The Mithril

Mithril, known among the dwarves by a name they do not tell and called Moria-silver or true-silver by others, is the fabled metal of the deep places of Moria, the only source of it in all the world. Its worth was ten times that of gold, and by the time of the War of the Ring it was beyond price, for little remained above ground and even the Orcs dared not delve for it. Gandalf described its qualities to the hobbits as the Company approached Moria: it could be beaten like copper and polished like glass, and the dwarves could make of it a metal light yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty resembled that of common silver, but unlike silver it did not tarnish or grow dim. The Elves dearly loved it, and among its many uses they fashioned from it ithildin, called starmoon, the substance that gleamed upon the Doors of Durin when the moonlight struck them.