#oathbreakers

[pulpsandcomics2]

Oathbreakers

[baheuldey]

Les Hommes Morts de Dunharrow / Dead Men of Dunharrow (Tolktober, 29), 2024, plume, lavis d'encre de Chine sur papier, 14,8 x 21 cm

[thekingofwinterblog]

The Sad, Sad Tale of The Druedain.

Amongst Tolkien's many, many Human peoples, the Druedain might be the saddest in my opinion.

Both for their current situation, their history that led to them to this point, their very real and tragic real life inspirations, and the way everyone still alive, Drunedain, Numenorean, and everyone else has forgotten their true history and it's signifigance.

The Druedain's origins go back to the First age, where they(or the ones of them who wandered west into beleriand at least)were one of the Human people who fought against Morogth on behalf of the Valar, and upon the war's conclusion, they like all the rest of these Humans were given the name Edain, and many wonderous gifts.

Long life, massive size and strength compared to regular folk, and an island paridise kingdom to live in.

They called this land Numenor, named Elros, son of Earendil as their first king, and settled their new home, and so, these disparate and formerly different men of many origins joined together and mixed, becoming the Numenoreans.

And the Dru who joined them became the Druedain, one of the founding people of Numenor.

We don't know how much the Druedain intermarried with the rest(being the only ones that were visually distinct from the rest by the end) but given they and other men intermarried already in the first age(Earendil and all his descendants have Dru blood in their veins for examole), it's rather certain that enough did that by the time Numenor fell, most if maybe not all had at least one Druedain ancestor.

Whatever the case of that may be, both in Arnor and Gondor alike, the legacy of the Druedain(The great hunters, scouts and trackers of the Numenoreans) live on in the form of the rangers of North and south, both groip with incredible skill in all related to stealth, wilderness survival and hunting.

The skills of the wild that Aragorn displays was not learned just from personal experience. It, and the skills of all of rest of Dunedain, north and south were a distant, distant descandants of the Druedain's far greater, passed down through the ages until finally it ended up here, at the end of the third age.

Humanity is in truth, all one people, not many. They were split apart by unnatural means, and it is when Men combine their strength rather than let differences divide them, that they are truly strong.

But divided they were, for when the Numenoreans made contact with the outside world anew, after countless years of iaolation, the Druedain foresaw that their brethren would eventually fall to darkness, and so as they grew darker and darker, the Druedain began to sail back to Middle Earth, quietly, and rejoining the rest of the Dru, who had not left middle earth for Numenor.

And here we get into a usually overlooked tragedy, for during the dark years, when Sauron worked in Middle Earth, one of the people who opposed him and his were the Dru, now forever renamed the Druedain.

The image most fans have of Druedain was Tolkien obviously drawing inspiration from various primitive, tribal societies that Europeans encountered across the world during the age of exploration and colonization.

But that's not actually true, for the Druedain were inspired by two things, the first being the real life Woses, the mythical wild men of Europe's still untamed wilderness in medieval times.

But the second was the now forgotten native peoples of Europe, who nobody remembers anymore. And there are a lot of those, and most don't care to remember them any more.

For all the minorities of Europe who survived up to this day, many, many, many more were snuffed out forever by Europe's many waves of immigration and conquest, and nobody remembers them anymore, their culture forgotten, their languages dead, and whatever they made torn down and replaced by those who took their lands from them.

And so it is with the Druedain. For the state we see them in now, is not their "Natural" state so to say.

For the Druedain were also the true heirs of Numenor, as much as the Gondorians and the Arnorians ever were, and when they rejoined their distant kin, they helped them create a great and powerfull society, capable of raising massive and expertedly carved stone statues all across the lands that would one day become Rohan.

These are all that remains of their people's golden age, for these men who fought Sauron and his forces during the Dark years, were in turn conquered by another people who served sauron, and in turn took their lands from them, and built over their homes, and claimed rulership over these lands.

The ancestors of the oathbreakers of Dunharrow, drove the druedain into the hills and forests, where they were forced to live on nothing but hunting, and there they slowly forgot their roots, and were forgotten by all others.

Knowing all of this, it completely changes a lot of one's understanding of this People's oath to Isildur, and their ultimate rejection of it.

"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. For this war will last through years uncounted, and you shall be summoned once again ere the end."

