But what is the precious ore, and where else have we seen it? Here’s everything you need to know about The Lord of the Rings‘ mithril. In The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, we are introduced to Mithril, a metal described as being stronger than steel but much lighter in weight. It is also shown to have a silver sheen and the crafting of it is implied to require greater skill than steel. Even if each link perfectly holds its shape, when a cave troll puts his bulk behind a spear, you have a spearhead-shaped piece of Mithril piercing your chest cavity nearly as deeply as the spearhead would have. Effectively, you have reduced the sharpness of the edge, but the pounds per square inch have not been reduced sufficiently to withstand the mass of a pissed-off cave troll and convert a potential puncture into a mere bruise.
It has physical properties that are impossible in a non-magical world. Carbon fiber or titanium alloys may be light and strong, but weave them into chain mail and you’ll still be plenty hurt if skewered with a high-mass spearhead. In woven form, it’s bullet-proof reputation is exaggerated. It doesn’t tear, but it also doesn’t protect all that well. The Dwarves had a secret word for their name of the ore, claimed by Durin to be “Grey Glitter” but the term “Mithril” comes from the equivalent words in Sindarin Elvish.
Contrary to the accepted answer, I propose that Mithril is closest to Aluminum.
- These are contradictory material properties, so no, there is no existing substance that can match.
- Mithril is the prized ore of Durin’s Folk in Khazad-dûm, “lighter than silk, harder than iron, it would best our proudest blades.
- Nothing is both flexible enough to behave as seen in the movie when held up and examined, yet stiff enough to distribute impact over a wide area, which is what armor does.
- This sounds wise, but, as we know, they will eventually delve too deep on their hunt for the precious ore.
- A new addition to the lore of Middle-earth created by The Rings of Power, resonating is the practice of singing to the stone.
Nothing is both flexible enough to behave as seen in the movie when held up and examined, yet stiff enough to distribute impact over a wide area, which is what armor does. Armor also diffuses kinetic energy through inertia, if it is heavy, but Mithril is light, so it offers none of that protection. Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. The band Mithril is a Celtic music quartet located in Alabama in the United States. Their name was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s “mithril” substance.
Mithril is the prized ore of Durin’s Folk in Khazad-dûm, “lighter than silk, harder than iron, it would best our proudest blades. It could be used in various alloys to produce extremely lightweight, hard and durable armour. The Elves loved it for its beauty and presumably used it for jewelry and attire rather than weapons or armour. He eventually passes the mithril shirt along to his nephew Frodo for his journey to destroy the One Ring. It saves Frodo’s life as the fellowship passes through the very mines of Moria from whence the mithril came many generations before. Like everyone wearing hidden armor, Frodo pulls open his shirt to reveal the mithril only after everyone thinks he’s dead, amazing them all.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
They find the treasure in Smaug’s hoard under the mountain. Mithril also shows up in many other fantasy stories and role-playing games. The name, or close alternate spellings, has become ubiquitous with a beautiful and rare metal often used in armor. While it is never explicitly stated where the mithril shirt originally came from, in the extended edition, Gandalf tells the Fellowship that Bilbo had a set of mithril rings given to him by Thorin. Gimli states that it was a kingly gift and Gandalf agrees but admits he never told Bilbo exactly how valuable the rings were.
Mithril in The Lord of the Rings Movies and Books
Once it destroyed the kingdom of the Dwarves at Khazad-dûm, Middle-earth’s only source of new Mithril ore was cut off. For people so in touch with the mountains, it’s exciting to discover an entirely new ore. Durin’s Folk have only just discovered the “grey glitter,” the dwarven name for Mithril on The Rings of Power. The timing of Elrond’s visit to seek help from the dwarves leads Durin to question his motives. And though Elrond didn’t know the true purpose at first, the elves are in fact seeking mithril. They believe it was created when a battle of good versus evil caused lightning to strike a tree containing the light of a Silmaril.
Gimli and his dwarven kin later rebuilt the gates of Minas Tirith using the precious metal. A new addition to the lore of Middle-earth created by The Rings of Power, resonating is the practice of singing to the stone. Disa first detects mithril and describes how to differentiate earth, ore, air, and water within the mountain. “Sing to it properly, each of those parts will reflect your song back to you,” she says. Elrond watches in amazement as rock shifts while she sings to release the trapped miners.
Afterwards, Elrond recounts an apocryphal tale called The Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir. This song claims the origin of mithril to be when an Elf-warrior and a Balrog fought over a certain tree in the Misty Mountains that contained the light of the last Silmaril. It was then that lightning struck the tree, sending out tendrils of ore into the roots of the mountains beneath.
In modern times, aluminum and its alloys are used for many industrial purposes due to its light weight — at 35 to 45% less weight than steel, when built to the same standards, it is considered much stronger per unit weight. It also has a nice silverish gleam when polished and was in use for over a century by the time of is mithril real Tolkien’s writings. Mithril eventually become priceless once it is no longer mined. But for now, all the dwarves know is that it is lighter than silk yet harder than iron.
