The Origin of Mithril Ore

[Quinn Fox]

Strange topic, I know, but.....

As often as I've seen 'mithril' in the videogame world, I almost wish I owned the copyright! ^_^

I only ask this simply because there have been many games to use Mithril as a source of ore and weapons manufacturing; the first one that I remember playing was Shining in the Darkness, the rest of the Shining Series, and most recently Record of Lodoss War.

What other games employ the use of Mithril? Especially those that are not related to the world of 'Shining'. As it's a fictional material, I simply wonder why it's so often re-used.... Does anyone know of earlier games that had had it, or other games in general?

Smoke a bowl of mithril,
~Quinn

[Seik]

Mithril. The first time I heard that word was when I read LOTR way back when.

[Mode7]

Yes - I'm fairly certain Tolkien termed it.

[Saint of Killers]

Originally posted by Seik
Mithril. The first time I heard that word was when I read LOTR way back when.

Yep, Tolkein invented mithril, as well a bunch of other staples of fantasy literature and now videogames.

[LittleEric]

mithril, or mythril*, like most fantasy concepts, comes from the mind of one JRR Tolkien. Bilbo's coat of mail he got from Smog's stash at mount Doom was made of mythril.

if anything appears in a Tolkien book its fair game to be used in any fantasy media for the rest of time. pick any monster/demon/faerie or artifact from a movie/book/game/tvshow .. and chances are its based off something from one of his books

[LittleEric]

between the time i get to a post, write a reply, and have it finished, fifty people beat me to it.

bahh, damn you all.

[Quinn Fox]

No shit, that's a damned interesting fact. I would never have guessed Tolkein, so I'm awfully glad I asked! Thanks for the education, fellas.

I haven't read Tolkein since I was about 13 or 14, (about 13 years ago) so my memory wasn't so solid...I guess this means it's time to re-read it.

Cooley61,
~Quinn

[Green]

Yep, in Lotr, Mithril is the greatest of metals. It is lighweight, but very tough, Dwarves call it "silver gold", or something like that. Mithril appears in Final Fantasy, or at least FF3, I remember it had lots of mithril weapons and armours.

[LittleEric]

ok, here's the first time "mithril" was seen, from the Hobbit :

"with that he put on Bilbo a small coat of mail, wrought for some young elf-prince long ago. It was of silver-steel, which the elves call mithril, and with it went a belt of pearls and crystals. a light helm of figured leather, strengthened beneath with hoops of steel, and studded about the brim with whitegems, was set upon the hobbit's head"

it was a gift from Thorin Oakenshield, King Under The Mountain.

Tolkien ownz your soul.

[Low]

I believe it's mentioned in the gameboy Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy Adventure for sure anyway. *-neo