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. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes is a cryptic warning spoken by an ancient guardian at the Door of the Dead in Dunharrow, marking the entrance to the Paths of the Dead. It establishes the central condition of the oathbreakers' curse: the way is barred to the living until the appointed time, when the heir of Isildur will summon them to fulfil their broken oath. The phrase encapsulates the theme of a debt that outlasts death and the necessity of a chosen one to unlock a path that all others fear.

The Guardian and the Warning

The words are first spoken by an old man seated on the threshold of the Door of the Dead, in the Dimholt under the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain. When Brego and his son Baldor, the early kings of Rohan, climbed the Stair of the Hold and came before the Door, they found this ancient figure, aged beyond guess of years, withered as an old stone. He did not move or speak until they sought to pass him by and enter. 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.' When they halted and looked at him, he repeated the warning, adding that it was made by those who are Dead, and that the Dead keep it, until the time comes. When Baldor asked when that time would be, the old man died in that hour and fell upon his face, giving no answer. This encounter became a legend among the Eorlingas, and the Door was never again dared by any living man.

The Oathbreakers' Curse

The warning is rooted in the ancient history of the Men of the Mountains, who swore allegiance to Isildur at the Stone of Erech in the beginning of the realm of Gondor. When Sauron returned and grew in might, Isildur summoned them to fulfil their oath, but they refused, for they had worshipped Sauron in the Dark Years. Isildur then laid a curse upon their king: 'Thou shalt be the last king. And if the West prove mightier than thy Black Master, this curse I lay upon thee and thy folk: to rest never until your oath is fulfilled.' The Men of the Mountains fled before Isildur's wrath, hid themselves in secret places, and slowly dwindled, becoming the Sleepless Dead. The terror of them lies about the Hill of Erech and all places where that people lingered, and the Door of the Dead is their gate.

The Fulfilment of the Prophecy

The words of the guardian are recalled by Malbeth the Seer in the days of Arvedui, last king at Fornost, who foretold that the Dead would awaken when the hour came for the oathbreakers to stand again at the Stone of Erech and hear a horn ringing in the hills. The prophecy states that the heir of him to whom the oath they swore would come from the North, driven by need, and pass the Door to the Paths of the Dead. This is fulfilled when Aragorn, the heir of Isildur, takes the Paths of the Dead with the Grey Company, and at the Stone of Erech he summons the Dead, crying 'Oathbreakers, why have ye come?' The voice of the Dead answers, 'To fulfil our oath and have peace.' Aragorn then declares himself Elessar, Isildur's heir of Gondor, and commands them to follow him to Pelargir, promising that when the land is clean of the servants of Sauron, they shall have peace and depart for ever. The Dead ride with him, and their fear alone routs the enemies at Pelargir, allowing Aragorn to seize the black fleet and come to the aid of Gondor. Thus the way that was shut is opened, and the oathbreakers are released from their curse.