However, most of the mithril produced by the Dwarves before the fall of Moria was gathered by Orcs and paid as tribute to Sauron, who was said to covet it. The only way to obtain a mithril object at the end of the Third Age was to either use heirloom mithril weapons and armour that were produced before the fall of Moria, or to melt down these existing objects to forge new ones. However, once the Dwarves abandoned Moria and the excavation of mithril ore stopped entirely, it became priceless, as the presence of the Balrog prevented the Orcs in Moria from mining for it. Once it destroyed the kingdom of the Dwarves at Khazad-dûm, Middle-earth's only source of new Mithril ore was cut off.īefore the Dwarves abandoned Moria, mithril was worth ten times its own volume in gold. The Dwarves of Moria mined for mithril too greedily and too deep, ultimately releasing a Balrog, Durin's Bane. Mithril was extremely rare by the end of the Third Age, as it was found only in Khazad-dûm. HistoryĪ mithril mine as depicted in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring The Elves loved it for its beauty and presumably used it for jewelry and attire rather than weapons or armour. It was also used as a type of inlay called ithildin. It could be used in various alloys to produce extremely lightweight, hard and durable armour. Mithril in its pure form was rather soft and malleable.

Mithril within the walls of the Mines of Moria

Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of Mithril did not tarnish or grow dim. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its worth was ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price for little is left above ground, and even the Orcs dare not delve here for it.''. 'The wealth of Moria was not in gold or jewels, the toys of the Dwarves nor in iron, their servant.

Lord of the rings gondor armor