» Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:04 am
While I wouldn't consider myself to be an expert, I am a tool and die maker, and working with metals is my livelihood, as well as a passion. I've actually had debates with fellas at work about Mithril (among other fictitious metals and alloys) and we've come to the conclusion that an yttrium silver inorganic compound is the nearest real-world equivalent to Mithril. This is based solely on information given by Tolkien (malleability, ductility, strength, hardness, and luster) and intense geeky discussion.
This is my take on metals depicted in the Elder Scrolls games:
Dwarven metal - Similar to bronze, closest real-world equivalent: an alloy of copper, tin, and gold. Or perhaps ferromanganese or another ferroalloy.
Quicksilver - more than likely a platinum group metal. Palladium is the least dense of these, and when cold-worked palladium greatly increases in strength and hardness. Could also be similar to amalgam.
Moonstone - probably moonstone (sodium potassium aluminum silicate).
Orichalum - This one is a bit tricky, but I'd go out on a limb and say it's molybdenum. This is pure guesswork, for lack of information regarding orichalum.
Malachite - self-explanatory...malachite.
Ebony - Originally I thought Ebony had to be molybdenum, however, I'm beginning to think that Ebony is nothing more than carbon. The intricate patterns on ebony weapons is reminiscent of Damascus Steel (the method of producing which has been lost), and iron combined with carbon = steel.
I didn't give a whole ton of thought to the Elder Scrolls metals, just thought about the various properties and tried to relate them to real-world materials. So feel free to call this post preposterous, or feel free to agree with me. Either way, it's just my take on fictitious materials.
)
