Paths of the Dead

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Paths of the Dead were a haunted pass through the White Mountains.

The Paths of the Dead started at the "Dark Door" at the end of the long valley of Harrowdale, beyond the Firienfeld and the forest of "Dimholt", wedged in between the mountains "Irensaga" (Iron Saw), "Starkhorn", and the "Dwimorberg". The entrance to the "Dark Door" bears the inscription "The way is shut. It was made by those who are dead and the dead keep it. The way is shut."ME-fact|date=August 2008 a warning to all those who would wake the oathbreakers from their slumber.

After the Dark Door, the Paths went under the Dwimorberg, past another door where Aragorn and company found the remains of Baldor, son of the second King of Rohan, Brego. The Paths then continued past forgotten cities, emerging at the southern end of the White Mountains in Morthond vale, near the Stone of Erech.

In adaptations of The Lord of the Rings

The Paths of the Dead is a playable level in EA Games' "". It differs from the story in that Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli must fight skeletons which have been brought to life by the spirits of the Oathbreakers. In the next level, the "King of the Dead", Aragorn must defeat the King so that he will fight for Minas Tirith.

In Peter Jackson's film Return of the King, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas travel the Paths of the Dead and are able to conjure the undead. However, as they emerge from the mountain, they find themselves directly above a river upon which a fleet of pirates is sailing towards Minas Tirith. Thus the plotline diverts from Tolkien's novel, where the stone of Erech is located about 300 miles from the river Anduin and the corsairs.