1

In MERP 8006 Treasures of Middle-earth, a compendium of Middle-earth magic items for MERP (a tabletop rpg), Adarcer is a material defined as:

This is a white alloy, a fusion of ang (iron), glôin ("True-coal"), and durang ("Dark-iron" or titanium). It's extremely strong, but somewhat rigid and difficult to work once forged. It can cleave iron without dulling.

In the Lord of the Rings ”fanon” fandom website, however, it's named Ardacer, with almost the same description:

Ardacer ('white alloy) was a white, metallic grey alloy of ang (iron), gloin ('true-coal' or carbon), durang ('dark-iron' or titanium) and probably magic, given that carbon steel cannot normally be alloyed with titanium. It had a high shine when polished, and was extremely strong, but somewhat rigid and difficult to work once forged. If worked properly, it could cleave iron without dulling. It was originally invented by the Dwarves. Commonly known as Dwarven steel, it was considered superior to elven steel.

I'm pretty sure the fandom entry is a typo, and the correct one is Adarcer, but I don't know.

Does anybody know the original source from Tolkien's work, so this can be clarified? Is it even something that Tolkien mentioned or it was invented by MERP writers?

Edlothiad
  • 77,282
  • 32
  • 393
  • 381
Eägoth
  • 209
  • 2
  • 7
  • 6
    Adarcer only appears in non-canon sources such as MERP so that is the primary source. – TheLethalCarrot Jan 27 '20 at 13:43
  • 4
    Note that the fandom wiki also spells it correctly elsewhere. It's just not a very reliable source. – TheLethalCarrot Jan 27 '20 at 13:46
  • I see, but the mistake is propagating to other websites, so I started to wonder. Thanks! – Eägoth Jan 27 '20 at 13:47
  • 4
    This has nothing to do with Tolkien’s Legendarium and should be tagged with MERP instead. Note the Legendarium are those works written by Tolkien himself (including those edited by his son, Christopher) – Edlothiad Jan 27 '20 at 13:48
  • @Edlothiad I thought it could be, so maybe this could be useful for someone else interested in the legendarium. I don't know, the admins should decide I guess. – Eägoth Jan 27 '20 at 13:52
  • @Eägoth So you know there are no "admins" per se on this site. We have high rep users who can do some moderation, such as editing, and moderators who have some more moderator powers. The users themselves should decide what tags to give the question if we really need to. – TheLethalCarrot Jan 27 '20 at 13:55
  • Sure, I didn't know what to call them :P. I would keep the tag. – Eägoth Jan 27 '20 at 14:17
  • 1
    As you said you think we should keep the tag. I have done that but added the fan-fiction tag so it is clear this is from a third-party resource and not Tolkien – Edlothiad Jan 27 '20 at 14:44
  • Just an idea; if this is related to the Middle Earth Role Playing game, you may consider asking this a RPGSE. Up to you. But since you are comparing it to tolkein's work, they might not find it on topic. – KorvinStarmast Jan 27 '20 at 15:44
  • 2
    @T.J.L. If you’re going to edit something discussed in the comments, leave a comment to explain your reasoning, it’s good practice imo. If you want to claim this question is about RPG books, add/create the relevant tags. As long as the tolkiens-Legendarium is the sole works tag it must be made clear this isn’t a work of tolkien’s – Edlothiad Jan 27 '20 at 16:37
  • 1
    I changed it in the Fandom websites to avoid future confusion :) – Eägoth Jan 28 '20 at 16:39

1 Answers1

1

The correct spelling seems to be Adarcer

This is a fictional metal invented by the MERP writers for the Middle Earth Role Playing game, and it does not come from any of Tolkien's books or writings.

As demonstrated by the sources you provide, as well as by the sources linked to in that wikia article, the spelling in all official MERP materials was Adarcer. Furthermore, the wikia page you linked has since fixed their spelling based on your question.

So where does the other spelling come from?

The only place I can find which uses Aradcer is the "The New Notion Club Archives", which is a different fannon wikia, and is not meant to reflect Tolkien or MERP, but rather the personal fanfiction of the user who runs the site. Their article notes that their term Aradcer was derived from MERP's Adarcer, and on the talk page they explain the reason that they swapped the spelling to bring it closer in line with Tolkien's languages.

I suppose the Authors who invented the name had vaguely a Quenya-word in mind, if Adarcer was Quenya, it's meaning would probably be "father-reap", Adar, meaning "father"."Arda-reap", arda meaning earth, too is a nonsense-word, but much less nonsense for a metal than "father-reap".The miner as the gardener of the earth who reaps it's fruit is indeed a trope.

This is in line with their general policy of rewriting MERP names.

ibid
  • 93,732
  • 37
  • 488
  • 567