Adamant
and similar words are used to refer to any especially hard substance, whether composed of
diamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is the second most stable form of carbon, after graphite; however, the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is...
, some other
gemstoneA gemstone or gem is a piece of attractive mineral, which—when cut and polished—is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
, or some type of
metalA metal is a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat, forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals. In chemistry, a metal is an element, compound, or alloy characterized by high electrical conductivity. In a metal, atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions...
. Both
adamant and
diamond derive from the
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
word αδαμας (
adamas), meaning "untameable".
Adamantite and
adamantium (a metallic name derived from the
Neo-LatinThe term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe a form of the Latin language used for scholarly and scientific publications and for the formation of scientific terminology, such as botanical terms and taxonomic classification, after the end of the Renaissance period...
ending
-ium) are also common variants.
Adamantine has, throughout ancient history, referred to anything that was made of a very hard material.
Adamant
and similar words are used to refer to any especially hard substance, whether composed of
diamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is the second most stable form of carbon, after graphite; however, the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is...
, some other
gemstoneA gemstone or gem is a piece of attractive mineral, which—when cut and polished—is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
, or some type of
metalA metal is a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat, forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals. In chemistry, a metal is an element, compound, or alloy characterized by high electrical conductivity. In a metal, atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions...
. Both
adamant and
diamond derive from the
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
word αδαμας (
adamas), meaning "untameable".
Adamantite and
adamantium (a metallic name derived from the
Neo-LatinThe term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe a form of the Latin language used for scholarly and scientific publications and for the formation of scientific terminology, such as botanical terms and taxonomic classification, after the end of the Renaissance period...
ending
-ium) are also common variants.
Adamantine has, throughout ancient history, referred to anything that was made of a very hard material.
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works—the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the Aeneid—although several minor poems are also attributed to him.The son of a farmer, Virgil came to be...
describes
TartarusIn classic mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros . It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato wrote that souls were judged after death and those who received...
as having a screeching gate protected by columns of solid adamantine (
AeneidThe Aeneid is a Latin epic poem written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is written in dactylic hexameter...
book VI). Later, by the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, the term came to refer to
diamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is the second most stable form of carbon, after graphite; however, the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is...
, as it was the hardest material then known, and remains the hardest non-synthetic material known.
It was in the Middle Ages, too, that adamantine hardness and the
lodestoneA lodestone or loadstone is a naturally magnetized piece of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets, and attract pieces of iron. Ancient people first discovered the property of magnetism in lodestone...
's magnetic properties became confused and combined, leading to an alternate definition in which "adamant" means magnet, falsely derived from the Latin
adamare, which means to love or be attached to. Another connection was the belief that adamant (the diamond definition) could block the effects of a magnet. This was addressed in chapter III of
Pseudodoxia EpidemicaSir Thomas Browne's vast work refuting the common errors and superstitions of his age, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, first appeared in 1646 and went through five subsequent editions, the last revision occurring in 1672. Also known as Vulgar Errors, derived from its full title, Pseudodoxia Epidemica or...
, for instance.
Since the word
diamond is now used for the hardest gemstone, the increasingly archaic term "adamant" has a mostly
poeticPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
or figurative use. In that capacity, the name is frequently used in popular media and fiction to refer to a very hard substance.
Adamant / Adamantine in Mythology
- In Greek Mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, the TitanIn Greek mythology, the Titans , were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary Golden Age...
CronusCronus or Kronos was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants of Gaia, the earth goddess, and Ouranos, the sky...
castrated his father Ouranos using an adamant sickleA sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crop or cutting grass for hay. The inside of the curve is sharp, so that the user can draw or swing the blade against the base of the crop, catching it in the curve and slicing it at the same time...
. An adamantine sickle or sword was also used by the hero PerseusPerseus , the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the cult of the Twelve Olympians...
to decapitate the Gorgon MedusaIn Greek mythology, Medusa , "guardian, protectress") was a gorgon, a chthonic female monster; gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield...
.
