Îshtra

Îshtra (or Istrá) had once been the third most important deity among the Haradrim, next to her sister (Ladnóca, the moon goddess) and their father (Nâdi-Manyê, the Windlord, king of the gods). Ladnóca was courted by Vâtra, the sun god, and the Windlord assented to the marriage. Soon afterwards, however, Vâtra rebelled against Nâdi- manyê and slew him. At the moment of Nâdi- manyê's death, the king of the gods sent forth his power into his daughter. Thereafter, Vâtra and Ladnóca, although married and ostensibly observing their alliance, became locked in eternal strife, Îshtra, whom the Haradrim identified with Esmer (the Bozishnara name for the morning star), cultivated a careful neutrality between Ladnóca and Vâtra. This is why Esmer shone brightest in the hours between the dominion of the sun and the rule Of the moon. A legend (actively encouraged by the Nazgûl Kkhôrahil), reported that Vâtra was unfaithful to his wife, and that through Îshtra he fathered Arsarnshakar, the god of sorcery.

Îshtra was often equated with the Valìë Nessa, the more devout Dúnedain however did not like such superstitious mixing of ideas from the cults of the wild men with tbeir own traditional religious beliefs and disencouraged the continuation of any such cults under their rule.