What weapon would you make out of Mithril?? I'm going with a spear. But not a throwing spear... 😋

Fun fact: the only prince born since they started mining mothril was Legolas. Bilbo was wearing Legolas baby clothing

The best solution here would have been I laid mithril, or mithril cored weapons. A steel sword with a mithril cutting edge, or a war hammer made out of mithril with a steel core. Honestly shields and armor would have been the best use of such a mineral with its ability to withstand strikes. A thin coating on most armor on specialized soldiers with advanced training. As far as the arrow argument goes, you wouldn't need to make the entire head out of mithril, you would just need the tip to be mithril much like an armor piercing round has a steel core.

“As weight is important in determining how much force should be delivered to an Uruk-Hai’s groin” 😂😂 Okay, that’s it, you’re my favorite LOTR channel! 😂

Sauron was gathering mithril to use in his dentistry practice, of which he operated a free clinic in a poor neighborhood. Dude was seriously misunderstood.

“Why don’t they make the airplanes out of the same stuff as the black box?”

Cost and rarity definitely come in to play. So giving a foot soldier a very expensive weapon just for them to die and lose it to the enemy would be a huge waste. They just need good enough weapons.

Why would you waste mithril on weapons when protecting yourself with weightless metal is so much more useful?

I wonder if Mithril is the sort of metal that cant fuse with others when heated/soldered. It would explain why it wasn't used for the edges of blades, and why it could be made into chainmail and plate, but not an alloy. Also why it would be supper rare to find due to it's weight and density scattering it far into the earth with randomness. Would also likely be found in massive ore nodes in the depths due to it not wanting to fuse. Also high density enough to be near indestructible would mean putting an edge on it would require a grind wheel likely imbedded with diamond and mithril to even make it a base sharpness and that would be expensive, and hard to do if you could make any flakes small enough to make into a said grind wheel. So that would mean ya got: foundry/mold casting, hammering, hot drawing out, and perhaps c-band type rings provided you had dense enough hot cutting tools to work with. This metal sounds like a monster to work with even if it shares a normal melting temperature with most other metals. Kind of sounds like lead if it were tough as tungsten.

A mithril shield with razor bladed edges would be highly prized!

When you say mithril would be ineffective for weapons because of the density, I would agree with the arrow tips but I don't see the sword being ineffective. It may have less mass but its more dense than steel. As well as being extremely light allows for faster striking and less fatigue.

The witch king sitting on the iron throne was pretty cool.

Appreciate your videos love the art

That was interesting. Thank you!

Artwork in this is fantastic!

Expert Craftsmen able to make weapons that lasted thousands of years. Return to Moria: Hold my durability

You missed the new gates of Minas Tirith made partly with Mithril by Dwarves.

If it’s “Light as a feather and hard as dragon scales” Would it make a decent, wieldable Buster Sword? (Clouds original sword from Final Fantasy)

my brain only heard "new-menorians" 🤪 Lovely video, thank you very much! ❤

I could totally see mixed metal armor, or arrowheads. I could also see thin and light weapons being exceptionally good for Elves in general, especially wood elves.

It is a misconception that metal needs to be heavy to be effective. Carbon steel blades are very light. I dont think weight would ever be an issue. Only hardness, if its hard all around it would not work for weapons. I suppose you could have a steel core (thats softer) and a hard mithril edge. That would make a great weapon :) Even an axe!

Baradur was a long way from Mount Doom and Baradur was on a hill for defensive purposes. I doubt lava from Mount Doom could get to it. Actual battle axes are not like the ones depicted in fiction. They were very light and much smaller than typically drawn because you had to strike many times in a battle. You could make the axes much bigger or with more thrusting edges with mithril and still be able to swing it hundreds of times in a few minutes.

I think sauron might have used mithral to forge grond and to help armorize the black gate and his tower

Another thing to mention about mithril is that tolkien probably didn't specify its specific properties. Different materials have different properties. Stone is very resistant to crushing and slashing types of force, but weak to force concentrated on a point. Several metals are very hard and sturdy but can still bend. Maybe mithril couldn't keep an edge? Or maybe even though it was indestructible it couldn't be sharpened to a point that it just pierced everything. I agree that mithril is best in armour or magic runes and whatnot. Plus weight is very important in combat, mithril might have the downside of being too light. It's a lot harder to push someone that's heavier over, or even stagger them, and mithril being light means it's easier to do those things. Things that can make a difference in combat.

