The songs of Rings of Power, the myth of the mithril tree, rewrite the origin of Lord of the Rings

Despite its status as a prequel, Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power still has much to teach us about the history of Middle-earth, or at least his version of that history. While the latest installment in the series covers many different bases, perhaps the most interesting has to do with the story of Mithril, a legendary elf, and the Misty Mountains themselves.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 5, “Partings.”]

The glimpse into Middle-earth’s past in Episode 5 came during the conversation between High King Gil-Galad and Elrond in that episode. When Elrond refused to reveal information he had learned from Durin – thanks to his oath in the last episode – Gil-Galad asked him to tell The Song of the Roots by Hithaeglir.

Elrond describes the poem as depicting a battle between a pure-hearted elven warrior and a Balrog of Moria for a beautiful tree atop the Misty Mountains. According to legend, the tree is said to contain one of the lost Silmarils, a set of gems over which the war with Morgoth was waged.

In an attempt to keep the tree pure, the elf poured its light into it while the Balrog tried to corrupt it with its own evil and darkness. In the midst of this battle, the tree was struck by lightning, and its essence seeped deep into the Misty Mountains below, forming mithril.

Of course, until Durin and his people discovered the mythical stone beneath their halls in Khazad-dûm, no one knew for sure that mithril was real, but it seems that Gil-Galad had always suspected it and harbored hope that it might be so reduced.

Photo: Prime Video

But why is mithril so important to the elves? Because apparently from a different tree. After explaining the origins of mithril, Gil-Galad guides Elrond to another tree that is slowly succumbing to corruption. This, says Gil-Galad, is an outer manifestation of an inner reality: the elves remaining in Middle-earth are dwindling in power and losing their grip on the world around them. Only when the remaining elves are infused with mithril – which contains the power of the Silmarils, derived from the light of the ancient trees that once grew in Gil-Galad’s homeland – can the elves become whole again.

Amidst all this lore, it’s probably worth noting that almost everything is an invention of the show and not Tolkien’s original work. Tolkien never provided a concrete origin story for mithril, and it was discovered in mines other than Moria, as well as those in Númenor. With all of these changes, it’s hard to tell how mithril will ultimately be used in the series, but we know it plays an important role Rings of Power goes on, especially when the rings themselves appear.