Adamant in

classical mythology Classical mythology, Greco-Roman mythology, or Greek and Roman mythology is both the body of and the study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans as they are used or transformed by cultural reception. Along with philosophy and poli ...

is an archaic form of

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

. In fact, the English word ''diamond'' is ultimately derived from ''adamas'', via

Late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...

and

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

. In ancient Greek (), genitive (), literally 'unconquerable, untameable'. In those days, the qualities of hard metal (probably steel) were attributed to it, and ''adamant'' became as a result an independent concept. In the Middle Ages adamant also became confused with the magnetic rock

lodestone Lodestones are naturally magnetized pieces of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets, which can attract iron. The property of magnetism was first discovered in antiquity through lodestones. Pieces of lodestone, suspen ...

, and a folk etymology connected it with the Latin , '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 Epidemica ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths'', also known simply as ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' or ''Vulgar Errors'', is a work by Thomas Browne challenging and refuting the "vulgar" or common ...

'', for instance. Since the contemporary word ''diamond'' is now used for the hardest gemstone, the increasingly archaic term ''adamant'' has been reduced to mostly

poetic Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

use. In that capacity, the name, and various derivatives of it, are frequently used in modern media to refer to a variety of fictional substances.

In mythology

* Adamant is used as a translation in the King James Bible in Ezekiel 3:9 for the word שמיר, the original word in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Cronus castrated his father

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...

using an adamant

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feed ...

given to him by his mother Gaia. An adamantine sickle or sword was also used by the hero Perseus to decapitate the Gorgon

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

while she slept. * In the Greek tragedy ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' ( grc, Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, ''Promētheús Desmṓtēs'') is an Ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ant ...

'' (translated by G. M. Cookson),

Hephaestus Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter B ...

is to bind

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

"to the jagged rocks in adamantine bonds infrangible". * In

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of th ...

'', the gate of

Tartarus In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; grc, , }) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's ''Gorgias'' (), souls are judg ...

is framed with pillars of solid adamant, "that no might of man, nay, not even the sons of heaven, could uproot in war" * In John Milton's epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', adamant or adamantine is mentioned eight times. First in Book 1, Satan is hurled "to bottomless perdition, there to dwell in adamantine chains and penal fire" (lines 47–48). Three times in Book 2 the gates of hell are described as being made of adamantine (lines 436, 646 and 853). In Book 6, Satan "Came towring 'sic'' armd 'sic''in Adamant and Gold" (line 110), his shield is described as "of tenfold adamant" (line 255), and the armor worn by the fallen angels is described as "adamantine" (line 542). Finally in book 10 the metaphorical "Pinns 'sic''of Adamant and Chains" (lines 318–319) bind the world to Satan, and thus to sin and death. * In some versions of the Alexander Romance,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

builds walls of Adamantine, the

Gates of Alexander The Gates of Alexander were a legendary barrier supposedly built by Alexander the Great in the Caucasus to keep the uncivilized barbarians of the north (typically associated with Gog and Magog in medieval Christian and Islamic writings) from inva ...

, to keep the giants Gog and Magog from pillaging the peaceful southern lands. * In The

Hypostasis of the Archons The ''Hypostasis of the Archons'' or ''The Reality of the Rulers'' is an exegesis on the ''Book of Genesis'' 1–6 and expresses Gnostic mythology of the divine creators of the cosmos and humanity. Text's origin and content The text was found ...

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

scripture from the

Nag Hammadi Library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyr ...

refers to the Adamantine Land, an incorruptible place 'above' from whence the spirit came to dwell within man so that he became Adam, he who moves upon the ground with a living soul.

In fiction

* In ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...

'' by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

, completed 1320, the angel at purgatory's gate sits on adamant. * In the Medieval epic poem ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

'', published 1590, Sir Artegal's sword is made of Adamant. * In

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1595/96), Helena says to Demetrius, "You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant!". * In the Holy Sonnet I, published 1620, John Donne states in line 14, "And thou like adamant draw mine iron heart". * In the 1726 novel '' Gulliver's Travels'' by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

, the base of the fictitious flying island of Laputa (Part III of Gulliver's Travels) is made of Adamant. * 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 5 January 1884, for a ru ...

