The Orcs were now drawing near. Isildur turned to his esquire: ‘Ohtar,’ he said,

The Orcs were now drawing near. Isildur turned to his esquire: ‘Ohtar,’ he said, 'I give this now into your keeping’; and he delivered to him the great sheath and the shards of Narsil, Elendil’s sword. '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!’ Then Ohtar knelt and kissed his hand, and the two young men fled down into the dark valley.

–J.R.R. Tolkien, Unfinished Tales, “The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" (Isildur sends Narsil away during an ambush, hours before his death)