- In the Greek Tragedy, Prometheus Bound
Prometheus Bound is an Ancient Greek tragedy. In Antiquity, this drama was attributed to Aeschylus, but is now considered by some scholars to be the work of another hand, perhaps one as late as ca. 415 BC. Despite these doubts of authorship, the play's designation as Aeschylean has remained...
translated by G. M. Cookson, HephaestusHephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes. Like other mythic smiths but unlike most other gods, Hephaestus was lame, which gave him a grotesque appearance in Greek...
is to bind PrometheusIn Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of human-kind known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
"to the jagged rocks in adamantine bonds infrangible."
- In Norse mythology
Norse, North Germanic, or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda....
, LokiIn Norse mythology, Loki is a god or jötunn . Loki's relation with the gods varies by source. Loki assists the gods, and sometimes causes problems for them. Loki is a shape shifter and in separate incidents he appears in the form of a salmon and a mare. Loki's positive relations with the gods ends...
is bound underground by adamantine chains. In some versions, his chains are made from the intestines of his son.
- In the King James Version of the Bible
The Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
the word adamant is also used in several verses, including:
- "As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they [be] a rebellious house." (Ezekiel
According to religious texts, Ezekiel was a priest in the Bible who prophesied for 22 years sometime in the 6th century BC in the form of visions while exiled in Babylon, as recorded in...
3:9) Other, later translations substitute the word diamond for adamant.
- In John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, author, polemicist and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost and for his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica....
's Paradise LostParadise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books. A second edition followed in 1674, redivided into twelve books with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification...
(Book 1), SatanSatan is an embodiment of antagonism that originates from the Abrahamic religions, being traditionally considered an angel in Judeo-Christian belief, and a Jinn in Islamic belief...
is hurled "to bottomless perdition, there to dwell in adamantine chains and penal fire". Later (Book 6), Satan's shield is described as "of tenfold adamant," and the armor worn by the angels is described as "adamantine."
Uses of the term in fiction and popular culture
- In some versions of the Alexander Romance
Alexander romance is any of several collections of legends concerning the mythical exploits of Alexander the Great. The earliest version is in Greek, dating to the 3rd century. Several late manuscripts attribute the work to Alexander's court historian Callisthenes, but the historical figure died...
, Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
builds walls of Adamantine, the Gates of AlexanderThe Gates of Alexander were a legendary barrier supposedly built by Alexander the Great in the Caucasus to keep the uncivilized barbarians of the north from invading the land to the south...
, to keep the giants Gog and MagogThe tradition of Gog and Magog begins in the Bible with the reference to Magog, son of Japheth, in the Book of Genesis and continues in cryptic prophecies in the Book of Ezekiel which are echoed in the Book of Revelation and in the Qur'an. The tradition is very ambiguous, with even the very nature...
from pillaging the peaceful southern lands.
- In John Donne
John Donne, "dun" was an English Jacobean poet, preacher and a major representative of the metaphysical poets of the period. His works are notable for their realistic and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and...
's Holy Sonnet I he states in line 14, "And thou like adamant draw mine iron heart".
- In the Medieval epic poem The Faerie Queene
The Faerie Queene is an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The first half was published in 1590, and a second installment was published in 1596. The Faerie Queene is notable for its form: it was the first work written in Spenserian stanza and is the longest poem in the English...
, Sir Artagel's swordIn Greek mythology, Chrysaor , the brother of Pegasus, was often depicted as a young man, the son of Poseidon and Medusa. However, Chrysaor is sometimes said to be a giant or a winged boar. Chrysaor and his brother, the winged horse Pegasus, were not born until Perseus chopped off Medusa's head...
is made of Adamant.
- In the 1950s movie Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet is a 1956 science fiction film in CinemaScope and Metrocolor directed by Fred M. Wilcox and starring Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen...
the character 'Edward Morbius' refers to structures that the 'Krell Civilisation' created that were made of 'Adamantine Steel'.
- In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena says to Demetrius, "You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant!".
- In J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from...
's The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by philologist and Oxford University professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
it is said in the second verse of Bilbo's Song of Eärendil, regarding the appearance of EärendilIn the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Eärendil the Mariner is one of the most important figures in the mythology, a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried the morning star across the sky. His story is found in The Silmarillion, and there are several references to him throughout The Lord of the...