And such was the power of this oath, that upon breaking it, it destroyed their very spirit, and they fled and they hid in the mountains and dwindled and became fewer and fewer, and as the Druedain, they lost their homes, but not to sword, but their own cowardice and the gruesome power they had brought down upon themselves.

It's a very good tale, but when you know the background of all men, it becomes intimately intertwined with Tolkien's themes.

For what Isildur asked the mountain men, was to uphold their oath to fight sauron, and by doing so, earn redemption for their previous acts and crimes they did under his name.

And they refused to repent for their wicked ways and deeds and redeem themselves, and so they were cursed and destroyed... By a kinsmen of the people who's land they took by might and evil deeds.

There is something remarkably fitting about that.

However, justice did not heal the Druedain's wounds, for they did not come forth to join Elendil and Gil-Galad to fight sauron, as their ancestors had against Morgoth.

Instead they hid in their forest and hills, until such a time that they would be called upon once more, NOT by their kin, but a people who they had a personal and very real grievance with the Rohirrim.

For the Rohirrim became the stewards of their former lands after many other came and went, and they did not have a good relationship with the Druedain eitger, mistaking them for beasts or monsters, and turn hunting them...

But in the end, despite this, these two were able to make peace, and common cause, and bury the hatched. For though not direct kin as they were with the Gondorians, they were still both Human beings, they both fought evil, and by doing so, they both managed to survive and see another day and Age of peace and hope.

The tale of the Druedain is one of eternal sadness, but withouth hope. But it is a harsh reminder that important things, and people ARE forgotten. Good people can, and have been defeated, and evil folk can and have taken that which rightfully was theirs.

It's a bittersweet ending, like most things in the Legendarium.

[tolkienmatters]

To that Stone the Company came and halted in the dead of night. Then Elrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns, as if it was an echo in deep caves far away. No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood; and a chill wind like the breath of ghosts came down from the mountains. But Aragorn dismounted, and standing by the Stone he cried in a great voice:

‘Oathbreakers, why have ye come?’

And a voice was heard out of the night that answered him, as if from far away:

‘To fulfil our oath and have peace.’

Then Aragorn said: ‘The hour is come at last. 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.’

And with that he bade Halbarad unfurl the great standard which he had brought; and behold! it was black, and if there was any device upon it, it was hidden in the darkness. Then there was silence, and not a whisper nor a sigh was heard again all the long night. The Company camped beside the Stone, but they slept little, because of the dread of the Shadows that hedged them round.

But when the dawn came, cold and pale, Aragorn rose at once, and he led the Company forth upon the journey of greatest haste and weariness that any among them had known, save he alone, and only his will held them to go on. No other mortal Men could have endured it, none but the Dúnedain of the North, and with them Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas of the Elves.

They passed Tarlang’s Neck and came into Lamedon; and the Shadow Host pressed behind and fear went on before them, until they came to Calembel upon Ciril, and the sun went down like blood behind Pinnath Gelin away in the West behind them. The township and the fords of Ciril they found deserted, for many men had gone away to war, and all that were left fled to the hills at the rumour of the coming of the King of the Dead. But the next day there came no dawn, and the Grey Company passed on into the darkness of the Storm of Mordor and were lost to mortal sight; but the Dead followed them.

- The Three Hunters, the Sons of Elrond, and the Grey Company summoning the Oathbreakers. Return of the King, The Passing of the Grey Company.  Happy Halloween!

[arofili]

