Mithril
Mithril in the New Line film
Precious shiny jewel mined for mainly by dwarves. Mithril was reasonably rare and very expensive and valuable. It was named by the smith Celebrimbor, who worked with it much. It was first known to have been one of the makers of Earendil's ship Vingilot. When the Valar created Numenor, they apparently created mithril there, for it was mined in order to create the Elendilmir. There was also a place in Middle-Earth where mithril was mined, Moria. Moria was inside the mountain Caradhras. Dwarves colonized in Moria and created the realm of Khazad-Dum. Though there were those who guarded the mithril mines. A Balrog lurked in the depths of Khazad-Dum and frequently killed dwarf colonies. In 750 of the Second Age, Celebrimbor used mithril to forge the Ring Nenya and the Doors of Durin. Dwarves traded mithril with Elves, other dwarves, and peoples of the north, south, and west. The eastern countries were blocked by the shadow of Mordor and dwarves could not trade with them. As more mithril was used, it became more rare and valuable. By 1980 of the Third Age, the dwarves had to dig deeper and were met by the Balrog, who killed King Durin VI and King Nain I. The dwarves were driven out of Moria for a long time. Goblins soon came to live there and haunt the mountain. In 2989, Balin came to retake Moria and mine there. He and his dwarves were forced out and killed just five years later. Goblin tribes continued to scavenge in the depths, and they delivered all of their mithril to Sauron. Smaug also collected mithril. He had a coat of Mithril Mail which Bilbo Baggins found in the Lonely Mountain. After Smaug was killed, Bilbo took the Mithril Mail and it was given to the Mathom-House Museum in Michel Delving. It was certainly a Mathom. It was later given to Frodo Baggins during the War of the Ring. In early 3019, the Fellowship found Moria and saw some of the mithril mines.