Ohtar

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In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional legendarium of Middle-earth, Ohtar (prob. Adûnaic or Sindarin for "warrior, soldier") was a Dúnedan of Arnor, and the squire of Isildur.

In the story "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields," found in Tolkien's Unfinished Tales, Ohtar was accompanying Isildur and a small army of Men when a huge force of orcs attacked. Isildur saw that they were in great peril, and determined to save one of the great heirlooms of his people - the shards of Narsil, his father Elendil's sword. Isildur called Ohtar to his side; Tolkien wrote that Ohtar "was dear to Isildur and of his own kin," and suggested that Ohtar was not the squire's proper name but "probably only the title of address that Isildur used at this tragic moment, hiding his feelings under formality."

Isildur entrusted Ohtar with the broken sword and said, "Save it from capture by all means that you can find, and at all costs; even at the cost of being held a coward who deserted me. Take your companion with you and flee! Go! I command you!"

Isildur and virtually his entire army were soon wiped out by the orc horde. The only other survivor was Estelmo, a young squire found "stunned and buried under fallen men," among them Elendur, Isildur's son.

Ohtar and his (unnamed) companion escaped the orcs' onslaught, and delivered Narsil to Rivendell, where Isildur's youngest son Valandil was fostered. The shards were kept there until they were reforged into Andúril during the War of the Ring.

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