The Dead Men of Dunharrow: The Oath That Cursed Them 3,000 Years

At the end of the Second Age, a people of the White Mountains swore allegiance to Isildur on the black Stone of Erech. They had once worshipped Sauron in the Dark Years, and when the War of the Last Alliance called them to honor that oath, they hid instead. Isildur cursed them never to rest until their pledge was kept. For three thousand years the Dead Men of Dunharrow haunted the Dwimorberg, guarding the Paths of the Dead and claiming the rash prince Baldor, who clawed at a sealed door until he died. Only Isildur heir, Aragorn, could call in the debt. Walking the Paths of the Dead, he summoned the Shadow Host at Erech, broke the Corsairs of Umbar at Pelargir, and released the shades to the peace they craved. A curse of wrath became Gondor salvation, raising the haunting question: did Aragorn free the Dead, or merely use them?