
| Scottish Gaelic | Clach na Erech |
| Serbian | Камен из Ерек (Cyrillic) Kamen iz Erek (Latin) |
| Sicilian | Pietra di Erech |
| Sinhalese | එරෙක්හි ගල |
| Slovak | Kameň Erech |
| Slovenian | Kamen Erech |
| Somali | Dhagaxa Erech |
| Spanish | Piedra de Erech |
| Swahili | Jiwe la Erech |
| Swedish | Erechstenen |
| Tamil | எரிச் கல் |
| Tatar | Эрех ташы |
| Telugu | ఎరేచ్ రాయి |
| Thai | หินเอเรค |
| Turkish | Erech Taşı |
| Turkmen | Erech Daşy |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Ерекий камінь |
| Urdu | ایریک پتھر |
| Uzbek | Ереч Тош (Cyrillic) Erech Tosh (Latin) |
| Venetian | Piera de Erech |
| Vietnamese | Hòn đá Erech |
| Welsh | Maen Erech |
| Yiddish | שטיין פון ערעך |
| Yoruba | Òkúta Eréch |
References[]
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, "Dunharrow to the Morannon"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter II: "The Passing of the Grey Company"
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Middle-earth: The Definitive Guide to the World of J.R.R. Tolkien