Tension between Rohan and Gondor in the fourth age

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

The Oath of Cirion and Eorl - the one under discussion here - was held to for five hundred years, and there is no hint (in the books, rather than the movies) of anyone even considering breaking it. "Say to Denethor that even if Rohan itself felt no peril, still we would come to his aid!" In our world, mortal men are capable of breaking their oaths all the time, absolutely - but in Tolkien's world, an oath is far more powerful, and indeed tangible, than it is in ours. To reach a point where the kings of Gondor and Rohan would consider breaking their Oath would mean transforming Middle-earth into a place where history and nobility mean nothing - which, while 'realistic', would be (I argue) a complete change from the world Tolkien created.

Certainly, the Old World Middle-earth canon of oaths and the dire consequences of oath-breaking were manifest throughout the first three Ages of Arda -- words have great potency and a power unto themselves; however, with the coming of the 4th Age Tolkien implies that Middle-earth is, for all intents and purposes, our world.

Therefore, although the grandeur and might of the kingship in Gondor may wane slowly, almost imperceptibly, through the first couple hundred years of the 4th Age, the decline would be inexorable if not precipitous at a certain point. We are now dealing solely with mortal empires unaided (or unhindered, as the case may be) by immortal agents of benevolence or evil. We are now simply men (and women), with all the virtues and vices this race is prone to having.

In The New Shadow, Tolkien himself speak of Sauron/Morgoth worship in the guise of a "Dark Tree" cult led by Herumor during the reign of Eldarion. So, we are speaking of a decline in moral fibre during the son of Elessar's reign, only a hundred years after the War of the Ring. As Tolkien states:

"I did begin a story placed about 100 years after the Downfall, but it proved both sinister and depressing. Since we are dealing with Men, it is inevitable that we should be concerned with the most regrettable feature of their nature: their quick satiety with good. So that the people of Gondor in times of peace, justice and prosperity, would become discontented and restless — while the dynasts descended from Aragorn would become just kings and governors — like Denethor or worse."

Unfortunately, the thought of oaths manifesting the sort of magical power they held in previous Ages no longer applies. In the 4th Age, an oath is only as good or bad as the individuals who profess it. We have come to an era where treaties are temporary, oaths are broken, and promises are as fickle as a vagrant breeze.