The Rings Of Power makes mithril even more important in Tolkien lore—and here’s why that’s a good thing
The precious metal looms large in episode seven of The Rings Of Power, raising the stakes for the elves
TV Features Rings of Power
One of the most appealing things about the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien is the sense that just about everything in his imagined world has a story, even if you never hear it. Tolkien himself wrote out many of those stories over the course of his Middle-earth saga, weaving together genealogies, history, and magical artifacts into a millennia-long history that made something like The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power possible.
But The Rings Of Power is not entirely dependent on Tolkien’s writing. The show also gets a great deal of mileage out of what the legendary author didn’t say, dancing between the raindrops of his fiction and his notes to weave more story where Tolkien left blank pages. We’ve seen that a lot over the course of Rings Of Power’s first season, but it’s arguably nowhere more apparent than in the mysterious substance known as mithril.
Introduced in The Lord Of The Rings as an impossibly light and impossibly hard metal that could be made into various objects, like Bilbo’s chainmail shirt, mithril initially appears as little more than a really cool substance, like a magical combination of steel and silver. Eventually, Tolkien reveals that the metal was considered so precious and valuable that it eventually brought about the downfall of the dwarves of Moria, as they dug too deep into the mountain and awakened a Balrog, ending the kingdom of Khazad-dûm as the world knew it.
A common ground for elves and dwarves
Tolkien also revealed along the way, though, that mithril was a key point in the relationship between the dwarves of Moria and the elves of Eregion (home of Celebrimbor the great Elven smith), a major jumping off point for the show’s entire first season. Through Elrond (Robert Aramayo), the series takes us deep into the inner workings of Khazad-dûm, where Durin IV (Owain Arthur) has discovered the beauty and allure of mithril and wants to mine it, even as his father Durin III (Peter Mullan) resists risking dwarven lives to keep digging.
Things got more complicated earlier this season when Elven King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) revealed to Elrond that mithril was not just valuable, but possibly essential to the survival of the Elves. The magical light, which gives the Elves their immortality and was birthed in Valinor itself, is diminishing, and mithril might be the only thing capable of restoring the light and keeping the race alive. That is, if the dwarves are willing to part with some of it.
This is an incredibly important development to The Rings of Power and to the course of the Second Age of Middle-earth. Tolkien didn’t expound all that much on mithril beyond its properties as a precious metal valued by just about everyone in Middle-earth, but certain key pieces of information in his world-building do establish a precedent for the show to build upon.
For one thing, Tolkien was clear on the connection between mithril and Eregion (the magical mithril moon doors that Gandalf opens in The Fellowship Of The Ring were made by Celebrimbor), giving the show a launch pad for its entire Elrond/Durin storyline. For another, one of the Three Elven Rings which make up part of the show’s namesake—Nenya, traditionally worn by Galadriel—is made of mithril, so the show is helping lay the groundwork for the importance of the Three Rings (made separate from the others and therefore somewhat distinct from the ones Sauron made, which is another story) in the battles to come between the Elves and the forces of the shadows. Then, of course, there’s the eventual fall of Khazad-dûm, something teased by the Balrog reveal at the end of episode seven.
Where The Rings Of Power is willing to go deeper, of course, is in drawing a direct line between mithril and the survival of Elves in Middle-earth. We know that by the Third Age, the elves are diminishing and leaving the continent in large numbers, and by the end of The Return Of The King, the race of men has supplanted them as the dominant people in Middle-earth, but the mithril connection adds a new sense of urgency to that slow, centuries-long decline.
It puts Gil-galad’s back to the wall at a time when he’s already dealing with re-emerging darkness in Middle-earth, and it adds weight to the struggles of the elves who choose to remain behind rather than sail off to Valinor. It’s a fight on two fronts, and it’s clear that the elves are willing to push for their survival even if it means losing some friends along the way.
But there’s another wrinkle to this story, one Durin III alludes to when he mentions the decline of the Elves like it’s been fated, like it was always part of some larger plan in the minds of beings greater than himself. There’s precedent in Tolkien for that line of thinking, too, and it’s called the Doom of the Noldor.
