Editing Mithril (section)

== Analysis ==

=== Origins ===

Norse culture contains myths of impenetrable armour, such as the shirt made by elves and used in battle by [[Örvar-Oddr]] (Ørvar Odd),<ref name="Fox 2020">{{cite book |last=Fox |first=Michael |title=Following the Formula in Beowulf, Örvar-Odds saga, and Tolkien |chapter=The Folktale Formula: Beowulf and Örvar-Odds saga |publisher=[[Springer Publishing|Springer]] |publication-place=Cham |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-48133-9 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-48134-6_5 |pages=157–194}}</ref> as related in the ''[[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]]''.<ref name="Hervarar Saga p10">{{cite book |last=Thorarensen |first=G. (trans.) |editor-last=Petersen |editor-first=N. M. |title=Hervarar Saga |date=1847 |publisher=Det Nordiske Literatur-Samfund |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EmgAAAAAcAAJ |language=Old Norse}}</ref> The saga was translated by [[Christopher Tolkien]], with a commentary, and his father was certainly familiar with the text.<ref name="Hammond Scull 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Hammond |first1=Wayne G. |author1-link=Wayne G. Hammond |last2=Scull |first2=Christina |author2-link=Christina Scull |title=Christopher Tolkien, 1924–2020 |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |publisher=[[Project Muse]] |volume=17 |issue=1 |year=2020 |issn=1547-3163 |doi=10.1353/tks.2020.0001 |pages=7–24}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=Review of The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |via=[[Project Muse]] |issue=8 |year=2011 |volume=8 |pages=136–142 |doi=10.1353/tks.2011.0009 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/20/article/434402/summary|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
|+ The myth of the impenetrable mail-coat
|-
! ''[[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]]''<ref name="Hervarar Saga p10"/> !! Prose translation
|-
|''Oddr svarar: "ek vil berjask við Angantýr, hann mun gefa stór högg með Tyrfingi, en ek trúi betr skyrtu minni, enn brynju þinni, til hlífðar"''
|[[Örvar-Oddr|Oddr]] answers: "I want to fight [[Angantyr|Angantýr]], he will deliver a mighty blow with [his magic sword] [[Tyrfing]], but I trust my shirt better than your armour for protection"
|}

[[File:IY188 pg157 KIMBERLEY DIAMOND MINE, GRIQUALAND WEST, SOUTH AFRICA, 1885.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Schematic drawing|Semi-schematic drawing]] of [[Kimberley Diamond Mine]] in South Africa, 1885. Tolkien was born near deep mines, and may have chosen to use them in his fiction.<ref name="Barberis 2006"/>]]

The mining executive Danièle Barberis notes that Tolkien was born in [[Bloemfontein]], South Africa, in [[Mining in South Africa|a busy mining region]]. She writes that it is "impossible ... not to make parallels" between Tolkien's descriptions of the deep mines of Moria and the exceptional depth of South African mines, some as much as {{convert|4,000|metre|feet}} deep.<ref name="Barberis 2006">{{cite journal |last=Barberis |first=Danièle |title=Tolkien: The Lord of The Mines – Or A Comparative Study Between Mining During the Third Age of Middle-Earth by Dwarves and Mining During Our Age by Men (or Big-People) |journal=Minerals & Energy - Raw Materials Report |volume=20 |issue=3–4 |year=2006|pages=60–68 |doi=10.1080/14041040500504392 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2006MERMR..20...60B }}</ref>

=== Metallurgy ===

The chemist Suze Kundu describes mithril as a [[metal]], a pure [[chemical element]] with "a range of amazing chemical and physical properties" not matched by any real metal, and many applications. Of those that approach it, [[titanium]] is light (has a low density) and strong, but it is not [[Ductility|malleable]] (able to be beaten into shape) like mithril. In Kundu's view the nearest material would be a [[stainless steel]] alloy of [[iron]] with enough nano-scale [[carbon]] to make it hard.<ref name="Kundu 2019">{{cite journal |last=Kundu |first=Suze |title=Elements of Heroism |journal=Chemistry International |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH |volume=41 |issue=4 |date=1 October 2019 |doi=10.1515/ci-2019-0411 |pages=34–37}}</ref>

