Oaths and Curses | Magic in Middle-Earth

Here's an excellent video about Middle-Earth, by GirlNextGondor, a YouTuber who (at the time of writing this) has only 6k subscribers. It isn't going to stay that way, because the quality of her work is so high.



I'm currently writing about a culture that takes oaths and curses far, far more seriously than our modern society does, because their oaths bind them even after death. 

Words have tremendous power for good and evil, they always have. Living in a state of healthy recognition of the power that we have as subcreators, and therefore the responsibility we have. Albus Dumbledore was not wrong when Rowling had him say, "Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it."

Personally... I'm going to leave oaths alone whenever possible. :) I'd rather not risk the power they have, and I'd prefer to live by a simple 'Yes, sure, I'll do that,' or 'No, I won't.' The trouble people get into when they bind themselves with oaths just doesn't seem to be worth it.

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