Can you please give us all the links of the artworks you used? Especially the one of Galadriel at 5:14!!

i like you interpretation of the post credits trope. As cheesy as it may be, its refreshing to see something used with such creativity

If you aquire enough mithril you might be able to build a large tower. the maximum size of a metal structure is depending on the relation of its weight to its stability. mithrils low density would make a building lighter than steel, while its strength would allow it to carry more weight. this would make it able to build mithril structures much higher than steel structures could be built.

Considering the relative 'rarity' of mithril...it's intrinsic value....even when the mines were active and it was available at large......it;s worth was still 10 times that of gold!!! That's something quite valuable and so making weapons of it regularly would be probably pretty expensive....not to mention only available for the elites....though we know for instance that mithril was used in the making of ithildin and 'other uses' by Elves, ithildin seems to be mithril alloy though for purely decorative purposes....I like to imagine that maybe some of the places in the city Ost-in-Edhil would have some adornments of ihtildin....it would make an awesome view of the building roofs shining in the light of stars and moon at night :)....it makes the lighting cheapear heheh...but jokes aside the mithril chaimails were known before as well as the said helmets...so armor uses are evident.....still with armor there are multiple factors like the ceremonial....artistic value....Elves like to adorne their arms with precious gems and metals like gold, silver...and even in real world there are historical examples of armor or shields being gilded or whatnot, a gilded chainmail is of course a sign of status only someone really wealthy would be able to have that...with mithril in Middle-earth it would be even more so.

Sauron wasn´t just a great craftman he also knew magic. While he couldn´t make another ring since (from what i understand) he poured so much of himself into that ring, that he couldn´t make another. He might use it to create other things maybe trying to mimic his Master Morgoth.

To elaborate on why the Dwarves needed to trade Mithril for gold.....virtually everything they consumed had to be purchased from men or elves. Most importantly though, the Dwarves themselves produced zero food. They did not raise livestock or tend crops. For an entire civilization to have to purchase every bit of food from their neighbors....neighbors who likely weren't creating much surplus themselves (the men of the Anduin Vale were not very advanced, Elven food production is rather bespoke and artsy rather than at commercial scale, and importation from Arnor and Dale would be expensive at scale). This would have been a huge expense not the least of which is because the sellers knew they could drive up the price considerably (there was a high limit on what the Dwarves could afford, and the scale of their need would have meant they had to buy from whoever was selling)

The best solution is plated metal so inside steel outside mithril it will become effective piercing and protection

The best use for mithril in weapons would be the pole of the a pole arm. This removes the dead weight of the shaft allowing you to have a longer and less vulnerable core to your weapon. You’d be able to focus more of the weight into the head and would need a more substantial counter weight but it would let you make a devastating axe or hammer with unprecedented reach.

Interesting thing about weapons. Weight actually matters. Length, leverage, and weight play significant factors in how useful a weapon is. A lot of people get confused about this because of the arguments against large greatswords. However, muscles actually take a moment to reach their maximum strength, and also have speed limitations. Lighter does not always mean better.

awesome channel

One of the best weapons would be probably a mithril rapier, a weapon which is better to be light, but indestructible, piercing everything else (expect mithril plate armor probably ...)

How have I not seen your channel before? This video is great, and you have an excellent narration voice! I'm subscribing. One small disagreement I have with you though: we don't know what elven blades are made of. They could have made them with mithril edges or something. Additionally, Thorin's armor at the Battle of the 5 armies could have been mithril rings. In the books, while it is very strong, the most impressove thing we see mithril block is an orc captain's spear. It is doubtless very strong, but in battle, surrounded by thousands of goblins and cut off from the rest of his army with only his 12 companions, Thorin may very well have had the armor ripped apart by repeated blows. As it is, mithril would explain how Thorin's company wasn't simply mobbed and slaughtered instantly, with only Thorin, Fili, and Kili falling in battle despite doubtlessly the whole party being showered in all types of blows.

If we say that mithril has a density similar to that of beryllium, it would be completely impractical for many weapons, axes especially. Part of the advantage of using steel over titanium instead of steel in real life is that the blade carries more momentum with each swing. When using a traditional handle material, it would also push the center of mass into the handle, further reducing the rotational inertia of a given swing. Both of these would be exacerbated by an even less dense metal. There is the option of just using far more mithril, but therebare a couple impracticalties to this. Making far longer swords would be possible, but would be impractical to cary for the user. That doesn't explain why we don't see them at all but would explain why we don't see anyone in either traveling party using one. Another option is increasing the crossectional area of the blade, but this could impact the edge geometry of the blade making it harder to cut. We don't know the melting point of it, so we have no idea if a Damascus would work. Its hard to speculate, but those are my reasons.