Originally laid out in The Silmarillion, the “Doom” is a prophecy handed down by the Valar known as Mandos on the Noldorin elves (most of the elves who moved to Middle-earth are from the Noldorin line) after their leader, Fëanor (Galadriel’s uncle) went so far as to kill elves from other tribes in his pursuit of defeating Morgoth and reclaiming his precious Silmaril gems.
Defying the gods?
As we’ve already talked about in exploring Galadriel’s parentage, Fëanor’s actions caused a lot of problems in the lead-up to the War of Wrath, and the war itself claimed the lives of many of those loyal to him. That seemed to settle the Doom of the Noldor question, particularly when many Noldor sailed back to Valinor, but then there are those elves, led by Gil-galad, who stayed behind. Does the Doom still hold sway over them? Is that why they’re diminishing?
If it is, or if the show is exploring some other version of the grand vision the Valar have for the future of Middle-earth, it would seem that on some level Gil-galad’s ambitions for mithril come, in a way, in defiance of the gods themselves. That raises a whole host of other questions about the battle to come, a battle we already know will bring major losses for the Elves and will eventually lead to their mass departure into the West.
In the short-term, though, introducing mithril as a potential superweapon and lifesaving elixir for the elves adds a new layer of urgency to their story in Middle-earth. They’re no longer the eternal overseers of the continent, the distant observers who only reach out to others when absolutely necessary and otherwise dwell in their havens of light and nature. This is a fight for survival on a level that even Sauron can’t reach, an existential threat at the heart of everything they are. That’s a big deal for the elves, a big deal for the dwarves, and a big deal for the entire lifespan of The Rings Of Power.
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AKA Vibranium? (Obviously LOTR was published several years before vibranium was first introduced to Marvel comics, but now mithril is also being retconned to be able to do pretty much anything.)
“…and here’s why that’s a good thing”This condescending phrase is ludicrously common in modern “journalism”, and reeks of paid promotion.
Sounds pretty dull.
It’s actually very shiny!
It is. Extremely so. I would advise staying away at all costs. It’s unwatchable and doesn’t glitter at all. It is withered and old, and frost has killed the roots.Definitely stay away
The rings themselves are what perform that function in the original text. The Fourth Age is the age of Men because when the One Ring is destroyed, the Elven rings, held at that point by Elrond and Galadriel(with Gandalf holding the third), lose their power to sustain Rivendell and Lothlorien, so that the Elves who have already been leaving have to accelerate their departure.
It’s why I think this whole Mithril angle, even with the reveal in episode 7, has to be some sort of deception on the part of Sauron to drive a wedge between the elves and dwarves; both mithril and the Rings serving basically the same magical purpose is completely redundant.
I don’t know that the mithril thing has to be Sauron’s doing; it would be enough for him to merely take advantage of the opportunity. He sees that the elves are losing their power, the dwarves end up refusing to help, so Sauron’s like, ah ha, I can swoop in and “save” them. Which would mean that, in the final episode of the first season of a show titled The Rings of Power, we finally have some indication that there will actually be rings of power.Since Galadriel and Halbrand are evidently on their way to Lindon now, and some people seem to think Halbrand is Sauron in disguise, it could be argued that he’s going to transform into Annatar once he’s there (maybe after conveniently coming up with a reason to “leave”) and start that whole shebang. I think it’s more likely that we haven’t actually seen Sauron yet at all, and that Halbrand ends up being one of the Nine; Annatar will simply show up out of the blue and offer to help. Or maybe he’ll already be there when G&H arrive.
I’m still betting that The Stranger is Sauron; his attempts to purge his “dark” impulse and return to Middle Earth to atone for his prior sins, but his innate nature means his attempts to impose order become increasingly authoritarian, and when he is ultimately rebuffed, he goes full Sauron.
