Brief Introduction

Men of Middle-earth, who once swore an oath to Isildur to fight with him against Sauron but later broke this oath.

Isildur cursed them and they turned into ghosts and hid in the mountains.

Details

Thus spoke Malbeth the Seer, in the days of Arvedui, last king at Fornost.

The Story

So, this is the fearful Ghost Army that Aragorn used to fight the Corsairs at Pelargir in the War of the Ring and thus come right on time at the crucial moment of the battle for MinasTirith.

For this he was called the {King of the Dead}?.

Notes

Comments

If we accept Middle-earth as a really existing world, then we could deal with its history. From this point of view we could then try to trace the possible origin of the oathbreakers and the story of the events in reference to this mysterious folk.

Who were they? Were they a part of the Easterlings that had come to dwell in Beleriand years after the War of Wrath , when Middle-earth was totally abandoned by the powers of the world?

From the tales comes the story that these men (the oathbreakers) swore allegiance to Isildur to fight against Sauron. When could this have happened?

We could assume that this must have been only after the escape of the Faithful from the drowning of Numenor – year 3319 SA. Most probably the taking of the Oath by the people of the Mountains was in the time of establishing the Realms in Exile – year 3320 of the SecondAge.

One of the important directing points here is the existence of the Great Stone of Erech, in front of which the oath has been taken.

It is said that a very large black stone, was placed on the hill of Erech by Isildur’s men, which presupposes that the event of taking the Oath must have taken place after Isildur has started to settle in the lands of Middle-earth, building his new kingdom.

So, it appears that the event of taking the Oath must have happened somewhere in the year 3320 – the time when Arnor and Gondor were being established and the peoples of non-Numenorean Men, who inhabited Middle-earth had to “surrender” in front of the much greater power of the Kings from the West and become their allies against Sauron.

Erech is a hill in front of which lay the Vale of the river Morthond which “made a great bay that beat up against the sheer southern faces of the mountains (EredNimrais). Its steep slopes were grass-grown….. The vale was rich and many folk dwelt there.”

So, who were these folk ?

The War of Wrath ends in year 590 of the FiA. Most Elves and Edains (the elf-friends) depart from Middle-earth and go to the West. Middle-earth falls into oblivion, abandoned by the powers of the world. And a new Age starts – the SecondAge of the Sun – the Age of the Great Númenor.

It is known that around the year 600 of the SA, the first Numenorean ships appear back by the coasts of Middle-earth and since that year on there is a growing presence of the Kings of the West in these lands.

During this period it becomes obvious to the Westernese that Men from the far eastern lands have already widely spread and populated some of the best regions of Middle-earth. The process of settlement of Men in the Great lands had started early in the FirstAge of the Sun and it strongly continued during the whole SecondAge.

So, we could assume that the Men in the Vale of Morthond were precisely a part of these new settlers in the lands that have survived after the apocalyptic War of Wrath at the end of the FiA. But of course, their standard of living, their skills in crafts and warfare were much less than those of Númenor.

Therefore, by the end of the SecondAge, when the exiles from Númenor return to Middle-earth and start establishing their new realms, they must have found no great resistance on behalf of the local population, who has already learned to both - fear and respect the tall men from the Sea for their superior power and high knowledge.

At the same time, Sauron, who has just experienced a most unpleasant “death” in the drowning of Númenor, has returned to Middle-earth but he is still not that powerful as to oppose the Numenoreans who have also returned, this time however – to stay for good.

This fact must have been quite obvious to the local population, so for the time being (year 3320 and a hundred more to come), the Westernese become the supreme power over Middle-earth.

Most men knew not much of the High Elves who never abandoned Middle-earth and their presence there seems to be not taken much into consideration, especially in the southern regions, far from the elvish realms in the North and North West.

So, on one hand Men from the Vale of Morthond (Erech) see a King from the West (Isildur) powerful enough as to claim the lands they themselves inhabit as part of his mighty new kingdom. On the other hand, they don’t witness nor feel any other authority strong enough to oppose this new King. Therefore, the only “wise” thing for them to do, is to swear allegiance to Isildur and thus it comes to the event of them taking the Oath to be Isildur’s allies.

It takes more than a hundred years (after the taking of the Oath) for Sauron to appear again on the “stage” showing his power. In year 3429 Sauron attacks Gondor, takes MinasIthil and burns the White Tree. Isildur escapes down Anduin and goes to Elendil in the North.

A year later the LastAlliance of Elves and Men is formed, preparing a great war against the worst enemy of Middle-earth – Sauron.

It might be at that particular time, after having already witnessed the strength of the new Dark Lord and remembering his power in the past years, that Men from the Vale of Morthond break their oath. It could have been that Isildur has summoned them to join the Alliance and they must have refused. This act must have thrown Isildur in great wrath and ...

... So much for “pure” history! Here comes the legend.

Isildur curses the oathbreakers and they turn into ghosts.

It is possible that the Oathbreakers can be identified with the tall Men of the East who--at some point late in the First Age or early in the Second--drove the Haladin and the Drúedain out of the White Mountains (see Dunlendings).

MattStott

FolderCharacters FolderCompendium ToDo: Neutral Point of View, relocate speculations