How Adamantine Became A Fantasy Metal

[@Cody-5501]

“In panolpy of ancient kings, in chained rings he armoured him; his shining shield was scored with runes to ward all wounds and harm from him; his bow was made of dragon-horn, his arrows shorn of ebony; of silver was his habergeon, his scabbard of chalcedony; his sword of steel was valient, of adamant his helmet tall, an eagle-plume upon his crest, upon his breast an emerald” - second stanza from “the song of earendil the mariner”

[@davidgalvez5341]

Marvel Comics has both Adamantium and Adamantine, the latter being an extremely durable metal used by the Olympian gods (Hercules' seldom used mace is made of Adamantine), akin to the Asgardians' Uru.

[@graynomore1854]

Some months ago I was looking up Adamantine for reference in theming my Warhammer Dwarf army and I did find it rather curious that there were so many variations like Adamantine, Adamantite, Adamantium, Adamant, Adamantane, and whether it was blue, green, blue-green, red some sort of iridescent grey... It just seemed like there was a lot of using it and not much on the origin of where it came from and when it was codified. Like, I'd have guessed that Tolkien codified it but his famous metal was Mithril. Anyway, I opted to invent my own fictional metal that is some variation of Ur-Gold, call it Salamanthril, and theme my Vulkyn Flameseekers around that, and I just set all that Adamant_ stuff aside. So when this popped up in my suggestions I was personally curious as I still had that Adamant question in my head and was so glad that the video actually gives a straightforward history on what's essentially a public domain recognizably hard fictional metal. I'd have never put together the etymological similar origin to the word "Diamond" even though it seems obvious now, similar to how I never put together that plumbing was often made of lead (Pb / Plumbum) in Roman/Latin Speaking times.

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

Great vid on this fantasy element, I learned a lot!

[@helgestrm9670]

Just wanted to say I am so appreciative of your channel and I love your content. Best find in 2024 for me. Thank you for making these fantastic videos. Love your perspective and presentation.

[@InkandFantasy]

Thank you for watching and for the kind words, it means a lot!!!

[@Matt-wh1og]

Got a new sub here. Good job on the video!

[@dudeboydudeboy-zj8kd]

Can you talk about the books that influence middle earth : the black douglas, william Morris, the princess and the goblin, and phantastes.

[@manfrommaine]

0:17 Captain America's shield is made of Vibranium, not adamantine.

[@InkandFantasy]

In the comics it was eventually mixed with adamantium alongside vibranium!

[@SusScrofaVulgaris]

Unobtanium

[@TearyEyesAnderson]

I still like the more useful "Orichalcum" its beauty, and golden properties, and in "The Mysterious Cities of Gold" four season series, it also produced electricity like solar panels, when light struck it.

[@spoonerreligionandpolitics]

I had thought that the unbreakable stone variant of adamantium, I believe called orichalcum, was the material of which Orthanc was made, but I've been unable to locate the term for the unbreakable black stone, either orichalcum or any other, in the text itself.

[@Nick-zp3ub]

Perhaps Adamatine was aluminum. Before electrolysis was invented it was more valuable than gold because it was difficult to extract from the bauxite. Anyone wealthy enough to acquire enough aluminum would have a suit of armor that is lightweight, impervious to bronze weapons and shiny like silver

[@valentinmitterbauer4196]

Interesting, but i have doubts: It's impossible to produce aluminium without electrolysis (there is a way to get aluminium from bauxite without electrolysis, but this method needs elemental sodium, which is obtainable only through electrolysis, too). There is no way any pre-industral people could have known about this metal.

[@Nick-zp3ub]

The ancient civilisations may have been more advanced than we thought. Supposedly the people of baghdad invented an early battery

[@valentinmitterbauer4196]

@@Nick-zp3ub The Baghdad "battery" (it's most likely a jug with a broken neck) not only has remains of papyrus in it, it was actually constructed in such a way that an electrolyte would not have been able to access both the supposed anode and cathode at the same time. It was most likely a spell jar. Similar to the prayers you'd stick into the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, the persians hid their personal messages to the gods away, often burying it in an old, broken clay vessel (which also explains the low ceramic quality of the container). A much more intruiging idea is, that maybe adamantium is the cultural remnant of meteorite iron in the bronze age. For bronze age people, a piece of iron, even if it had rather bad quality, would have looked like a supernatural gift. They probably did not forge it, but ground it into shape with a whetstone. We know this, because Tut-Ankh-Amun had one of these "bronze age meteorite iron" daggers in his tomb.