Until now, the Rings of Power series has done an amazing job establishing original stories for many of the fan favorite characters from the Lord of the Rings and the hobbit. It showed Galadriel’s decision to forgo her chance to return to Valinor in favor of the Numenorians to sail to Middle Earth to defend the people of the Southlands from Sauron’s swarming orcs. It showed Elrond’s involvement in the creation of the Rings of Power alongside Celebrimbor.
But with the release of the 5th episode, it’s clear that the Rings of Power plans not only to give origin stories to its characters, but also to some events and the creations of the Second Age. In a visually dynamic and interesting scene, fans got a first glimpse of Mithril’s creation, and why it is so important to the race of elves and dwarves.
Mithril is an incredibly rare and precious ore, which makes an incredibly strong armor as light as a feather. It is revolutionary for the dwarves and heralds a new era of power, wealth and trade for their people. All the other races in Middle Earth crave the metal they have found. But if the Rings of Power details in the final episode, it’s the elves who need it most right now. It’s not because they want enormous wealth, but because it may be the key to saving them from the darkness that is spreading through their forests and making them sick.
King Gil-galad describes the ore as “as pure and light as good, as strong and unyielding as evil”, telling Elrond that this ore may be the only way to reverse the decay that has befallen their land and their souls. To make it clear, Elrond asks the young elf to tell the “Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir.” This obscure legend from long ago tells the story of a brave warrior who put his light into the tree that allegedly contained the lost Silmaril, to protect him from a terrible Balrog whose sole purpose was to destroy him. In the episode, the ‘Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir’ is flashbacked to look like an animation of the epic battle, while Elrond’s voiceover tells the story of the lightning hitting the tree. It struck so deeply, the light the elf poured into it crystallized through the roots and deep into the ground. This created a stream of silver tendrils that ran through the mountain below.
It is this power which, according to Gil-galad, is Mithril, the discovery of the dwarves. He also believes that this is the only thing that can save them from certain doom. It contains the light of the missing Silmaril, plus the sacrifice of the elf soldier who was as brave as Manwe. The interesting thing about this origin story for Mithril is that neither the light of the Silmaril nor the ‘Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir’ are canonical. Tolkien never wrote such a creation myth for Mithril, nor did he describe what happened to the third Silmaril. All that is known in Tolkien’s works is that one was lost in the sea, and another was sent into the sky with Earendil, Elrond’s father, for protection.
However, the myth fits beautifully with both current events in the Rings of Powerand the later storylines of the Lord of the Rings and the hobbit. It also ties in with the earlier events of the First Age. The myth is a clever way to create tension within the series, to show that much is at stake in Elrond’s relationship with Durin. It also serves as a way of giving the dwarves more reason to dig deep into the depths of the mountain and accidentally wake the Balrog, other than just their own greed. Celebrimbor confesses to Elrond:
“I tested it, under every compulsion. Nothing diminishes its light. We believe that if we can quickly obtain large quantities of it, enough to re-saturate every last eleven in the light of the Valar, then yes, it could very well be our salvation.
That’s a lot of pressure for both Elrond and the dwarves. They are mining the precious ore and that may be exactly what leads to the catastrophic demise of Khazad-Dum in the Third Age.
The ‘Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir’ is not canon and may cause concern to some die-hard fans of Tolkien’s original stories. However, many fans find it a great way to explain the importance of the ore and the significance of later events, such as Thorin’s gift of the Mithril chain armor in the hobbit. This jacket is not just a piece of jewelry, but something that many dwarf people died for. It has long been a symbol of the peace between the dwarves and the other races, stemming from the bond between Elrond and Durin now in the Rings of Power.
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