Stone of Erech

[Pukel-Man]

It is written that Isildur set the black stone atop the hill at Erech and the King of the Mountains swore allegiance to him upon the stone. My question is, is there any evidence that this stone posessed "magical" properties? The oath sworn upon it was binding even after death as we all know. Was it the stone or the oath that kept this pact?
It also is strange that the stone bears resemblance to the Palantiri-a globe of deep black hue. I'm not suggesting that the stone at Erech was a Palantir but perhaps it too was crafted by Feanor as well- but to serve what purpose? I can find no information in the tomes on the Erech stone, so I will humbly post this query here in hope of further insight.

[Meoshi]

Perhaps it was some power of the Stone that kept the Oathbreakers from leaving Arda. Elendil was a mortal man, and so probably wouldn't have the kind of magical superpower to keep their souls in the world. Perhaps there was something else involved...Valar, Eru, or even the oath itself.

[Tar-Palantir]

I don't have an answer, but share your inquisitiveness. I always thought that was a very odd and cumbersome thing to haul on a boat from Númenor, unless it had a value of special significance.

[Voralphion]

I think it was the oath not the stone that kept the oathbreakers in limbo. In ME oaths are very powerful things and because they did not fulfil the oath, the spirits of the oathbreakers did not find rest and hung about the stone because that is where the oath was made.
With regards to the stone, I too thought it was an odd thing to bring on a boat if you are fleeing for your life but perhaps it was brought to use for building, as the Tower of Orthanc is said to be made of smooth black stones and I always thought that the stone of Erech was similar to the stones used there.

[Phrim]

The Stone of Erech was not brought to Middle-Earth at the time of the fall of Numenor; presumably it was brought over long before then. The Numenoreans had multiple outposts in Middle-Earth before the island's downfall (notably Osgiliath), and it was also mentioned that they had created in Middle-Earth such wonders as the Argonath, the Tower of Orthanc, and Erech.

So it wasn't a last minute "run for your lives but don't forget to grab that really big rock" thing. smilies/smile.gif