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It would be one of the most precious metals in all Middle-earth.
While most commonly associated with the dwarves of Khazad-dum,
and known for its rarity, it would also be found in both Valinor and Numenor - and be
used in one of the most famous ships, heirlooms of Elendil, and even an elven ring of power.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the history of Mithril.
The earliest known instance of mirthril comes not from the depths of Khazad-dum,
but in the twilight of the First Age. For in the Song of Earendil, we learn that when Elrond’s
father goes to Valinor to plead for the Valar to intervene in the struggle against Morgoth,
his ship Vinglote is said to have been made of mithril and elven-glass. His ship would
be blessed by the Valar and alongside the great eagles, Earendil would fight the winged
dragons of Morgoth in the War of Wrath and kill the greatest of their kind - Ancalagon the black.
Of course, the most well known location of Mithril lies in the depths of the Misty Mountains - in the
dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dum. It is found by the dwarves in lodes leading north from Moria toward
Caradhras and down into the darkness. The discovery of this precious metal brings great
wealth to the dwarves of Khazad-dum, but they were not the only peoples to be interested in mithril.
It is because of the discovery of this metal also known as moria-silver or true-silver that some of
the Noldor settle near the Misty Mountains. They establish the realm of Eregion and their
lord Celebrimbor leads the Gwaith-i-Mirdain - the greatest elven smiths of the Second Age.
These Noldor were not only great craftsmen, but they were far less unfriendly toward dwarves
than the Sindarin elves. Thus the friendship that grows between Durin’s Folk and the elves
of Eregion was the closest that would ever be between the two races. Mithril, which is
the elven name for the metal is a combination of the words meaning “grey” and “brilliance”.
During this time, Mithril is used in creating one of the most powerful objects of the age - an
elven ring of power. It is Nenya, the ring set with a stone of adamant, which is made of mithril.
This ring, the ring of water, would be given by Celebrimbor to Galadriel
for safe-keeping. And she would keep it all her remaining days
until bearing it away to the Uttermost West at the end of the Third Age.
The elves of Eregion would obtain mithril through trade with the dwarves and craft
their own objects made of the metal. Celebrimbor would also create a new alloy from the metal,
ithildin. Ithildin is visible only by starlight or moonlight and would be inlaid on the Doors
of Durin, which are crafted by Celebrimbor and the dwarf-smith Narvi. Ithildin is also believed
to be used in the creation of moon-letters or moon-runes. An example of which is on Thror’s Map
of the Lonely Mountain, which Elrond discovers when Thorin’s company rests in Rivendell.
It was not only dwarves and elves who would come to covet and use Mithril though. For we
know the 15th king of Numenor, Tar-Telemmaite, loved silver and constantly had his servants
searching for mithril. His name even translates to “silver-handed”. After the Fall of Numenor,
and at the same time the removal of Aman from the physical world in 3319 SA, Moria becomes the only
source of mithril in the world. During this time, it becomes worth 10-times its weight in gold.
It’s possible this increase in value is part of what drives the dwarves of Khazad-dum to delve
ever deeper in their pursuit of mithril. For 2000 years after the fall of Numenor,
the dwarves would harvest their precious metal, until finally in 1980 TA, their mining
awakens a Balrog, a demon of shadow and flame. As Gandalf says when the Fellowship crosses Moria:
The balrog kills King Durin VI, earning it’s nickname among the dwarves. And
despite their efforts to fight against it - the power of the balrog is too great,
and the following year (1981 TA), they are forced to flee their home.
With the mining of mithril ended, the metal becomes priceless in Middle-earth. And though
orcs and other foul creatures would be sent by Sauron to inhabit Moria, they dared not
delve for the metal out of fear of the balrog. Whatever mithril was left in Khazad-dum that
had already been mined by the dwarves, the orcs gave as tribute to Sauron, who coveted the metal.
What Sauron did with the mithril - whether used in construction, weaponry, or crafts - no tale tells.
While Balin’s expedition would successfully recolonize Moria in 2989,
and they would apparently mine gold and also find mithril, it would be short-lived.
They would suffer repeated attacks by orcs and after just five years, Balin would be slain
and the entire dwarf-colony destroyed by the orcs.
The scattered objects in Middle-earth made of Mithril become incredibly valuable. As we know,
Thorin would give a shirt of mithril to Bilbo Baggins during the quest of Erebor, and Bilbo,
unaware of it’s true value, would lend it to the Mathom-house museum in Michel Delving.
However, he would take it back before leaving for Rivendell, where he would in turn give it
to Frodo for his own quest. It is during their journey through Moria that Gandalf reveals
it’s worth is greater than the entire land of the Shire and everything in it.
Of course, it is also Frodo’s shirt which shows the metal’s seemingly supernatural ability.
Thanks to the shirt, Frodo survives both a spear of an orc in the mines and the strike of an
arrow while on the river Anduin. Many months later, after the shirt was taken by the orcs
and presented as a token by the Mouth of Sauron to Gandalf, it would be returned to Frodo and
save his life once more. After the hobbits reclaim the Shire in the Battle of Bywater,
Saruman attempts to stab him, and the blade is turned aside by the mithril shirt.
While the most famous, Frodo’s shirt is not the only mithril item to appear
in the Lord of the Rings. We also learn that the heirloom known as the Elendilmir
was made with white gems and Mirthril. While it did indeed pass through the
line of the Numenorean Lords of Andunie, including Elendil, the father of Isildur,
it originally belonged to Silmarien - the daughter of Tar-Elendil, the fourth King of Numenor.
After the Fall of Numenor, it would come to be associated with the line of Elendil and is known
as the Star of the North - for Elendil founded the realm of Arnor in the north of Middle-earth.
After Isildur’s death in the disaster of the Gladden Fields,
the Elendilmir is lost for many centuries, so the elven smiths of Rivendell made a second
Elendilmir - also made of mithril for Isildur’s son Valandil. This Elendilmir
would be passed through the generations all the way to Aragorn. And during his reign,
the first Elendilmir would be found while searching Orthanc. It turned out that Saruman’s
servants had discovered the remains of Isildur while searching the Anduin for the One Ring.
In Minas Tirith, the helmets of the guards of the citadel displayed the
former splendor of Gondor in their use of mithril: The Guards of the gate were robed in black, and
their helms were of strange shape, high-crowned, with long cheek-guards close-fitting to the face,
and above the cheek-guards were set the white wings of sea-birds; but the helms gleamed with
a flame of silver, for they were indeed wrought of mithril, heirlooms from the glory of old days.
Mithril would also be used by Arwen in making the banner which Aragorn would unfurl during the War
of the Ring. It was the Standard of Elendil and featured a crown wrought of gold and mithril.
The final recorded act of using mithril would fittingly be by a dwarf of Durin’s Folk.
After the War of the Ring, Gimli becomes Lord of the Glittering Caves - the caverns behind
the fortress of Helm’s Deep. His colony of dwarves, alongside elves led by Legolas,
would help Aragorn in the restoration of Minas Tirith. For their part, the dwarves reconstruct
the great gate of Minas Tirith which had been destroyed by the Witch King. In it’s place,
they create gates of mithril and steel, restoring the strength of the city’s defenses.
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