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. The Door lay beyond the grassy encampment of Firienfeld, the clifftop refuge of Dunharrow, and the haunted forest of Dimholt, wedged between the mountains Írensaga, Starkhorn, and Dwimorberg. The Paths led to the home of the Dead Men of Dunharrow.
After the Dark Door, the pass went under the Dwimorberg, past another door where Aragorn and the Grey Company would find the remains of 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.
== History ==
In the Second Age, a people related to the Dunlendings lived in the White Mountains, and 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.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. II: "The Passing of the Grey Company" 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.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. IX: "The Last Debate"
== 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 refused at first, but later reappeared by the Anduin river and agreed to fight for Aragorn. The Stone of Erech is not featured.
Peter Jackson used the same location for his movie Braindead in 1992.
==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
== References ==
ca:Camins dels Morts
de:Pfade der Toten
es:Senderos de los Muertos
fr:Chemin des Morts
it:Sentieri dei Morti
pl:Ścieżka Umarłych
ru:Тропы мёртвых
Category:Passes
Category:Roads
Category:White Mountains
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