I’ve been re-reading Silmarillion and Lost Tales and struck by how overtly the High Elves are in Middle Earth against the designs of the Valar. Feanor rallied his tribe not just for revenge on Morgoth but to build and rule kingdoms on their own terms free from Valinor’s restrictions. After the War Of Wrath (ie. the Valar bailing out said High Elves) they were supposed to return West but stuck around to build their kingdoms.And we know that in the Third Age that the Elven Rings, in Sauron’s absence, have maintained and protected the realms of Rivendell and Lothlorien. And that this was only possible while the One Ring existed but out of Sauron’s possession.At first I was put off by the show’s invented origin of mithril and the Elves’ longevity depending on it. But good on the writers if they’re setting up a direct connection to motivate why Celebrimbor and his smiths would be taken in by Annatar and create the Rings Of Power in the first place. You don’t even need the Doom Of Mandos to extend past the War Of Wrath. The High Elves built a world they weren’t entitled to possess, and it’s relatable to want to hold on to the home and life you’ve made for yourself.
Yeah, I’m still not sure I believe this doom is right around the corner, but the more I watch, the more I think the writers are drawing a pretty clear line from this “savior of the Elvish race” to the Third Age’s “we have to go now, Valinor needs us”
But good on the writers if they’re setting up a direct connection to
motivate why Celebrimbor and his smiths would be taken in by Annatar and create the Rings Of Power in the first place.
Tbf, I’m not sure this is really needed? The Noldorin craftspeople were always proud of their work to a fault, and there’s a compelling juxtaposition in and of itself between successive generations looking to create new works even as none of the greatest works of prior generations could ever be made again. IOW, I imagine it’d be pretty easy to tempt Celembrimbor with the prospect of equalling even any of Feanor’s lesser works.My complaint about the show giving mithril this importance is that it’s given urgency by making Gil-Galad and Celembrimbor afraid of death, practically to the level of the King’s Men. Elrond at least has his friendship with Durin which he’d have to forsake, but for everybody else it feels like catastrophizing for no reason.
Fair point, but a difference is while the King’s Men resented actual human style death our High Elves in Rings Of Power will only diminish if they stay in Middle Earth. They can still go into the West and retain their immortality. But those who have human and dwarf friends will never see them again, hence Durin’s dilemma with Elrond.What I like is this gives them motivation to create “rings of power” beyond just pride. Selfish but relatable desires to live their own lives and stay with people and places they’re attached to. We don’t want to see Elrond and Durin broken up.
But those who have human and dwarf friends will never see them again, hence Durin’s dilemma with Elrond.
That’s certainly Durin’s dilemma on some level, but when Gil-Galad leans on Elrond, the choice as presented is: ‘what if keeping your promise to his people meant ensuring the doom of your own?’It’s just arbitrarily dire stakes because it feels like the writers have no idea how to give the Dwarves anything to do otherwise.
Rivendell, Lothlorien, and the Gray Havens. Cirdan the shipwright was also a ring-bearer. Given how much the show likes to lean into the lore when it can, I’d expect Cirdan to show up in later seasons. His path will also cross with Gandalf’s, if that is indeed Gandalf.
The single dumbest plot point introduced to the show so far, of course it’s being eaten up here.
I do not like this. The Doom of the Noldor is not some silly GoT thing. And not really a prophecy of doom. It is the Elves’ destiny to return to the Valar in the West, and live out their lives there. They were never meant for Middle Earth. Yes, they awoke in ME, but were always meant for Valinor. Their power in ME may diminish, but again they were never meant for ME.And Feanor’s actions after the loss of the Silmarils led to ALL the problems of the elves, and Middle Earth as a whole, throughout the entire first age, really having nothing to do with the War of Wrath at the end. Making mithril some sort of panacea to somehow ‘boost’ the Elves’ non-existent ‘superpower’ is stupid and wrong.
I just don’t understand how the mithril will be used to help the elves? Are they going to eat mithril leaf/flakes? Do they just have to touch it once? Drive a spike into their special trees? It’s just a weird idea that this essentially half evil metal can boost their souls.
>But The Rings Of Power is not entirely dependent on Tolkien’s writing.Not at all dependent on Tolkien’s writing. The silly story of the magical metal that brings plants back to life is a good example.