6:00 so you coule just make a steel or led core arrowhead to balance out the weight issue

This is the 1st time i watch one of your videos. A Gem ! Im wondering if the beautiful voice of Lyra is real or fabricated. The orc has a good voice to. As a auditive person i must say the tones of your voice is a soothing constant flow. The sound effects are symphonic with the voice. Very nice i will watch.. listen more🤗

If I remember correctly, Gimli made gates of Mithril (or partially of it) for Gondor after the war

Sauron may have forged a Mithril heart or body to sustain him forever.

What is your resource for the artwork

Mithril. As light as a feather and as hard as a dragon’s scale.

If it is denser and sharper than the weapons its up against, then it will cut right through. Its weight will not matter. So a Sword would be a great weapon.

Its vale was 10x that of gold when it was actively mined. It would be like owning an island in your hand.

Since Sauron was a craftsman. he would just craft the the most beatiful things that oly he would look at.

You are correct about the need for heft in an axe, but wrong about the value of a light, strong sword. A sword is greatly advantaged by lightness if accompanied by unbreakable strength. You can have a longer reach with a larger sword, while still wielding it with less fatigue, a significant benefit. The reason for a sword in combat is its quickness and recovery, excess weight causes overcommitment and slow recovery during maneuvering, lightness is an advantage again.

How about a body made of Mithril? Being a spiritual being he would find it easy to use it like a real body. And included a few weapons for his use no one could oppose him. This might be a way for true immortality?

Is there any reason to think sauron didn't have mythril on in the first place?

Much like mandolarins if you have a metal armor making a weapon of said metal makes it possible to easily bypass the armor

I mean wouldnt mithril best be used for industrial purposes? Like ass a hinge or a door to a molten lava?

Possible that he wanted to create a body for himself, not just an armor. Bones and skin as shiny silver, everlasting. But because Orks couldn't do it and he himself didn't have enough power in his corporal form, it never came to fruition Or he wanted to amass a massive number of really thin rings to control everyone He could also just have burned it all down, Maybe to extract some power, feeding his shattered form. Or out of pettiness because he couldn't except anything like Mithril existing, untainted, impeccable ... like he was, but never will be anymore. But man, a kitchen knife and some cooking utensils would be absolutely bonkers. Just image the perfect breakfast you could do. The finely sliced, bread. The perfectly fried Eggs... Who wouldn't destroy a world or two for that.

Wasnt mythril used to make doors,entrance gate in Minas Tirith? Gimli fashioned them and gifted them to Elessar?so it was not scarce

Thorin found the ring, Bilbo stole it from him before either of them knew what it was. Then, although Thorin didn't have proof and wasn't ready to make the accusation, he knew Bilbo had also stolen the Arkenstone. The mithril shirt was given to Bilbo before he had a chance to steal again and to protect him in spite of his treachery. Thorin Oakenshield knew what he would do, or what anyone else would do, if they found out Bilbo had stolen the two greatest treasures of Middle Earth. Giving Bilbo that shirt was an act of mercy and compassion few other Dwarves, Elves, Men, or Hobbits have ever conducted.

Alot of mithril went to save the elven tree.

And you really needed extra weight on the axes you could add a little extra to the back of the blade

Officially though, wasn't mithril just the calcified roots of the white tree's that had been killed? Therefore it would be limited since there were only a few of the tree's.

Great video

If it's a weight issue, couldn't you just give weapons a mithril edge/tip?

incoirrecty about a bow the arrow shaft would be the treue weight just like now in real life

7:46 I still think the Witch King should have been the one to win the game of thrones....

What about the legendary axe Zigilburk crafted by Ongli in the time of Durin the Deathless in the heart of fire off the Way of Smiths in Khazad Dum?

You have beatiful voice, you sound little bit like that woman who narriates the story about the last war, where saurons ring gets cut from his hand :D

there is no life in this narration 😔 i fear that sauron has not been completely destroyed

Maybe Sauron could use the Mithril to strengthen the gates of Barad-dûr like they did to the great gate of Minas Tirith.

Mithril is what Beskar is in the Star Wars universe and Vibranium/Adamantium are in the Marvel universe. Indestructible metallic substances.

