The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Made in or after II 3441;1 fell out of use after the departure of the Dead Men on 8 March III 3019
Location
Leading into the Paths of the Dead beneath the Dwimorberg
Race
Division
Culture
Settlements
The door led into the Paths of the Dead
Important peaks
The door lay beneath the Haunted Mountain of the Dwimorberg
Other names

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About this entry:

  • Updated 13 October 2024
  • Updates planned: 1

Forbidden Door

The Door of the Dead

"The way is shut ... It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut."
The warning before the Forbidden Door
The Return of the King V 3
The Muster of Rohan

The ancient archway that led through the rock at the base of the Haunted Mountain into the Paths of the Dead. It was discovered in the early days of Rohan by Brego the second King and his son Baldor, who were exploring their new land. Having discovered the place that would become the Hold of Dunharrow, they travelled on and found a Door in the mountainside. On the threshold of the doorway they found a withered old man, who warned them not to enter, as the time had not yet come; the old man died soon afterwards and revealed no more.

Despite the warning, the King's heir Baldor saw the Forbidden Door as a challenge, and at the feast to celebrate the building of Meduseld he vowed to pass the Door and enter the Paths of the Dead. This he did, and he was never seen again.

The time spoken of in the old man's prophecy came more than four hundred years later when Aragorn and his companions passed through the Forbidden Door. Within, they found the bones of a richly armoured warrior: the mortal remains of Baldor, who had been lost centuries before. As the Heir of Isildur, Aragorn had the power to absolve the Dead of their broken oath, and so they not only permitted him to pass their Paths but also followed him into battle.


Notes

1

II 3441 is the earliest possible date for the making of the Forbidden Door, because this was the year in which the Men of the Mountains broke their oath to Isildur and brought his curse upon them, giving rise to the Dead Men. The door was not necessarily made immediately after the curse fell, and indeed decades or even centuries may have passed before the Dead made their Gate in the mountain. Our first definite record of the door's existence was during the reign of Brego, who became King of Rohan in III 2545, some two and half millennia after the Dead had been laid under their curse.

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About this entry:

  • Updated 13 October 2024
  • Updates planned: 1

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