Mithril Coat

The Mithril Coat is a small shirt of silver-steel mail, wrought for an elf-prince long ago, that Thorin Oakenshield gives to Bilbo Baggins as the first payment of his reward after the Company enters the treasure-hoard beneath the Lonely Mountain. It becomes Bilbo's most treasured possession, a symbol of his transformation from a comfort-loving hobbit into a seasoned adventurer, and it remains with him for the rest of his extraordinarily long life, eventually being displayed on a stand in his hall at Bag-End.

Origin and Material

The coat was made of a metal the elves call mithril, a silver-steel of extraordinary lightness and strength. It was crafted for some young elf-prince in ages past, long before the events of the quest. Thorin, standing in the vast treasure-hall of his forefathers, took it down from the wall and presented it to Bilbo with the words: "Here is the first payment of your reward! Cast off your old coat and put on this!" Along with the mail, Thorin gave Bilbo a belt of pearls and crystals, and a light helm of figured leather, strengthened beneath with hoops of steel and studded about the brim with white gems.

Bilbo's Reception and Use

Bilbo felt magnificent in the elvish armour, though he suspected he looked rather absurd and wished for a looking-glass. The coat proved its worth almost immediately. When the dwarves were later besieged in the Mountain and Bilbo slipped out by night to deliver the Arkenstone to Bard and the Elvenking, he wore the mail beneath his old jacket. When Thorin, in his rage, seized Bilbo and threatened to throw him to the rocks, Bard intervened, noting that the hobbit wore mail that could not be pierced by arrows. The coat thus protected Bilbo not only from physical harm but also from the immediate consequences of his dangerous diplomacy.

Later Life and Significance

After the adventure, Bilbo returned to Bag-End with the Mithril Coat. He arranged it on a stand in his hall, where it remained for many years, until he eventually lent it to a Museum. The coat was a tangible reminder of his journey, his courage, and the respect he had earned from dwarves and elves alike. It outlasted his gold and silver, which he largely spent on presents, and it became one of the few physical proofs of his extraordinary tale. In his old age, when he wrote his memoirs, the coat still hung in his home, a silent witness to the adventure that had changed him from a respectable hobbit into an elf-friend and a figure of legend.