'' by Gilbert and Sullivan, first performed 1884, the hardnosed princess's castle is called Castle Adamant. * In J. R. R. Tolkien's

legendarium Tolkien's legendarium is the body of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic writing, unpublished in his lifetime, that forms the background to his ''The Lord of the Rings'', and which his son Christopher summarized in his compilation of ''The Silmaril ...

(''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'' published in 1954-5), Nenya, one of the Three Rings of Power, is set with a gem of adamant; the fortress of

Barad-dûr In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and to ...

is also described as being partly built from "adamant". * In the 1956 movie ''

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story by Allen Adler and Irvi ...

'', Dr. Morbius describes the Krell towers as being made of "glass and porcelain and adamantine steel." * In

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

adamantium Adamantium is a fictional metal alloy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and in various games in the Elder Scrolls franchise. It is best known as the substance bonded to the character Wolverine's skeleton and claws. In ...

(first appearance: Avengers #66, July 1969) is a nearly indestructible metal that coats the skeleton of the superhero

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

and makes up the body of the supervillain

Ultron Ultron () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, and initially made his debut as an unnamed character in '' The Avengers'' #54 (July ...

. * In the tabletop roleplaying game ''

Dungeons and Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

'', Adamantine is an extremely hard exotic metal. Adamantine weapons can easily deal damage to

golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the l ...

s and tough inanimate objects. * In 2002 ''

Saint Seiya , also known as ''Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac'' or simply ''Knights of the Zodiac'' (translated from the French title ''Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque''), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It w ...

s novel '' Saint Seiya – Gigantomachia'' the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

of Greek mythology wear adamas armors. * In the action role-playing game '' Dragon Age: Inquisition'', Adamant Fortress is the name of an ancient Grey Warden keep besieged by the player's forces. * In '' The Fate of Atlantis'' DLC for the action role-playing video game ''

Assassin's Creed Odyssey ''Assassin's Creed Odyssey'' is a 2018 action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft. It is the eleventh major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series and the successor to 2017's ''Assassin's Creed ...

'', adamant is a nearly indestructible resource used by an ancient Precursor civilization to build and power the Pieces of Eden. *In the

construction and management simulation Construction and management simulation (CMS), sometimes also called management sim or building sim, is a subgenre of simulation game in which players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources. Strategy vid ...

game ''

Dwarf Fortress ''Dwarf Fortress'' (officially called ''Slaves to Armok: God of Blood Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress'') is a construction and management simulation and roguelike indie video game created by Bay 12 Games. Available as freeware and in development sin ...

'', Adamantine is a rarely found material used to craft many objects, including weapons and armor. It is one of the most powerful materials in the game. * In the manga and

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series ''

Inuyasha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...

'', one of the titular character's special moves is known as "Kongōsōha" (金剛槍破), translated into English as "Adamant Barrage" or the "Spears of Adamant". It is unleashed through Inuyasha's sword Tessaiga and spurts out thousands of tough diamond shards at the target. The use of the word "Adamant" in the English translation might be due to the show's setting being set in the Warring States Period of Japan, alluding towards the ancient name of "diamond". *In the ''

His Dark Materials ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follo ...

'' trilogy by

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy '' His Dark Materials'' and '' The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''T ...

, in the third book, ''

The Amber Spyglass ''The Amber Spyglass'' is the third novel in the '' His Dark Materials'' trilogy by Philip Pullman. Published in 2000, it won the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year award, the first children's novel to do so. It was named Children's Book of the Y ...

'' (2000), Lord Asriel's tower is made of adamant.{{cite book , last=Pullman , first=Philip , date=2000 , chapter=The Adamant Tower , title=The Amber Spyglass , location=New York , publisher=Alfred A Knopf , isbn=0-679-87926-9 , page=57 * The massively-multiplayer online RPG

Runescape ''RuneScape'' is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Jagex, released in January 2001. ''RuneScape'' was originally a browser game built with the Java programming language; it was lar ...

has adamantite as a greenish, high-level minable ore that can be smelted into bars and crafted into weapons.

References

Fictional metals Mythological substances

In mythology

In fiction

See also

References