“The wealth of the Dwarves was not in gold or jewels, the silver of the Dwarves; nor in iron for it’s worth was more than that of gold, and now it is beyond price; for little is left above ground, and even the Orcs dare not delve here for it.”‘… It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim. For the literal-minded reader, it is unclear whether or not mithril is a real metal; many have thought it to be platinum or iridium, however, both are far too heavy to qualify as candidates. Other possibilities are aluminium, or magnesium; these metals are even lighter than titanium, but not as strong or as silvery and shiny.
What Is The Rings of Power‘s Mithril and Why Is It So Precious?
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.
According to Wikipedia, the band is composed of Tom Morley (fiddle, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar), Andra Bohnet (Irish flute, penny whistle, fife, Celtic harp), Ben Harper (guitar, bass guitar, flute), and Sam Gaston (djembe, doumbek, percussion, melodica). It would have to be some new type of material we have yet to discover or possibly one of the new carbon structures that can be computed. Please consider whether you can edit the question, or guide the asker in how to edit it, to be about in-universe explanations rather than real-world science, and vote to reopen the question if appropriate.
Physical properties
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.
In real life
- Other possibilities are aluminium, or magnesium; these metals are even lighter than titanium, but not as strong or as silvery and shiny.
- Possibly an alloy of Osmium and iridium, which is extremely hard and used for things like fountain pen nibs which need to resist high wear.
- Mithril was a precious, silvery metal, very lightweight but immensely strong, that was discovered by the Dwarves.
- It saves Frodo’s life as the fellowship passes through the very mines of Moria from whence the mithril came many generations before.
- 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.
But we know Prince Durin IV’s objections will eventually prevail, and the wealth of Khazad-Dûm will flourish with this discovery. After all, by the Third Age, a shirt made of mithril is worth more than the Shire and everything in it. Also, unlike gold, silver or copper, aluminium almost never occurs as a pure substance – it has to be refined from ore such as bauxite using energy-intensive processes unlikely to be possible in Tolkien’s world.
Resonating is how the dwarves know where to mine, where to tunnel, and where to leave the mountain untouched. This sounds wise, but, as we know, they will eventually delve too deep on their hunt for the precious ore. We hope the quest for Mithril does not prove to perilous on The Rings of Power. Mithril is dangerous to mine, with quakes collapsing the shaft. King Durin III is cautious and shuts down the whole Mithril operation in The Rings of Power.
Mithril is supposed to be relatively easy to work (at least by beating), and yet extraordinarily hard and resistant to cutting. These are contradictory material properties, so no, there is no existing substance that can match. Plate armor has the problem of penetration between the plates, but a hybrid of chain-mail or woven kevlar protecting the inter-plate areas could be effective, though not exactly as light or thin as Egyptian cotton. The scholar Charles A. Huttar states that Tolkien treats mineral treasures as having the potential for both good and evil, recalling the association of mining and metalwork in John Milton’s Paradise Lost with Satan.
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 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.
Metallurgy
Gil-galad and Celebrimbor believe this tale to be true, and furthermore, that the remnants of the Silmaril’s light in mithril could save the Elven race from fading and being forced to return to Valinor. Mithril was a precious, silvery metal, very lightweight but immensely strong, that was discovered by the Dwarves. Mithril plays an important role in Tolkien’s books and in both of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogies. Bilbo describes it as “light as a feather and as hard as dragon scales.” In The Hobbit, Thorin gifts him a shirt of mithril rings that no blade can pierce.
The mail comes in handy once again when Frodo is captured by orcs in Return of the King. It’s also important to note that mithril, in the books, doesn’t do anything considered magical by today’s standards on its own; it is merely stronger and lighter than steel. Frodo is stabbed by an orc, not a troll, and thus his mithril chain shirt, in protecting him, is merely doing what good chainmail does — and at a much better efficiency than a weaker metal would. It is mithril real is described as resembling silver, but being stronger and lighter than steel. It was used to make armour, such as the helmets of the citadel guard of Minas Tirith, and ithildin alloy, used to decorate gateways with writing visible only by starlight or moonlight.
Celebrimbor tells his elven smith, Mirdania, that he had just enough Mithril left over from the elven Rings of Power to make one more creation. In its Ithildin form, Mithril is only visible in the moonlight and otherwise, it becomes invisible. We know that this precious version of Mithril will be used someday soon to build the Doors of Durin and cement a bond between elves and dwarves.