Where do mithril armor & weapons come from? : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:28 pm

Just like the title of the topic says... I'm just trying to get an understanding of where mithril equipment comes from. Do smiths in Cyrodiil make it, or is it imported from another province such as Hammerfell? Thanks in advance if anyone knows!

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:23 pm

I don't think they ever said, but it was also available in Arena and Daggerfall. In Daggerfall it was a great looking metallic blue, and it was heavy.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:35 pm

In Oblivion, it looks quite similar to chain-mail, so I'd say that it's western armor. Was there a Mithril material in the older TES games?

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:13 pm

I think MK at one point said that he didn't like the fact that mithril is in TES at all -- it's copying "Lord of the Rings". When you think about it, TES has enough other armor materials that they don't need mithril (Glass, Ebony, etc).

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:04 pm

Ah, so that's why it wasn't in Morrowind

Here I thought they'd just forgotten about it. Way to go, MK!

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:50 pm

I fancy Mithril is another name for newt scale armor.

Possibly the modern Tamrielic name of the lizard itself.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:44 am

I think MK at one point said that he didn't like the fact that mithril is in TES at all -- it's copying "Lord of the Rings". When you think about it, TES has enough other armor materials that they don't need mithril (Glass, Ebony, etc).

Well if you're going to copy from some place, you can't really go wrong with Tolkien when it comes to a fantasy setting... and besides, they had no problem copying Marvel Comics by including adamantium.

The reason I asked is that I'm working on a mod that overhauls weapons and armor, and it involves making separate leveled lists for imports... so I realized I didn't know whether or not mithril armor belonged in the import list or not...

I bet elven armor is also made from mithril - it's just mithril banded mail as opposed to mithril chainmail...

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:12 am

'Elven' armor is Ayleid.

I recon Mithril is imported from Middle Earth.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:14 pm

Put it with the other Local Cyrodiilic armors, as I said before. On another note, I'll be keeping an eye out for your mod, just as long as it's compatible with the essentials like MMM or or Francesos's Leveled Lists.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:34 pm

'Elven' armor is Ayleid.

I recon Mithril is imported from Middle Earth.

Are you sure about it being Ayleid? Because OblivioWiki says "Elven armor is an elegant armor made by the high elves of the Summerset Isle." (http://oblivion.wikia.com/wiki/Elven_armor), but I know that's not an official source or lore or anything.

Put it with the other Local Cyrodiilic armors, as I said before. On another note, I'll be keeping an eye out for your mod, just as long as it's compatible with the essentials like MMM or or Francesos's Leveled Lists.

It won't be. I'm too picky to use any of those so I have to make my own overhaul to be used instead of those.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:29 pm

Ugh, "Elven". How much more vague could you possibly get? Anyway, I wouldn't trust OblivioWiki at all. There's nothing in game or in the lore (To my knowledge) that states that Elven Armor is produced by Altmer. IIRC, you could even find bits of the armor inside Ayleid ruins.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:14 pm

all the artifacts known to be explicitly aylead (Amulet of kings aside) are elven armor.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:13 am

Are you sure about it being Ayleid? Because OblivioWiki says "Elven armor is an elegant armor made by the high elves of the Summerset Isle." (http://oblivion.wikia.com/wiki/Elven_armor), but I know that's not an official source or lore or anything.

Isn't that what they say about Morrowind's Orcish armor? Perhaps it's mixed up with that. I'm pretty sure I remember Oblivion's 'Elven' armor being Ayleid though.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:36 am

Some of the articles on that site are just plain wrong, while other's seem to be alright. I'd suggest using the Imperial Libary for lore information and the UESPWiki for anything else.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:47 pm

Even Ayleid statues depict Elven Armor, furthering the notion that it is Ayleid in origin.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:16 pm

Well if you're going to copy from some place, you can't really go wrong with Tolkien when it comes to a fantasy setting... and besides, they had no problem copying Marvel Comics by including adamantium.

Well it means some one wasn't really thinking things through. With no real restrictions there are so many interesting things to make armour out, take Feathers or Porcelain for example. Now this is just my personal idea but I get the impression they didn't do the thing where they lock the artists in a room and only let them out until they've come up with a coherent vision of Cyrodiil.

