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== Tolkien == === Etymology === The name ''mithril'' comes from two words in Tolkien's [[Sindarin]] language—''mith'', meaning "grey", and ''ril'', meaning "glitter".<ref name="moria" group=T/> The Dwarves kept their own name for the material secret.<ref name="moria" group=T/> === Properties === In ''[[The Hobbit]]'', [[Thorin Oakenshield]] described some Dwarven treasures as "coats of mail gilded and silvered and impenetrable" and "a coat of dwarf-linked rings the like of which had never been made before, for it was wrought of pure silver to the power and strength of triple steel."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 12 "Inside Information"}}</ref> A little later the narrator describes "a small coat of mail, wrought for some young elf-prince long ago. It was of silver-steel which the elves call mithril".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 13 "Not At Home" (mention of mithril from 1966 edition onwards)}}</ref><ref name="Rateliff 2008"/> In ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', the wizard [[Gandalf]] explained mithril to the rest of the Fellowship in [[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]]: {{blockquote|''Mithril!'' All folk desired it. It could be beaten like [[copper]], and polished like [[glass]]; and the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]] could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than [[Tempering (metallurgy)|tempered steel]]. Its beauty was like to that of common [[silver]], but the beauty of ''mithril'' did not tarnish or grow dim.<ref name="moria" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 4 "A Journey in the Dark"}}</ref>}} The [[Noldor]] of [[Eregion]], the Elvish land to the west of Moria, made an alloy from it called ''ithildin'' ("star moon"), used to decorate gateways, portals and pathways. It was visible only by starlight or moonlight. The [[Moria (Middle-earth)#West-door|West Gate]] of Moria bore inlaid ''ithildin'' designs and runes.<ref name="moria" group=T/> === Abundance === {{further|Economy of Middle-earth}} In Tolkien's [[Middle-earth]], mithril is extremely rare by the end of the [[Third Age]], as it was now found only in [[Khazad-dûm]]. Once the [[Balrog]] destroyed Khazad-dûm, the kingdom of the Dwarves in Moria, the only source of new mithril ore was cut off. Before Moria was abandoned by the Dwarves, while it was still being actively mined, mithril was worth ten times its weight in gold.<ref name="moria" group=T/> After the Dwarves abandoned Moria and production of new mithril stopped entirely, it became priceless.<ref name="moria" group=T/> Tolkien hints that mithril was found in the lost island kingdom of [[Númenor]]<ref name="Disaster of Gladden Fields" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980|loc=part 3, ch. 1 "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields}}</ref> and the inaccessible continent of [[Aman (Tolkien)|Aman]].<ref name="Many Meetings" group=T/> === The mithril-coat === The principal item made of mithril in the works of Tolkien is the "small coat of [[mail (armour)|mail]]" that [[Thorin Oakenshield]] gave to [[Bilbo Baggins]] after it had been retrieved from the hoard of [[Smaug]] the dragon.<ref name="hobbit" group=T/> [[Gandalf]] stated that the value of this mithril-coat was "greater than the value of the whole [[Shire (Middle-earth)|Shire]] and everything in it".<ref name="moria" group=T/> The mail-shirt was first described in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' in 1937,<ref name="hobbit" group=T/> but without any mention of mithril. Tolkien first described the shirt as being made of mithril in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' in 1954,<ref name="moria" group=T/> and it was retrospectively mentioned in the third, revised edition of ''[[The Hobbit]]'' in 1966.<ref name="Rateliff 2008">{{cite book |last=Rateliff |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Rateliff |chapter=The Second Phase, "While the Dragon's Away..." |title=[[The History of the Hobbit]]: Volume 2, Return to Bag-End |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-00-726647-0 |page=(ii) "The Arkenstone as Silmaril", note 13}}</ref> In the first 1937 edition, the [[Mail (armour)|mail]] shirt given to [[Bilbo Baggins]] is described as being made of "silvered steel".<ref name="hobbit" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937}} ch. 13 "Not at Home"</ref> {{blockquote|Also there is this!" said Bilbo, bringing out a parcel which seemed to be rather heavy for its size. He unwound several folds of old cloth, and held up a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded with white gems.<ref name="moria" group=T/>}} Bilbo wore the mithril shirt during the Battle of the Five Armies.<ref name="hobbit" group=T/> He donated it to the Mathom-house, a museum in [[Michel Delving]]. However he later reclaimed it, and took it with him when he left the Shire for his journey to [[Rivendell]]. There, some years later, he gave the shirt to [[Frodo Baggins]] when the younger [[hobbit]] embarked on his quest in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. Frodo wore the mail underneath his tunic and other shirt unbeknownst to the rest of [[Fellowship of the Ring (characters)|the fellowship]]. The mail saved Frodo's life when he was struck by an orc chieftain's spear thrust during the battle in the [[Chamber of Mazarbul]], and again when orc-arrows struck him while escaping [[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]] and while crossing the River [[Anduin]].