Post by Stormrider on Jan 14, 2009 23:32:34 GMT -6
From: Stormridr (Original Message) Sent: 3/30/2003 6:30 PM
Théoden tells a tale of Brego and his son Baldor who climbed the Stair of the Hold and came before the Door of the Paths of the Dead:
On the threshold sat an old man, aged beyond guess of years; tall and kingly he had been, but now he was withered as an old stone. Indeed for stone they took him, for he moved not, and he said no word, until they sought to pass him by and enter. And then a voice came out of him, as it were out of the ground, and to their amaze it spoke in the western tongue: "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." When Baldor asked when the time would be, the old man died and fell on his face.
Very interesting! Because there were only ancient legends about the Paths of the Dead in the history passed down in Rohan, this old man seems to have been the only link to the true story of the Dead Men out of the Dark Years and Isildur's Curse.
Had the people of Gondor forgotten Isildur's curse?
Was Rohan too far from Gondor to hear tales of this curse from any of the Gondorians?
Who was this old man? Who was he intended to warn that the path was shut?
How long had he actually been sitting guarding the door before Brego and Baldor found him?
Was there hope that during this old man's lifetime "the time would come?" Or was he the last of a great many men who had sat guarding that door?
Dunharrow by J.R.R. Tolkien was posted at the MSN Site
with respect to the Tolkien Estates wishes we will not post it here
with respect to the Tolkien Estates wishes we will not post it here
Théoden tells a tale of Brego and his son Baldor who climbed the Stair of the Hold and came before the Door of the Paths of the Dead:
On the threshold sat an old man, aged beyond guess of years; tall and kingly he had been, but now he was withered as an old stone. Indeed for stone they took him, for he moved not, and he said no word, until they sought to pass him by and enter. And then a voice came out of him, as it were out of the ground, and to their amaze it spoke in the western tongue: "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." When Baldor asked when the time would be, the old man died and fell on his face.
Very interesting! Because there were only ancient legends about the Paths of the Dead in the history passed down in Rohan, this old man seems to have been the only link to the true story of the Dead Men out of the Dark Years and Isildur's Curse.
Had the people of Gondor forgotten Isildur's curse?
Was Rohan too far from Gondor to hear tales of this curse from any of the Gondorians?
Who was this old man? Who was he intended to warn that the path was shut?
How long had he actually been sitting guarding the door before Brego and Baldor found him?
Was there hope that during this old man's lifetime "the time would come?" Or was he the last of a great many men who had sat guarding that door?