Editing Mithril (section)

=== Origins ===

Norse culture contains myths of impenetrable armour, such as the shirt made by elves and used in battle by [[Örvar-Oddr]] (Ørvar Odd),<ref name="Fox 2020">{{cite book |last=Fox |first=Michael |title=Following the Formula in Beowulf, Örvar-Odds saga, and Tolkien |chapter=The Folktale Formula: Beowulf and Örvar-Odds saga |publisher=[[Springer Publishing|Springer]] |publication-place=Cham |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-48133-9 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-48134-6_5 |pages=157–194}}</ref> as related in the ''[[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]]''.<ref name="Hervarar Saga p10">{{cite book |last=Thorarensen |first=G. (trans.) |editor-last=Petersen |editor-first=N. M. |title=Hervarar Saga |date=1847 |publisher=Det Nordiske Literatur-Samfund |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EmgAAAAAcAAJ |language=Old Norse}}</ref> The saga was translated by [[Christopher Tolkien]], with a commentary, and his father was certainly familiar with the text.<ref name="Hammond Scull 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Hammond |first1=Wayne G. |author1-link=Wayne G. Hammond |last2=Scull |first2=Christina |author2-link=Christina Scull |title=Christopher Tolkien, 1924–2020 |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |publisher=[[Project Muse]] |volume=17 |issue=1 |year=2020 |issn=1547-3163 |doi=10.1353/tks.2020.0001 |pages=7–24}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=Review of The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |via=[[Project Muse]] |issue=8 |year=2011 |volume=8 |pages=136–142 |doi=10.1353/tks.2011.0009 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/20/article/434402/summary}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
|+ The myth of the impenetrable mail-coat
|-
! ''[[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]]''<ref name="Hervarar Saga p10"/> !! Prose translation
|-
|''Oddr svarar: "ek vil berjask við Angantýr, hann mun gefa stór högg með Tyrfingi, en ek trúi betr skyrtu minni, enn brynju þinni, til hlífðar"''
|[[Örvar-Oddr|Oddr]] answers: "I want to fight [[Angantyr|Angantýr]], he will deliver a mighty blow with [his magic sword] [[Tyrfing]], but I trust my shirt better than your armour for protection"
|}

[[File:IY188 pg157 KIMBERLEY DIAMOND MINE, GRIQUALAND WEST, SOUTH AFRICA, 1885.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Schematic drawing|Semi-schematic drawing]] of [[Kimberley Diamond Mine]] in South Africa, 1885. Tolkien was born near deep mines, and may have chosen to use them in his fiction.<ref name="Barberis 2006"/>]]

The mining executive Danièle Barberis notes that Tolkien was born in [[Bloemfontein]], South Africa, in [[Mining in South Africa|a busy mining region]]. She writes that it is "impossible ... not to make parallels" between Tolkien's descriptions of the deep mines of Moria and the exceptional depth of South African mines, some as much as {{convert|4,000|metre|feet}} deep.<ref name="Barberis 2006">{{cite journal |last=Barberis |first=Danièle |title=Tolkien: The Lord of The Mines – Or A Comparative Study Between Mining During the Third Age of Middle-Earth by Dwarves and Mining During Our Age by Men (or Big-People) |journal=Minerals & Energy - Raw Materials Report |volume=20 |issue=3–4 |year=2006|pages=60–68 |doi=10.1080/14041040500504392 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2006MERMR..20...60B }}</ref>