men of middle-earth ✦ middle men ✦ headcanon disclaimer

          The Men of the Mountains were descended from the first Men who wandered to the West in the First Age, but unlike the Three Houses of the Edain they never crossed the Blue Mountains into Beleriand. Instead they settled in the White Mountains, and over the centuries divided into several distinct groups, including the Bree-men, the Dunlendings, and the Mountain-men themselves.           Of all those kindreds, only the Men of the Mountains ever fell into Sauron-worship, fearing and revering the dark god who threatened conquest of the whole world. When the kingdom of Gondor was founded and Sauron’s might was contested, King Rioc felt hopeful that his people might be freed from the Shadow’s influence and agreed to meet with King Isildur upon the Hill of Erech. There Isildur had placed a great black globe, an Oath-stone, and Rioc swore upon the stone that he and his people would aid the Dúnedain in their time of need.           At that time Rioc was but a young man, newly come into his crown, and when Isildur called upon the Men of the Mountains to fulfill their Oath, he had fallen into old age, though his liege remained young and hale. His queen, Annaig, had recently died at the hands of Sauron’s orcs, and he saw this as retribution from the Dark God for straying from his worship. To make matters worse, his only daughter Bravantel had dallied with a Dúnadan soldier and had a child out of wedlock, ruining her prospects of marriage among her own people. All this culminated in Rioc’s refusal to honor his Oath, for which Isildur cursed him and his people to never find rest until they fulfilled their sworn duty.           Rioc dismissed this threat, and his people were relieved not to march to war against their Dark God, but upon their king’s death the true extent of Isildur’s curse was revealed. Though his body perished, his wraith endured, trapped in his mountain halls, and one by one each of his people followed him. No more children were born to the Mountain-men, and they grew to hate the living and curse their faithless king, and it was foretold by Malbeth the Seer that they would not find peace until they stood once more at the Stone of Erech and heeded the call of Isildur’s heir.           The wraiths of the Mountain-men haunted the caverns beneath the Dwimorberg and the valley of Harrowdale, and came to be known as the Paths of the Dead. None among the living who walked those paths ever returned to tell the tale; most notable of these foolish souls was Prince Baldor of Rohan, who endeavored to prove the Oath of his own fathers, much like the one taken by King Rioc, would not have such horrific repercussions if broken. Baldor embarked alone upon his journey into the darkness, where he was lost in an ancient temple of the Mountain-men to Sauron, starving to death after the vengeful ghosts broke his legs.            Baldor’s skeleton would not be discovered for five centuries, when Aragorn II Elessar embarked upon his own journey through the Paths of the Dead. Aragorn’s quest was marked by a different fate: he and his companions survived, for he was Isildur’s heir, and called upon the Oathbreakers to fulfill their oath at long last. King Rioc and his people had grown weary of their half-existence, and agreed to take up arms against Sauron as they had sworn to do. They joined Aragorn in his crusade through the south of Gondor, and for their aid Isildur’s heir granted them their freedom, and they vanished from the world, free to receive the Gift of Men after centuries of dwindling in the shadows of the mountains.

[fedonciadale]

Calling Sansa an Oathbreaker is extreme. I mean Jon broke is oaths but no one called him a oathbreaker. Ned probably broke some oaths trying to protect Jon.

Dear nonny,

Of course it is extreme, but people are called oathbreakers all the time... Jaime, Mance, and Jon:

So, there you are, and these are just two examples...

Thanks for the ask!

[barbitone]

What's your book about and how did you do it?

It’s sort of a political murder mystery gay romance IN SPACE with space pirates and kind of a master/servant dynamic ;)

As for the ‘how’ - I was like “i want to write a political murder mystery romance IN SPACE where one of the people is coming off an abusive relationship and the other person is a surprisingly competent drunken DISASTER” and then I just started writing it :) (HUGE shoutout to @myhyperfixations for cheerleading me to the finish)

I drew pics for it in my “oathbreakers” tag, and you can read the first chapter on pillowfort here

[darkpuck]

An Orphaned Scene

I wound up redoing how Tredd and the gang get out of Insomnia so this scene no longer applies but I like it too much to let it languish on my computer so here:

They don’t stop running until they collapse from sheer exhaustion. Tredd lies on his back, sprawled over Sonitus’ legs and Axis’ arm, and then starts to laugh. 

He laughs because there’s blood on his hands, on all of their hands, and eventually it’ll wash off and it will be like it never happened, but nothing will wash clean their souls. He laughs because he’s an idiot, they’re all idiots, they should have known the Empire would never let them live, he should have known the Empire wanted them as dead as Insomnia. He laughs because he dragged his boys into this; they would never have turned without him to lead. He laughs because they’re still alive, and they just killed their way out of an Imperial base and lived, and they’re going to go back to Insomnia and find Axis’ kids and they’re going to kill every motherfucker who tries to stop them. And he laughs because the Ring of the Lucii is in his foreign, common, unworthy hand, and if he wanted to he could just fucking hurl the thing into the river and nobody would ever, ever find it again.