An Elvish word meaning 'soldier' or 'warrior', used as a rank in the armies of the Númenóreans and their descendants to denote one of the common soldiery. Above the rank of ohtar was that of roquen or knight.
Most famous of the soldiers of this rank was the squire of Isildur, to whom the Shards of Narsil were entrusted at the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. His actual name is not recorded (in our only accounts of the event, Isildur addressed him simply as 'Ohtar') but he escaped the fall of his lord with the treasured heirloom, and carried the broken remains of Elendil's sword north to reach safety in Imladris.
The term is also seen in the name of Minohtar, a Gondorian commander who lived nearly two thousand years after the loss of Isildur. The name Minohtar means something like 'prominent warrior' or 'first soldier', and the fact that he was noted as a captain suggests that (as in the case of Ohtar) the use of Minohtar may be a reference to this soldier's rank rather than his own name.
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- Updated 16 April 2017
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