<ref name="moria" group=T/><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 9 "The Great River"}}</ref> When [[Sam Gamgee]] believed Frodo to be dead outside [[Shelob]]'s Lair, he left the shirt with Frodo.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 10, "The Choices of Master Samwise"}}</ref> Frodo was taken by the orcs, who fought over the shirt. Frodo was saved, but one of the orcs escaped with the shirt.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 6, ch. 1, "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"}}</ref> In both Tolkien's and [[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King|Peter Jackson's]] versions, the shirt was, along with Frodo's other possessions, shown to Frodo's allies at the [[Battle of the Morannon]] to imply falsely that he was imprisoned in [[Barad-dûr]].<ref name="Black Gate Opens" group=T/><ref name="Kocher 1974">{{cite book |last=Kocher |first=Paul |author-link=Paul H. Kocher |title=[[Master of Middle-Earth]] |date=1974 |orig-year=1972 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-1400-3877-9 |page=141}}</ref><ref name="Bogstad Kaveny 2011">{{cite book |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |chapter=Introduction |title=Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' Film Trilogy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA1 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |page=14}}</ref> Gandalf took the shirt and other tokens, but refused any offer of parley.<ref name="Black Gate Opens" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 5, ch. 10 "The Black Gate Opens"}}</ref> At the end of the story, Frodo wore the shirt at the celebrations and on the trip home. The shirt saved his life one last time when [[Saruman]], who [[The Scouring of the Shire|had taken over the Shire]], tried to stab Frodo after Frodo spared his life.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 6, ch. 8 "[[The Scouring of the Shire]]"}}</ref> When he left to sail to Elvenhome, he gave all his possessions to Sam.<ref name="Grey Havens" group=T/> === Other objects === [[File:Flag of the Kings of Gondor.svg|thumb|Artist's impression of the [[Heraldic flag|standard]] of the kings of [[Gondor]], with a crown made of mithril and gold.]] [[Nenya]], the [[Rings of Power|Ring of Power]] wielded by [[Galadriel]], was made of mithril.<ref name="Grey Havens" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, book 6, ch. 9 "The Grey Havens"</ref> The guards of the citadel of [[Minas Tirith]] wore helmets of mithril, "heirlooms from the glory of old days". They were the only soldiers in Gondor who still bore the emblems of the lost kings during the days of the stewards.<ref group=T name="Grey Company">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, book 5, ch. 2 "The Passing of the Grey Company"</ref> As Aragorn's ships sailed up the [[Anduin]] to relieve the besieged Minas Tirith during the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]], the [[Heraldic flag|standard]] flying on his ship showed a crown made of mithril and gold.<ref name="Pelennor Fields" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, book 5, ch. 6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"</ref> After [[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]] became lord of [[Helm's Deep#Later writings|Aglarond]], he and his Dwarves forged great gates of mithril and steel to replace the gates of Minas Tirith, which had been broken by the [[Witch-king of Angmar]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Appendix A, part 3.</ref> The ''Elendilmir'', the Star of Arnor, was a "white star of Elvish crystal upon a [[fillet (clothing)|fillet]] of mithril". It was made for Silmariën, mother of [[Valandil]]; it passed down to [[Elendil]].<ref name="Disaster of Gladden Fields" group=T/> It was found in [[Orthanc]] when the Ents returned the tower to King [[Aragorn]], evidence that Saruman had found and apparently destroyed [[Isildur]]'s remains.<ref name="Disaster of Gladden Fields" group=T/>{{sfn|Libran Moreno|2013|pp=146–147}} Greatest of all, according to legend, was the ship of [[Eärendil]], Vingilótë, which he sailed into the sky, making the gleam of ''truesilver'' visible to the world as the [[Venus|Evening and Morning Star]]. The "[[Song of Eärendil]]", written by Bilbo and Aragorn, contains the lines "A ship then new they built for him / of mithril and of elven-glass".<ref name="Many Meetings" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 1 "Many Meetings"}}</ref> The linguist of Elvish languages [[Anthony Appleyard]] wrote that this machine, with "no shaven oar nor sail", was evidently of an advanced technology, "sound[ing] suspiciously like most people's image of a spaceship."<ref name="Appleyard 1996">{{cite journal |last=Appleyard |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Appleyard |title=Tolkien and Space Travel |journal=[[Mallorn (journal)|Mallorn]] |date=December 1996 |issue=34 |pages=21–24 |jstor=45321694}}</ref>
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