"Light as a feather, strong as dragon scale" does not really spell weapon to me. Maybe a cavalry charge breaking spear, you dont need momentum for that... but also you dont really need all those properties for it either, bad use for something that incredibly expensive

Mithril is better suited to making armor, its lighter weight would allow for thicker plates without overburdening its wearer while it being stronger then steel will make it impossible to puncture such plates, hell, i doubt a sturdy blow to the joints would find purchase. As for weapons....mithril is rather useless, to light to make a good weapon. Though I suppose it could make a good knife for getting through mail or gaps in plates...

never would the dwarfs trade mithril :D

I'm wouldn't be surprised if some went to payment to the armies of men that fought for him.

The one ring is indestructible and the other rings of power of middle earth like the elves, dwarves and men

As for axes it is well known that even in our world today the real world they have classes of axes such as the light axes that focus not on the weight but the sharpness of the blade and ability to swing it

Same thing goes with swords and knives sword weight is important because of the balance of the weapon which determines how you are able to wield the weapon a weapon with little to no weight will make it easier to use as swords and knives are slashing and stabbing weapons the weight is not particularly necessary in performing these actions

i would of thought glamring was mithril since it is magical and made by elves

would mithril be similar to titanium?

We don`t have a fintest idea how little there was Mithril… most likely it was really rare… or it would have been used everywhere and by everyone..

Highly polished silver was an early method of making mirrors so mithril would be a good alternative since it doesn't tarnish or scratch. Sauron is clearly a narcissist so obviously he's using all that mithril to fill his fortress with mirrors. That way he can always admire the greatest thing in Middle Earth. Himself.

I could listen to this narrator all day..

Big flaw in this. If mithril is too light but harder then steel so making it not effective as a weapon then there is one effective method that they could do. Make the axe head, arrow point, spear point or sword from steel then coat it's outer layer with mithril. You may even be able to pattern weld it or fold it with steel therefore giving it the weight it requires but also creating the harder outer edge. Only problem remaining is its expense and scarcity. If mithril is so expensive (supposedly more expensive than gold) and scarce then that would prevent most from using it as material for weapons but the first excuse just couldn't be true unless mithril doesn't fuse well with other metals. Usually flux is used to overcome that problem. I believe only it's value and scarcity are the real factors in it not being used.

A Damascus Of Mithril And Steel Would Give The Desired Properties Of Both 😎

Arrowheads made of Mithril indeed make no sense, because then you'd most likely be losing something insanely valuable just to kill one orc...and as we've seen in the movies, sometimes it takes more than just one arrow to finish them. Same reason why you wouldn't make and arrow made of diamond or gold cause its not necesarry to be effective. Now a shield or sword coated with Mithril, probably yes for a king or someone important. Then again probably too valuable to lose in the battlefield but if it can save your life, I'd go with the shield.

Sauron took Mithril not to use it, but to make the world less beautiful and at the same time fuel the greed of the kingdoms

It's a trope that "Dwarves use axes" and is not indicative of Dwarven weaponry as a whole. Case in point: Thorin's company carried swords. You've indicated that mithril is SO light, it would make an arrow even lighter than one with just a point on the wooden shaft, which is absurd (Bilbo's shirt would float away). Additionally, it's not the lack of weight of the arrows that makes dry firing bad for a bow, it's the bow is designed to provide a certain force against a shaft to be let loose. Even if the total weight of the arrow was zero, it would still cause friction and require bow force to fire. If you would like us to believe that a mithril arrowhead would completely negate both the weight AND friction of the whole arrow (this is a fantasy universe with magic, after all), then surly the Elves would also create bows designed to fire such arrows. Your video is largely good, well put together and appearto be well researched, but some of you assumptions are flawed. I look forward to more videos from you as you hone your video craft (and fact checking skills).

Do we actually have any evidence that sting and maybe even glamdring and orcrist were only made with steel? I like to think that the swords found with the mithril shirt either had mithril cores or were a composite of mithril and other metals. For one thing sting had not seemed to age at all despite being so old. Gandalf decided that glamdring was worth carrying around and using alongside his staff which was very powerful. I get that magic was used in their forging but gandalf certainly could have had a sword made or made his own sword long before finding glamdring if plain steel could be enchanted like that. Weapons that last forever are either going to end up lost somewhere they can't be found or in a collection where they stay. So long as they are being used the risk of them being lost remains there and over the course of a thousand years being carried around all kinds of things could happen to them. Perhaps they get lost at sea or in a river where a hobbit finds and then it gets passed around a few hobbits for a hundred years or so before one of them gets peer pressured into throwing it onto a volcano. Or like Orcrist they end up buried with some mortal king. I'm sure the elves that sailed away brought their mithril items with them. For all we know the mithril shirt went with frodo.

