The Hobbit Greed

Armor
“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien is a sprawling fantasy adventure world infused with magic and Medievalism. Tolkien, a renowned philologist and admired Oxford professor, crafted languages, lineages, and legends to add layers of depth to his tale. Each mythical race detailed in his story is equipped with their own culture and society, and often artifacts of great power and purpose are crafted from the forges of the Elves and the Dwarves. Among Frodo Baggins’s possessions, his Mithril chain-mail of Dwarvish origin is perhaps the most fascinating.
Tolkien was drawn throughout his childhood to the Medieval age. The languages, fairy-stories, and fantasy stoked within him a fire that was both scholarly and creative. It
is no surprise then that his life’s work would be thusly tied up in the history and mechanics of language. Within the text of “The Lord of the Rings”, Tolkien equipped his characters with noble swords with regal names, intricate jewelry, and potent alchemical items with various effects. Among his creations, the Mithril chain-mail bestowed upon Frodo by his relative, Bilbo Baggins, is an excellent example of Medievalism.
Bilbo Baggins received the Mithril-mail from Thorin Oakenshield, a Dwarf with whom he shared adventures in his youth - as detailed in “The Hobbit”, Tolkien’s precursor work.
When Frodo and Bilbo meet again in the city of Rivendell, Bilbo gifts him what is described as “a small shirt of mail” (277), “dwarf-mail” (277), or “a corslet of mithril-rings” (317). It’s description captures an item of great opulence and fortitude, observing it as being “close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded with white gems.” (277) This came with a “belt of pearl and crystal” (277), and boasted enough strength that Bilbo fancied “it would turn even the knives of the Black Riders.” (278) This description is reminiscent of the tightly woven Sutton Hoo chainmail of the Seventh Century, and yet captures an ethereal quality that binds it to the narrative of
Middle-Earth.
It is through Gandalf that the reader comes to understand the true value of the magnificent Dwarven metal. The wizard insists that “All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass”, and in its metal form it became “light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim.” (317) While this creation was born of Dwarven forge fires, the invention of Mithril metal was adored and utilized by the Elves who created something called “ithildin”, or “starmoon”, which allowed for the crafting of such things as puzzle-enchanted doors. Gimli describes the Mithril-mail as “a kingly gift” (317), and one that Bilbo was perhaps unworthy of. Gandalf explains that “its worth was greater than the value of the whole Shire and everything in it” (317), highlighting the rarity, desirability, and splendor of Frodo’s “hand-me-down” armor.
Throughout his journey, Frodo is afforded protection by his hidden mail from onslaughts of arrows and spear attacks.
When struck, arrows “sprang back” (329) leaving Frodo sore but unscathed. In the crossing the river Anduin, an orc-arrow “smote Frodo between the shoulders and he lurched forward with a cry, letting go his paddle: but the arrow fell back, foiled by his hidden coat of mail.” (386) While the dwarf-mail was evident of a “culture of display”, an item indicative of beauty, strength, and status, it’s delicate appearance did not diminish its impressive endurance. The fact that this mail was given as a gift from Thorin to Bilbo, and later received as a gift by Frodo from the latter, also refers back to the Anglo-Saxon importance of gift-giving. While Thorin’s motives may have initially been guided by a desire to secure social, military, and political support, Bilbo’s reason for bestowing the mail upon his beloved relative appears to be entirely
familial.
Tolkien’s invention of Mithril is not unlike the developments witnessed throughout history in eras such as the “Stone Age”, the “Bronze Age”, and the “Iron Age”. It would only stand to reason that Tolkien, an avid history buff, would take continue this trend of progress in his own world. Mithril is an element rumored only to be found in the Mines of Moria, retrieved and refined by Dwarves, and highly valued by all who know of it - even Orcs. “The Lord of the Rings” is shaped not only by Tolkien’s love of the Medieval, but also by his own experiences - especially those dealing with the tragedy of warfare. With his characters’ paths weaving in and out of terrible danger, following a potentially doomed quest to destroy an evil artifact of tremendous power, Tolkien equips his vulnerable main character with an item that can save him from the gruesome fate faced by countless soldiers on the battlefield. Tolkien reminds his readers, however, that there is no true defense against death when Frodo is paralyzed in the lair of Shelob and initially assumed dead. The Mithril-mail worn by Frodo is a ward against arrows, a protective element in a fierce world at war, and yet is not an infallible artifact if invincibility and immortality. “The Lord of the Rings” is a many-layered, fantasy-driven tale that echoes from the mind and memories of J.R.R. Tolkien, and each detail is imbued with the terror and beauty of his imagination.