What is the name of the fictional metal used in Bilbo’s sword Sting?
Answer
No named metal
Tolkien gives no special metal name for Bilbo’s sword Sting. Sting is an Elvish blade found in a troll-hoard, and its distinctive properties come from its ancient make rather than from a named material stated in the text.
Sting glows blue when Orcs or other enemies associated with them are nearby. Bilbo uses it during The Hobbit, and Frodo later carries it in The Lord of the Rings. The sword’s small size suits a hobbit, although it is a dagger or short sword by the standards of larger people.
Mithril is a different material in Tolkien’s legendarium and is explicitly associated with items such as Frodo’s coat of mail. Because Sting is famous and Elvish, readers sometimes incorrectly describe it as a mithril weapon. Tolkien does not identify Sting’s blade as mithril.