Well if Numenor sunk then it would make sense most of it went with it...

It's because mithril is what Tolkien called aluminum. Which is incredibly difficult to "mine" by their standards without magic (electricity).

They woke the Balrog when they discovered it

F = ma If you swing an axe fast enough, you will generate the same force. And holy hell, it doesn’t get damaged by steel you say? I’m going THROUGH the armor. Make me a war spike!

The Dwarves couldn't figure out how to make a Mithril-coated arrow with a steel core for armor penetration? The Elves never thought of that idea? I find it hard to believe. Mayne I just have to accept there may be some of this available as light or medium armor

Makes mostly sense, but even the rarest earth metals mined on earth is done so by the tonnes. While right, that it wasn't of much use as a weapon except for piercing ones, as armour it's great and there should be way more around of it. Unless there were only a few tonnes in the crust of middle earth. And if that was the case, how dumb are the dwarves to give it away for gold of all things? It's not like they built MBTs weighing 70t. The strategic value of that material is far too great to give it to some hippie elves making jewelry out of it for a bunch of gold "rotting" in a vault.

A sword being too light or an arrow head being too light to use is BS

How heavy do you think swords are supposed to be? Historical swords that were used in combat were lightweight and maneuverable. Most single-handed swords had an average weight of 2 to 4 lbs., while the longer, two-handed swords, called the “grete war sword,” weighed over 3 lbs. Rapiers also weighed around 2 to 3 lbs., with most of their weight concentrated at their hilts. Great swords, especially the German zweihander, weighed far lighter than they looked. The Landsknecht battlefield weapon had an average weight of 5 to 7 lbs. despite its overall length of around 150 to 175 centimeters (59 to 68 inches). Also, the Scottish Highland claymore weighed about 5.5 lbs. On the contrary, bearing swords were often heavier, such as the ceremonial version of the zweihander, weighing around 10 to 15 lbs. Unfortunately, they are sometimes erroneously cited as actual fighting weapons, ignoring the fact that they have an impractical size and weight for combat. Many were also blunt-edged and poorly balanced for efficient use.

Outside of using mithril as a coating/tip, I think the best weapon use for it would be as a chain. Think of a chain whip that is essentially indestructible and is as light (or lighter) than a leather bull whip tipped with a mithril blade. The speeds the weapon could reach would make it an absolute nightmare to try and deal with. Also on the chain side, you could fashion it into traps similar to bolas or lassos to ensnared opponents. Lightweight, easy to throw and wrap around targets and near impossible to remove/breakout of. Last example would be flails/ball and chains. Again, using advantage of the main 2 properties of being light and nearly indestructible. The heads would need to be made of something else, but if you make the chains out of mithril, you vastly increase the swinging speed and transfer of energy, making the weapons incredibly effective all while making the usual weak point of the weapons their strength.

Imagine if the one ring was made from mythril...

Fact: adamant means diamond

The rest of the rings. They're are amulets that stand up to the test of. Time?. ONE must wonder 🤔

Mithril edge on steel sword or mithril/steel damaskus blade=magic sword..

Would have made an awesome shield

Even having a magical weapon that kills with even a scratch is useless if you drop it or just dont know how to use it properly. Making weapons from Mithril is simply not a clever idea, aside from maybe a dagger for day to day use or assassinations. No, making armour is FAR more suitable a use. Armour is idiot proof and armour that is indestructible is going to do its job no matter what. The best use if the material is in short supply would be as many Chainmail Shirts and Plate Helmets as you can make. These give the most amount of protection for critical areas. If you have plenty of material then full sets of Plate Armour would make for an army of virtual immortals. I also love the idea of full length Legion Shields, an indestructible wall of Mithril shining on the battlefield, probably blinding the enemy with the suns reflection.

To be bunt, the author didn't think of it. When Thorin gave Bilbo his mithril shirt it was just part of the hoard. Someone of Thorin's level would know what it was worth. He wouldn't have given it away without at least telling Bilbo what kind of value it had. The Shire is, at least, 10800 square miles, that's a lot of ducats When the term light is used to describe metal, it means compared to other metal items like iron. Aluminum is light weight, for a metal, but by volume it is heavier than concrete. So, it would not be a problem for swords, axes, and arrow heads to be made from mithril, they would be less weight than if made of iron, they would not be weightless. The shaft of the arrow has enough weight to be fired on its own without harming the bow. I don't think plating weapons or armor would have the same effect as solid items. Why did Sauron want it, because it was pretty.