Done if by Hand or Hew if by Sword?

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

A note - curses and all these fate-prescribed things do NOT usually work on "common sense". It would have killed Ohtar, if the sword had such a power and if it still had the power even after being broken.

But these curses and such like are also sticklers for semantics and tend to take things very literally. According to Aragorn, the 'curse', if it was such, would only take effect on those who drew the sword. Ohtar did not, presumably, draw the sword, but instead gathered up and bore its shards.

That said, I don't go along with the 'curse' theory. I tend to think it was just all part of Aragorn's general snarkiness at the door of Meduseld, albeit 'heroically' expressed, after the events at Parth Galen and the subsequent long and tiring chase.

It is notable that Aragorn's initial refusal to submit to the rules of the King in whose city he was a guest and subsequent bad-tempered acquiesence contrasts sharply with his later reluctance to enter Minas Tirith until invited. At this stage he is still not yet quite the returning King that he ultimately becomes.

Edit: Crossed with Pitch, who makes the same point about the terms of the 'curse'.