; "Of adamant his helmet tall". At the crowning of King Elessar, it is said that his crown "was adorned with jewels of adamant". Also, Nenya, one of the Three Rings of Power, was described as the Ring of Adamant, once again the Dark Tower Barad-dûr is described as being a tower of adamant crowned with iron.
- In the Inuyasha
, full title , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008...
dub the name Adamant Barrage is given to the Tetsusaiga, which is an attack that shoots diamonds at the opponent.
- In the Marvel Comics
Marvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
' universe, adamantiumAdamantium is a fictional alloy that has been depicted largely within the pages of comic books, feature films, television shows and video games, most notably as the substance Wolverine's skeleton and bone claws are bonded to....
is a metal alloy which, once forged, is effectively indestructible. The metal is costly to produce and exceptionally rare. It is typically portrayed within Marvel comic books as used to create weaponry such as bullets used by various covert agencies, a triangular shield used by the vigilante known as BattlestarBattlestar , who was also the fifth Bucky, is a fictional character, who is a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary in Captain America #323 ....
, and the outer skin of some of the robotic bodies of the android UltronUltron is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Avengers #54 , and was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema.-1960s:...
. It is most famously known for being bonded to the skeleton and bone claws of the X-MenX-Men is a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1 . Under a cloud of increasing anti-mutant sentiment, Professor Xavier creates a haven at his Westchester mansion to train young mutants to use their powers for the...
character WolverineWolverine is a fictional Canadian superhero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Incredible Hulk #180 and was created by writer Len Wein and Marvel art director John Romita Sr., who designed the character, and was first drawn for publication by...
.
- Adiamante
Adiamante is a 1996 science fiction novel written by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. It is outside the span of his series work but maintains several of his main themes, including justification of pre-emptive force, nanotechnology, a nearly destroyed but rebuilt Earth, misuse of technology leading to man's...
is an artificial material in the eponymous 1996 science fiction novel by L. E. Modesitt, Jr, used for the hulls of military spacecraft.
- The name of the lead character in the 1960s BBC TV series Adam Adamant Lives!
Adam Adamant Lives! was a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, the show was a comedy adventure that took a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of a Victorian .- The...
is apparently derived from the term.
- The pop musician Stuart Goddard has assumed the name "Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician, who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1979 and 1983, including three No.1s...
", inspired either by the term or by the character of Adam Adamant.
- In the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game is currently published by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro...
game universe, adamantine is an ultra-hard, expensive, rare metal found only in meteorites and veins in magical areas, used to fashion high-quality weapons and armor.
- In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass...
trilogy, Lord Asriel constructs an "adamant" fortress.
- In Mohandas K. Gandhi's autobiography, he reflects on the beauty of compromise in deciding not to fight for the right to wear a turban in the Supreme Court of South Africa. He states that "truth is hard as adamant and tender as a blossom".
- In Princess Ida
Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant, is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 5 1884, for a run of 246 performances...
, by Gilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian era partnership of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
, the hardnosed princess's castle is called Castle Adamant.
- In the MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
RuneScapeRuneScape is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game . It is a graphical browser game, operated by Jagex Ltd., implemented on the client-side in Java and incorporating 3D rendering...
, adamant (referred to as "adamantite") is an ore found in various mining locations in small quantites. Adamant is portrayed as a dark green metal that can be mined and then smithed to make armor and weapons, and is the second strongest metal available to free players.
- In Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
's Gulliver's TravelsGulliver's Travels , officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships, is a novel by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the "travellers'...
(Part III), a fictitious flying island is made of Adamant and takes on magnetic properties, allowing its hovering ability.
- In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom Sawyer's Aunt's resolve becomes "adamantine in its firmness".
- In Dwarf Fortress adamantine is the rarest and most valuable mineral that can be found, and it can be used to forge the most powerful of weapons and most protective of armors.
- In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
and are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. With the spin-off Pokémon Platinum, the games comprise the fifth installment and fourth generation of the Pokémon series of RPGs...
, there is an obtainable item called the 'Adamant Orb' which raises the dragon and steel type attacks of Dialga. The item looks more like a diamond gemstone rather than metal.
