It is always good to know more about forges and smiths before you start investing in all the materials. Here are some blacksmith fun facts you might not know about this exciting hobby.
This Hobby Became More Popular After the Lord of the Rings Movies Were Released
The Lord of the Rings is one of the best movies that showcases blacksmithing. Filmmakers also creates a few content DVDs where artisans explain different processes that were used to create the armor, weapons, and shields that are useful in this popular movie. Viewers were so inspired by this craftsmanship that many started to pursue a career in metal craftsmanship.
The Art of Making Steel was Once Lost for Almost a Thousand Years
It is one of the notable blacksmith facts that the ancient Romans were successful because they had superior weaponry. They learned how to turn iron into steel from civilizations in India and produced many high quality and durable weapons and armor. Their methods included reheating iron in layers of charcoal that contained carbon to make steel from iron. When the Roman Empire fell, this secret was lost, and Europeans didn’t discover how to make steel for another thousand years.
Viking Smiths Were Buried with Their Tools
Norwegian archaeologists that studied the remains of Vikings found that blacksmiths were buried with their tools of the trade. The grave of one Viking contained 60 artifacts which included hammers and tongs. These blacksmith facts help us to understand that Vikings were buried with their tools to illustrate how important knife making skills were to the tribe since their society relied on quality tools for survival. If you are a serious metal craftsman then perhaps you should consider including this concept in your will.
The Best Blacksmith in History
Anglo-Saxon blacksmiths were the best metal craftsmen in the history of time because their skills were comparable to that of 19th-century smiths despite the fact that they were working back in the 1800s. Their metal was of such high quality because they were able to reheat their metal until these metals reached the carbon levels required for making quality steel. Weaponry and metal items with this same level of quality wouldn’t be available again until the 19th century.
Widows Could Be Smiths
In the middle ages, married women were not allowed to do “men’s work” but widowed women could take over the business of their late husbands if there were no other male relatives in the family. Widowed smiths faced many challenges since they were not allowed to take in apprentices, and their businesses were banned in certain cities. Despite these challenges, many became quite successful.
The Biggest Solid Steel Anvil is Enormous
It took JP Napier, a smith in Kentucky, 15 years to create the biggest solid steel anvil in the world. The anvil weighs 2,948 kilograms and it is entirely functional. Up to 3 smiths can use this anvil at the same time.
This steel anvil isn’t the largest in the world. Others are even bigger, but those are made from bronze and stone.
Blacksmiths Have Worldwide Competitions
Like many modern sports, blacksmiths also have world competitions where they compete against each other. It is usually called a World Championship Blacksmiths Competition. The primary aim of this competition is not only for the participants to compete against each other. It also aims at entertaining the audience and creating public awareness about the blacksmithing trade. It also informs the audience about the core of blacksmithing and help the public to understand some basic blacksmith facts.
Skilled blacksmiths with interesting inventions also get to showcase their talents, and some will also have the opportunity to sell their products.
You Will Find Blacksmiths in Many Popular Fantasy Video Games
As funny as it sounds, you will find blacksmiths in various video games that are loved worldwide. Most of these fantasy games feature blacksmiths as characters that players can choose. Some of the familiar video games that feature blacksmiths include, in the world of warcraft, Orcs in The Elder Scrolls, Dark Souls, Fire Emblem, and Most Legend of Zelda games.
In the world of warcraft, one of the profession choices available for players is blacksmithing where they can learn the production of valuable armor and weapons. Orcs in The Elder Scrolls are reputable for their blacksmithing skills, and they create the best armors in the game. Dark Souls and Fire Emblem featured blacksmiths because of the medieval settings of the game.
Blacksmiths in many Legend of Zelda games acts as mentor and helper. As these games continue to grow increasingly popular around the world, so is the blacksmithing profession and its facts.
A Lot of Characters in Famous Movies Were Blacksmiths by Profession
Just as video games fueled the increasing popularity of the blacksmithing profession, so did many famous movies. Movies like the pirates of the Caribbean, a knight’s tale, and the princess bride all has characters that projected the blacksmith profession.
In the pirates of the Caribbean, Will Turner, who is one of the famous characters, has notable skills at making swords and high-quality weapons. Kate the farrier, another renowned name in a Knight’s tale, made an impressive armor using various blacksmithing skills. This incident was one of the significant references throughout the entire movie.
Romans Understood the Secret of Making Steel
The ancient Romans are the most prominent pioneers of the blacksmithing trade. They understood how to transform bare iron into steel. They further use form steel and iron into various useful materials, including armors and weapons. Also, they heat irons between charcoal layers until it becomes malleable, and they sometimes mix the steel with iron.
No one can ascertain where the Romans learned this secret from, and the blacksmithing trade almost fell with the fall of the great Roman Empire. It was missing for nearly a thousand years until it was rediscovered alongside the present-day civilization. This secret and fact is essential for the modern-day blacksmithing and metal-working processes.
Viking Blacksmith Makes More Knives More than Any Other Material
When we think of Viking’s world, the first thing that comes to mind is weapon and war. We often picture sophisticated weaponry and fierce warriors. On the contrary, the average life of a Viking focuses on living off the land, domestic duties, and everyday survival.
Consequently, Vikings mostly manufacture knives because they serve as a multipurpose tool to meet their daily challenges. They use a knife for various purposes, including carving, eating, hunting, and sometimes, fighting. This functionality explains why most Viking knives are durable enough to withstand multiple challenging demands.
Viking Blacksmiths Strengthen Their Swords and Weapons with the Bones of Their Ancestors
There are so many exciting things to say about Vikings and their impressive contributions to blacksmithing. Initially, most blacksmithing products are soft, impure, and of low quality due to the bog irons used as the raw materials for their projects.
Vikings now improvised their ancestors’ bones and other powerful animals to their materials to improve their strength. They thought of this method of adding strength as spiritual, but it is more of science. The bones add more carbon that transforms the iron into steel. Nevertheless, they were right about using bones to improve the strength of their weapons and bones.
Most Ancient Blacksmiths were Also Farmers and Hunters
Unlike these modern days, where people focus on only one trade, people in the early and Middle Ages combine multiple businesses. Most traditional blacksmiths in ancient times were also farmers. They manufacture tools and household items that help with their farming and hunting trade.
They used these multiple trades to supplement their incomes and improve their earnings. Only a few of them took blacksmithing as a mere hobby or took it as their sole trade. Traces of this act are still apparent in today’s blacksmiths as many of them even have some other businesses alongside blacksmithing.
Colonial Blacksmiths involved themselves in Black Market
The colonial era in the history of humans witnessed a lot of activities that became undoubtable blacksmith facts. Blacksmiths were not passive during this period, as records show their involvement in the black market during the colonial period. The blacksmiths living in the thirteen colonies during the American Revolution engaged in what was a black market.
During this time, the British banned iron production within these colonies, but blacksmiths ignored this order. They continued to produce various metals and bars and sold them in goods like tools and weapons. These tools and bars are the primary materials that were used to fight the revolutionary war. The failure of the blacksmiths to comply with this order is considered to be a black market operation.
Blacksmiths Were and Are Racially Diverse
Another basic fact about blacksmith is that since the discovery of blacksmithing activities, many people from different racial backgrounds have actively contributed to the craft. Several people, including whites, blacks, Latina, aboriginals, and even slaves, all engaged in various blacksmithing activities and produced high-quality tools.
Some of the discriminated populations, like blacks and slaves, started regaining their dignity and reputation by working as blacksmiths in multiple towns and villages. They started making sustainable incomes and could prove their worth as essential craftsmen. Enslave blacksmiths could work and earn enough money to buy their freedom during this period.