So instead we get a mix of Tolkeen and old stuff, mostly old stuff actually since Mithril has been around for a while.

The reason I asked is that I'm working on a mod that overhauls weapons and armor, and it involves making separate leveled lists for imports... so I realized I didn't know whether or not mithril armor belonged in the import list or not...

I bet elven armor is also made from mithril - it's just mithril banded mail as opposed to mithril chainmail...

Just about everything is import, did you see all the derelict mines in Cyrodiil.

Slightly more serious:

Elvish mithril and Argonian silver, crumble I can.
But first, I improve all created by man.
I devour all things,
Bird and beast, serfs and kings.
Though my pace is even, men curse my speed,
Wishing I were lazier in their hour of need.
I can creep and crawl, or rush, even fly.
I am all thou hast.
Tell me, who am I? - http://www.imperial-library.info/riddles.shtml

Light armor is made from fur, leather, chainmail, mithril, elven or glass. This is also the order of their quality and expense, fur being the least protective and cheapest, and glass the best and most expensive. Fur, leather armor, and chainmail are readily available throughout the empire. Mithril, elven and glass are exceedingly rare and are only found in ancient ruins and remote tombs. - http://www.imperial-library.info/obbooks/manual_armor.shtml

Never thought I'd reference this one.

» Thu Sep 09, 2010 3:03 am

Haha, I just realized that there were literally no working and functional mines in Oblivion at all

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:19 pm

Well it means some one wasn't really thinking things through. With no real restrictions there are so many interesting things to make armour out, take Feathers or Porcelain for example. Now this is just my personal idea but I get the impression they didn't do the thing where they lock the artists in a room and only let them out until they've come up with a coherent vision of Cyrodiil.

So instead we get a mix of Tolkeen and old stuff, mostly old stuff actually since Mithril has been around for a while.

I don't know why ceramic armor would be that interesting, we use it in modern times because we can afford to change the plates every time it is hit. Feather armor has a more likely use in the TES world, but both ceramic and feather armor are from the real world. You might as well use the fantasy armor in a land with elflords and orcs.

» Thu Sep 09, 2010 3:13 am

"Light armor is made from fur, leather, chainmail, mithril, elven..." - wait... light armor is made from elven??? Made from elven WHAT??? That's... hm...

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:18 pm

"Light armor is made from fur, leather, chainmail, mithril, elven..." - wait... light armor is made from elven??? Made from elven WHAT??? That's... hm...

The tanned hide of elves.

» Thu Sep 09, 2010 3:46 am

There is a working mine, isn't one of the fighters guild quests supplying members to protect the mines. About the mithril maybe it's nordic, isn't mithril something of norse mythology?

» Thu Sep 09, 2010 2:52 am

There is a working mine, isn't one of the fighters guild quests supplying members to protect the mines. About the mithril maybe it's nordic, isn't mithril something of norse mythology?

No I'm pretty sure it's something Tolkien made up himself... I remember reading somewhere that it is the same thing as titanium, just given a different name. Doesn't seem like the type of thing that would come from nords at all.

» Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:31 am

Looking at it, the helmet is similarly shape like the Legion Helm, so I think it's an Imperial-made item. As for how it fits in, if anything, its absence would be more of a lore contradiction than its presence is, seeing it has been in previous games.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:16 pm

No I'm pretty sure it's something Tolkien made up himself... I remember reading somewhere that it is the same thing as titanium, just given a different name. Doesn't seem like the type of thing that would come from nords at all.

The first edition of the Hobbit called it silvered steel.

» Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:20 pm

No I'm pretty sure it's something Tolkien made up himself... I remember reading somewhere that it is the same thing as titanium, just given a different name. Doesn't seem like the type of thing that would come from nords at all.

Tolkien did make it up, but not of whole cloth: his inspiration was the hero Orvar-Odd, whose "silk shirt was so firm that no weapon could grip on it" (Hervarar Saga).¹ There's a lot of the Hervarar Saga in Lord of the Rings. The notion that mithril is a metal finds foundation in the statement that it was mined in Moria. The notion that it is similar to titanium is a later speculation and nothing to do with Tolkien.

¹Örvar-Oddr = "Arrow-Point". Making this the original Arrow shirt exit Dogsbody, ducking