The path to the Dimholt was lined on either side with jagged black stones jutting from the ground like cruel teeth from a warg's mouth. Then the way was blocked by a great stone carved with indecipherable runes and images.
~The Dimholt~
'Nésa, what is purpose of these stones?' Calentauriel asked her sister Eregiel.
'I know not,' she replied. 'I doubt that even our learnèd sister Thibinoriel would know.'
Members of the Grey Company were filled with dread, the dwarf Gimli especially so. They dismounted because the horses would carry them no further. Eregiel laid her hands on the horses' heads, singing soft words of comfort to them so that they would allow themselves to be lead through the Dark Door. Legolas performed a similar act on Arod, the horse that Éomer had given him upon their meeting on the plains of Rohan.
In the Dwimorberg dwell the Dead Men, the Men of the White Mountains who long ago had broken their oath to Isildur to aid in Gondor's fight against Sauron. Isildur cursed them for their cowardice. Now, even in death these oathbreakers can find no rest.
The Grey Company's dread only increased once they passed the Dark Door.
~The Paths of the Dead~
Although they saw no one, the sound of whispering voices could be heard. Elessar cried out, 'I summon you to the Stone of Erech!'(1)
The company again mounted when they had passed a gateway into the Morthond Vale. Elessar exhorted them to ride with purpose for they needed to reach the Stone of Erech before nightfall.
~The Stone of Erech~
Elessar spoke to the Dead Men that had followed.
'Now I go to Pelargir upon Anduin, and ye shall come after me. And when all this land is clean of the servants of Sauron, I will hold the oath fulfilled, and ye shall have peace and depart for ever. For I am Elessar, Isildur's heir of Gondor.' (2)
Halbarad unfurled the standard that Arwen had given him in Imladris, a banner bearing the symbol of the King of Gondor.
~The End of Part Seven~
(1) J.R.R. Tolkien, 'The Return of the King', The Passing of the Grey Company
(2) ibid.
