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Mithril: Difference between revisions
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Mithril is a fictional metal from [[J. R. R. Tolkien|J.R.R. Tolkien's]] Middle-earth fantasy writings. It is silvery and stronger than steel but much lighter in weight. The author first wrote of it in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', and it was [[Retcon]]ned in the second, revised edition of ''[[The Hobbit]]'' in 1966. In the first 1937 edition, the mail shirt given to Bilbo was described as being made of "silvered steel". This metal was the reason for the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm's wealth and power. Greed for this metal eventually led to the downfall of the dwarves when they [[Dug Too Deep|found a vein of mithril that led to]] a [[Sealed Evil in a Can|sleeping Balrog.]]
The name "mithril" or similarly spelled variations (mithral, mythril, and others) is present in other fictional contexts like role-playing games, since the Tolkien Estate did not trademark the term, unlike "[[The Hobbit (novel)|Hobbit]]" or "Balrog". One early example is [[Dungeons
As to if Mithril was ever based on a real metal, Tolkien never said. Guesses for this metal have been aluminum, titanium, naturally occuring titanium-molybdenum alloy and platinum (and yttrium silver [[wikipedia:Intermetallics|if you want to get technical]]).
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