An arched entranceway that led through a wall of rock at the base of the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, into the Paths of the Dead. Marked with symbols and signs, and exuding an air of dread and terror, the Door had existed throughout most of the Third Age. In the early years of Rohan, it was braved by the King's son Baldor, who never returned from the darkness. Long afterwards, during the War of the Ring, Aragorn led his followers through the Dark Door in fulfilment of an ancient prophecy; he gained the allegiance of the Dead within and returned into the light on the other side of the White Mountains.
In many earlier editions of The Lord of the Rings, the 'Door of the Dead' is referred to as the 'Gate of the Dead'. Though Tolkien corrected the original form, his amendment was not incorporated into the text of the book itself for many years.
Notes
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The year II 3441 marked the end of the War of the Last Alliance, after which Isildur's curse fell on the Men of the Mountains and gave rise to the Dead Men. This is therefore the earliest possible date for the making of the Door of the Dead. It may however have taken the Dead Men some time after this to make their Door in the mountainside (indeed, in principle, it may have been decades or even centuries after the curse fell). The earliest definite reference we have to the Door comes from much later in history, when it was discovered by the Rohirrim during the reign of King Brego (who came to the throne in III 2545).
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- Updated 13 March 2025
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