The Rings of Power: Why is Mithril so important to Middle Earth?

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER

September 19, 2024 at 16:06

In “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” the dwarves dig for mithril in their mines. The metal will become of great importance to Middle Earth. But where does its power come from?

Watch “The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of Power” on Amazon Prime Video❯

In the fourth episode of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” Durin IV makes a big fuss about the mysterious metal mithril. It is so valuable that the dwarves make a huge secret out of it and hide it from strangers. But why do the dwarves hoard their mithril like a dragon hoards its gold?

Mithril is a valuable metal that is almost indestructible. It represents the wealth of Khazad-dum. When Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the Fellowship walk through the mines in the first Lord of the Rings film, they also see some veins of mithril.

Frodo (Elijah Wood) even wears a mithril chainmail shirt, which Bilbo (Martin Freeman) received from Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) in “The Hobbit”. According to Gandalf, the mithril shirt is worth more than the entire Shire.

The special thing about Mithril is not just that the metal is so robust. Mithril is also incredibly light, lighter than silk. So a Mithril chainmail shirt is not only designed for protection, it also makes you incredibly agile and allows you to move around without restrictions.

In “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” we learn a lot more about Mithril when Elrond discovers the dwarves’ secret excavations.

The Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir

The Elven King Gil-galad asks his follower Elrond to recite the “Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir.” This is a confused legend that many Elves do not accept as truth.

The song tells of a battle high up on the summit of the neighboring mountains. There stood a tree in which the last of the Silmaril was supposedly hidden. An elf warrior and a Balrog of Morgoth fought over this tree. The warrior had a pure heart and let all his strength flow into the tree to protect it. The Balrog, on the other hand, channeled all his hatred into the tree to destroy it.

During their endless duel, lightning struck the tree and forged a power out of their hostility. A power as pure and clear as good and as strong and unyielding as evil. It is said that through the roots it reached the deepest part of the mountain, where it has been waiting for centuries: Mithril.

The elves want to use this power because their kingdom is beginning to die. Gil-galad wants to give his people new strength through the light of the last Silmaril.

The discovery of the valuable metal is the beginning of the dwarves’ greed. In their hunt for Mithril, they sooner or later awaken Durin’s Bane, a Balrog that leads to the downfall of Khazad-dum. But that is far in the future, or perhaps not?

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. The new episodes appear weekly, every Friday at 6 a.m. In these, we will certainly see even more of Khazad-dum and the mysterious Mithril.

Mithril is used to forge the Rings of Power

We also already know that Celebrimbor forges the Rings of Power from Mithril, among other materials. At least the Elven and Dwarven rings used this valuable metal. Where the Mithril that Annatar gives Celebrimbor for the humans comes from is of questionable origin.

We also know that the Elven rings are powerful enough to make the Tree of Lindon shine again. Galadriel’s later kingdom of Lothlórien is also kept alive by the ring Nenya.