The Circlet of Iron was an ancient artifact claimed by Prince Malekith of Nagarythe from the ruins of Vorshgar in the northern Chaos Wastes, a place that predated the coming of the Old Ones. The Circlet had been a crown forged of an unknown silver-grey metal, with curling horn-like protrusions that jutted at strange angles like the design of a madman.[1a] Malekith incorporated it into his helmet and later, it was affixed upon the Armour of Midnight as his crown.[2a]
When Malekith donned the Circlet, the dead of the city came to life as undead skeletons, assaulting his retinue.[1a] Malekith himself found that his spirit was flung into the Realm of Chaos, where he beheld the domains of the four great gods of Chaos, then he beheld the world in its totality, from the steaming jungles of Lustria to the broken Gates in the north and south to the Great Vortex at the heart of Ulthuan.[1b] He later could utilize the Circlet to see across vast distances, aiding him in his military campaigns.[1c]
After donning the artefact, Malekith could perceive the Winds of Magic with even more clarity than usual for an elf, expanding his magical powers five-fold.[1d] This fanned the Prince’s arrogance, for he believed himself capable of mastering Chaos itself through the Circlet, and was convinced that the future of Ulthuan and its survival from another great invasion from the Dark Gods could only be ensured when he took the Phoenix Throne.[1b]