Adamant
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225825023
2008-07-15T16:00:52Z
69.110.25.211
/* Uses of the term */
{{For|other uses of adamant, adamantium, and similar terms|Adamant (disambiguation)}}
{{wiktionary}}
'''Adamant'''
and similar words are used to refer to any especially [[hardness|hard]] substance, whether composed of [[diamond]], some other [[gemstone]], or some type of [[metal]]. Both ''adamant'' and ''diamond'' derive from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word αδαμας (''adamas''), meaning "untameable". ''Adamantite'' and ''adamantium'' (a metallic name derived from the [[New Latin|Neo-Latin]] ending ''-ium'') are also common variants.
Throughout ancient history, "adamantine" referred to anything that was made of a very hard material. [[Virgil]] describes [[Tartarus]] as having a screeching gate protected by columns of solid adamantine ([[Aeneid]] book VI). Later, by the [[Middle Ages]], the term came to refer to [[diamond]], 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 [[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.<ref>[http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&word=adamant&resource=Webster%27s&quicksearch=on Webster's dictionary definition of ''adamant''], 1828 and 1913 editions</ref> 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]], for instance.
Since the word ''diamond'' is now used for the hardest gemstone, the increasingly archaic term "adamant" has a mostly [[poetry|poetic]] or figurative use. In that capacity, the name is frequently used in popular media and fiction to refer to a very hard substance.
==Uses of the term==
* In [[John Donne]]'s Holy Sonnet I he states in line 14, "And thou like adamant draw mine iron heart."
* In [[Norse mythology]], [[Loki]] is bound underground by adamantine chains. (In some versions, his chains are made from the intestines of his son.)
* In the Medieval epic poem ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'' Sir Artagel's [[Chrysaor|sword]] is made of Adamant.
* In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' it is said in the second verse of Bilbo's Song of Eärendil, regarding the appearance of [[Eärendil]]; "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.
* In the [[King James Version]] of the [[Bible]] 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]] 3:9) Other, later translations substitute the word ''diamond'' for ''adamant''.
* In the [[Inuyasha]] dub the name Adamant Barrage is given to the Kongousouha, which is an attack that shoots diamonds at the opponent.
* In the [[Marvel Comics]]' universe, [[adamantium (comics)|adamantium]] is a metal alloy which, once forged, is effectively indestructible. The metal is extremely expensive 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 [[Battlestar (comics)|Battlestar]] and the outer skin of some of the robotic bodies of the android [[Ultron]]. It is most famously known for being bonded to the skeleton and bone claws of the [[X-Men]] character [[Wolverine (comics)|Wolverine]].
* The pop musician Stuart Goddard has assumed a name which is an obvious play on the word, [[Adam Ant]].
* As of the [[Burning Crusade]] expansion in [[World of Warcraft]], "Adamantite" is the second strongest mineral in the game.
* In Philip Pullman's [[His Dark Materials]] trilogy Lord Asriel constructs an "adamant" fortress
* In [[John Milton]]'s [[Paradise Lost]] (Book 1), [[Satan]] is hurled "to bottomless perdition, there to dwell in adamantine chains and penal fire."
* In [[Greek Mythology]], the titan [[Cronus]] castrated his father [[Ouranos]] using an adamant sickle. An adamantine sword (or sickle) was also used by the hero [[Perseus]] to decapitate the Gorgon [[Medusa]].
* In [[Gandhi|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]]'', by [[Gilbert and Sullivan]], the hardnosed princess's castle is called Castle Adamant.
* In the [[MMORPG]] [[Runescape]] 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.
* In [[Jonathan Swift]]'s [[Gulliver's Travels]] (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 William Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream,'' Helena says to Demetrius, "You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant!"
* In the [MUD] [foxmud.com|Foxmud], adamant is the most expensive but most protective metal that can be forged into armor by players.
*In [[Dwarf Fortress]] adamantine is the rarest mineral that can be found, and it can be used to forge the most powerful of weapons and most protective of armors.
==See also==
*[[Adamantane]], a bulky [[hydrocarbon]]
*[[Adamantine]], a real mineral
*[[adamantium (comics)|Adamantium]] in the [[Marvel Universe]]
*[[Mithril]], a strong, silvery metal from [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''
*[[Vajra]], an adamantine ritual implement in [[Tantric Buddhism]]
== References ==
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