- In Pokémon
is a media franchise published by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video game-based media franchise in the world,...
games there is a Pokémon nature called adamant that raises your attack stat while leveling up, but decreases the special attack stat.
- In R. A. Salvatore's Dark Elf trilogy, the adamantite is the preferred material for drow
The drow or dark elves are a generally evil, dark-skinned subrace of elves in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game.-Publication history:...
weaponry.
- In the MMORPG World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft, often referred to as WoW, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
, Adamantite is gathered from fairly uncommon veins in Outland, and used for productions of various weapons and armor, both uncommon, rare and epic.
- In the MMORPG, Maplestory
MapleStory is a free-of-charge, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by the South Korean company Wizet. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, and each is published by various companies such as Wizet and Nexon...
, adamantium ore can be obtained by killing various monsters and be made into a bar of adamantium to upgrade weapons and armours into stronger substitutes
- In Kingdom Hearts, one of the shields you can equip to Goofy is called the "Adamant Shield"
- Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of science-fantasy console role-playing games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
also features armor made of adamant on occasion. In the fifth installment specifically it is a material from 'another world' able to contain great amounts of energy.
- In Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet & Clank is a 3D platformer/shooter video game for the PlayStation 2, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony. Released in 2002, it is the first game in the Ratchet & Clank series....
, an armor is featured, and it is made of Adamantine - a metal that was to be said "the hardest in the galaxy".
- In the RPG expansion The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal
The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal is the first expansion for Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It takes place in the temple/city of Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind, located in the larger city of Almalexia...
, adamantite is a usable substance that can be acquired, and forged (not by the player) into a protective armor.
- In the role playing game Exaltedthere are fleeting references to a material from the First Age that the Solar savants were attempting to create referred to as Adamant.
- In the Tales of Symphonia Game, the sword that forges Dirk for Lloyd is made of Adamantine and sacred wood.
See also
- Aggregated diamond nanorods
thumb|Stereomicroscopy image of an ADNR sample Aggregated diamond nanorods, or ADNRs , are a nanocrystalline form of diamond believed to be the hardest and least compressible known material, as measured by their isothermal bulk modulus: aggregated diamond nanorods have a modulus of 491 gigapascals...
, ultrahard, nanocrystalline form of diamond
- Adamantane
Adamantane is a colourless, crystalline compound with a camphor-like odour. With a formula C10H16, it is a cycloalkane and also the simplest diamondoid. Adamantane was discovered in petroleum in 1933. Its name derived from the Greek adamantinos , due to its diamond-like...
, a bulky hydrocarbonIn organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. With relation to chemical terminology, aromatic hydrocarbons or arenes, alkanes, alkenes and alkyne-based compounds composed entirely of carbon and hydrogen are referred to as "pure"...
- Adamant, a noun defined at Wiktionary
Wiktionary is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages...
- Adamantine, an adjective defined at Wiktionary
Wiktionary is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages...
- Adamantine, a real mineral
- Adamant, Vermont
Adamant is a small, unincorporated village in Washington County, Vermont, United States, in the central part of the state.The village is situated on the town line between Calais to the north and East Montpelier to the south. There is no true boundary to define the village, and as such there is...
, a village in Washington County, VermontWashington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of 2000, the population was 58,039. Its shire town is Montpelier. The center of population of Vermont is located in Washington County, in the town of Warren.-Geography:...
, USA
- Adamantium
Adamantium is a fictional alloy that has been depicted largely within the pages of comic books, feature films, television shows and video games, most notably as the substance Wolverine's skeleton and bone claws are bonded to....
, a similar fictional substance in the Marvel UniverseThe Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles published by Marvel Comics take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and Captain America....
- Mithril
Mithril is a fictional metal from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. Like the real metal titanium, it is silvery and stronger than steel but much lighter in weight. The author first wrote of it in The Lord of the Rings, and it was retrospectively mentioned in the third, revised...
, a strong, silvery fictional metal from J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from...
's The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by philologist and Oxford University professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
- Unobtanium, a name given to exotic, fictional materials used in science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...