Dark Door
From Tolkien Gateway
| Dark Door | |
|---|---|
| Door | |
 | |
| "The Door of the Dead" by Anke Eißmann | |
| General Information | |
| Other names | Gate of the Dead Men Gate of the Dead Forbidden Door |
| Location | Beginning of the Paths of the Dead, end of the Dimholt, foot of Dwimorberg; beyond Dwimorberg glen |
| Type | Door |
| Description | Hollow opening, carved into the cliff, with a standing stone in the centre |
| History | |
| Events | Passage of Baldor and Aragorn II |
- "...And so they came at last deep into the glen; and there stood a sheer wall of rock, and in the wall the Dark Door gaped before them like the mouth of night. Signs and figures were carved above its wide arch too dim to read, and fear flowed from it like a grey vapour [...] 'This is an evil door,' said Halbarad, 'and my death lies beyond it [...]' It seemed to [Gimli] that he dragged his feet like lead over the threshold; and at once a blindness came upon him..."
- ― The Return of the King, "The Passing of the Grey Company"
The Dark Door, also called the Gate of the Dead Men[1] and the Gate of the Dead,[2] was the entrance to the Paths of the Dead beneath the White Mountains. Through this entrance in T.A. 2570 Baldor son of Brego passed never to return.[3] On 8 March 3019 through the door Aragorn and his companions passed during the War of the Ring to stir the Army of the Dead.[4]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part Three. The World, its Lands, and its Inhabitants: XXII. The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor", entry on "Morthond"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 42, July 2001, p. 22
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "The Great Years"