The metallurgist James Owen suggests that Mithril could be "an fcc <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[face-centred cubic]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> metal like [[aluminium]] or [[nickel]], or possibly a bcc <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[body-centred cubic]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>" metal like titanium".<ref name="Owen 1994"/> Owen comments that it could form "strong, stiff, tough alloys" with those elements, suitable for "light sword blades and armour", or used as the pure element, when "it would be soft and malleable" like copper or gold.<ref name="Owen 1994">{{cite journal |last=Owen |first=James |title=Metallurgy in the Third Age |journal=Other Hands |date=January 1994 |issue=4 |pages=19–21 |url=https://www2.otherminds.net/downloads/oh-archive/other-hands-issue-04.pdf}}</ref> The [[geologist]] [[William Sarjeant]], however, notes that mithril crystallises out "at so high a temperature that it is only found in veins at great depths", and proposes that it may be a [[native metal|native]] alloy of [[platinum]] with another metal, which might be [[palladium]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sarjeant |first=William Antony Swithin |date=1996 |title=The Geology of Middle-earth |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2167&context=mythlore |journal=Mythlore |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=334–339 |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref>

=== Significance ===

The scholar of English literature [[Charles A. Huttar]] writes that ''mithril'' was the only mineral that Tolkien invented. He notes that in Tolkien's underworld, whether the [[Glittering Caves of Aglarond|caves at Helm's Deep]] or the mines of Moria, "beauty and terror [were] side by side".<ref name="Huttar 1975">{{cite book |last=Huttar |first=Charles A. |author-link=Charles A. Huttar |editor-last=Lobdell |editor-first=Jared |editor-link=Jared Lobdell |title=[[A Tolkien Compass]] |date=1975 |publisher=[[Open Court Publishing Company|Open Court]] |isbn=978-0875483030 |pages=137–139}}</ref> Greed for ''mithril'' could unleash the terror of the [[Balrog]], by digging too far down into the dark realm, but at the same time, he writes, the metal was prized for both its beauty and its usefulness, yielding the best armour. He compares the Dwarves' greed for ''mithril'' with that of the [[Barrow-wight]]s for treasure, and indeed that of the [[dragon]]s in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[Beowulf]]'' for gold. In his view, these symbolise the evil "inherent in the mineral treasures hidden in the womb of Earth",<ref name="Huttar 1975"/> just as mining and metalwork are associated with [[Satan]] in [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' (I, 670–751). Huttar sums up with a reflection on Tolkien's moral vision in the story: just as the characters at every point have to decide for good or ill, so objects have the potential to be both good and evil: "Mithril is both the greatest of treasures and a deadly bane."<ref name="Huttar 1975"/>

The Tolkien critic [[Paul H. Kocher|Paul Kocher]] interprets the Dwarves' intense secrecy around mithril and their devotion to artistry in metal and stone as "a sublimation of their sexual frustration", given that they have very few [[dwarf-women]] and love beauty with a "jealous possessiveness", or (quoting Tolkien) "being engrossed in their crafts".<ref name="Kocher p95">{{cite book |last=Kocher |first=Paul |author-link=Paul H. Kocher |title=Master of Middle-Earth: The Achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien |title-link=Master of Middle-earth |date=1974 |orig-year=1972 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0140038779 |page=95}}</ref>

The name "mithril" (also spelt ''mith'', ''mithral'', or ''mythril'') is used in multiple [[Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien|fictional contexts influenced by Tolkien]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/mithril |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412201844/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/mithril |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 April 2019 |title=mithril |publisher=[[OxfordDictionaries.com|Oxford Dictionaries]] |access-date=2019-04-12}}</ref> For example, the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' game series, begun in 1987, involves dwarves and mithril.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sakaguchi |first1=Hironobu |author1-link=Hironobu Sakaguchi |last2=Sakakibara |first2=Moto |title=Final Fantasy |publisher=Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |year=2006 |page=143 |url= |quote=Sakaguchi borrowed heavily from the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, especially ''The Hobbit'' and ''Lord of the Rings''. His game also featured elves, dwarves, and mithril, a mythical blend of steel and silver.}}</ref>