Толкин әлеміндегі мифрил: күміс сияқты металл

Fictional metal in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings
the metal in Tolkien's mythos

Mithril is a fictional metal found in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle earth writings. It is described as resembling silver, but being stronger and lighter than steel. It was used to make armour, such as the helmets of the citadel guard of Minas Tirith, and ithildin alloy, used to decorate gateways with writing visible only by starlight or moonlight. Always extremely valuable, by the end of the Third Age it was beyond price, and only a few artefacts made of it remained in use. Impenetrable armour occurs in Norse mythology in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, a story that Tolkien certainly knew and could have used for his mithril mail coat. Mithril is the only invented mineral in his Middle earth writings. Chemists note mithril's remarkable properties, strong and light like titanium, perhaps when made into alloys with elements such as titanium or nickel, and in its pure form malleable like gold. The scholar Charles A. Huttar states that Tolkien treats mineral treasures as having the potential for both good and evil, recalling the association of mining and metalwork in John Milton's Paradise Lost with Satan. The scholar Paul Kocher interprets the Dwarves' intense secrecy around mithril as an expression of sexual frustration, given that they have very few dwarf women. The metal appears in many derivative fantasy works by later authors.

The name mithril comes from two words in Tolkien's Sindarin language—mith, meaning "grey", and ril, meaning "glitter". A little later the narrator describes "a small coat of mail, wrought for some young elf prince long ago. It was of silver steel which the elves call mithril". The Noldor of Eregion, the Elvish land to the west of Moria, made an alloy from it called ithildin ("star moon"), used to decorate gateways, portals and pathways. It was visible only by starlight or moonlight. The West Gate of Moria bore inlaid ithildin designs and runes. and the inaccessible continent of Aman. In the first 1937 edition, the mail shirt given to Bilbo Baggins is described as being made of "silvered steel". blockquote|Also there is this!" said Bilbo, bringing out a parcel which seemed to be rather heavy for its size. He unwound several folds of old cloth, and held up a small shirt of mail. It was close woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded with white gems. When Sam Gamgee believed Frodo to be dead outside Shelob's Lair, he left the shirt with Frodo. Frodo was taken by the orcs, who fought over the shirt. Frodo was saved, but one of the orcs escaped with the shirt. In both Tolkien's and Peter Jackson's versions, the shirt was, along with Frodo's other possessions, shown to Frodo's allies at the Battle of the Morannon to imply falsely that he was imprisoned in Barad dûr. Gandalf took the shirt and other tokens, but refused any offer of parley. At the end of the story, Frodo wore the shirt at the celebrations and on the trip home. The shirt saved his life one last time when Saruman, who had taken over the Shire, tried to stab Frodo after Frodo spared his life. When he left to sail to Elvenhome, he gave all his possessions to Sam. The guards of the citadel of Minas Tirith wore helmets of mithril, "heirlooms from the glory of old days". They were the only soldiers in Gondor who still bore the emblems of the lost kings during the days of the stewards. As Aragorn's ships sailed up the Anduin to relieve the besieged Minas Tirith during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the standard flying on his ship showed a crown made of mithril and gold. After Gimli became lord of Aglarond, he and his Dwarves forged great gates of mithril and steel to replace the gates of Minas Tirith, which had been broken by the Witch king of Angmar. The Elendilmir, the Star of Arnor, was a "white star of Elvish crystal upon a fillet of mithril". It was made for Silmariën, mother of Valandil; it passed down to Elendil. The linguist of Elvish languages Anthony Appleyard wrote that this machine, with "no shaven oar nor sail", was evidently of an advanced technology, "sound[ing] suspiciously like most people's image of a spaceship."

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 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. The metallurgist James Owen suggests that Mithril could be "an fcc [face centred cubic] metal like aluminium or nickel, or possibly a bcc [body centred cubic]" metal like titanium".

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 caves at Helm's Deep or the mines of Moria, "beauty and terror [were] side by side". 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 wights for treasure, and indeed that of the dragons 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",

The name "mithril" (also spelt mith, mithral, or mythril) is used in multiple fictional contexts influenced by Tolkien. For example, the Final Fantasy game series, begun in 1987, involves dwarves and mithril.