Mithril: The Shiniest, Toughest Metal in All of Fantasy
Talk about form and function—armor made from mithril will have you stylishly prepared for the toughest offensive strike.
Mithril might be the hottest fashion item in all of fantasy literature. It has incredible defensive properties, fits like it’s made of air, and is really nice to look at. Nobody doesn’t look good in Mithril. And like much of J.R.R. Tolkien’s creations, it has trickled down into all kinds of roleplaying games.
Mithril: What is it and what does it do?
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s infamous fantasy Lord of the Rings books, anybody who’s anybody (and doesn’t want to be orc meat) wants some mithril armor. As Dwarves dug deeper into the mines of Middle-Earth, they discovered an incredibly lightweight super-sparkly and durable metal.
While effective when used to forge armor, mithril was also favored for more luxurious and stately purposes. Elves loved to make jewelry with it, and it’s been used to build fancy gates and other symbols of wealth.
Of course, the Dwarves got greedy—and the Balrog awoke and chased them all out with its spicy breath. This made mithril even more rare. The handy little metal was already worth ten times more than gold, but once the Dwarves stopped churning out stores of it, this pricey metal became priceless.
Orcs were also known to be motivated to scoop up mithril artifacts. Their master, Middle-Earth big-bad Sauron the Deceiver, was a really big fan of it. And the orcs really stanned the guy, so what Sauron wanted, he got. He was apparently a big fan of jewelry, and not just world-colonizing conversation pieces.
READ MORE: The Meanest Jewelry in All Middle-Earth — The One Ring Breakdown
An armored mithril tunic given to Frodo Baggins by his uncle Bilbo saves the Hobbit’s life quite a few times in the famous book series. One could argue that mithril saved Middle-Earth (more than once.)
Mithral in D&D
Like so many of Tolkien’s creations, this incredibly handy metal made its way into other fantasy worlds, too. Most notable is Dungeons & Dragons, mithril (or mithral) was similarly mined by Dwarves.
Items forged with mithril usually weigh about half of the same item forged with steel. For those whose campaigns get into the details of agility and speed, mithral is a great resource. It’s also great for spellcasters since it comes with less limitations than other metal items.
Free League’s Lord of the Rings roleplaying game uses the mechanics of D&D and specially adapts them to serve Tolkien’s fantasy universe. Cubicle 7 is also two editions in to its The One Ring 5E-compatible adventures. So if you’re feeling like D&D’s “mithral” isn’t quite serving the mithril vibe you want, a 5E-compatible version of LotR might be your cup of tea.
But there are mithril features you can play outside of the context of LotR, too. If you and your party are playing with Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts, you may run into a Mithral Dragon.
Mithril in MtG
Where D&D played with spelling and made “mithral” its own, Magic: The Gathering players can mix two of their favorite franchises thanks to Tales of Middle Earth. The LotR-based MtG card set folds in a lot of Tolkien’s mythology—including a shiny mithril coat.
