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These are some thoughts,
observations and notes from G.A.Wainwright's 'The Coming of Iron' (Antiquity 10, 1936, pp.
5-25).
I am only writing/commenting on those parts that I feel are relevant to Smithing and
Smithcraft magic. At some points I am quoting from the article and others are my own
paraphrasing and observations. This is not the end-all and be-all, just my own
observations. Anyone's comments are more than welcome.
The first iron used came from 'stones that fell from the sky', what we know as meteorites. Meteorites were considered a form of lightning and one was not distinguished from the other. "Sometimes it was fire, which at times split and blasted all in its way, and at times left a 'stone' lying where it had struck... each was accompanied by clouds and roarings." Meteorites were considered both dangerous, from association with lightning and lightning's destructive tendedcies, as well as sacred, coming from above and constituting the missiles with which the gods waged war. These qualities were then passed onto the iron that was extracted. Iron was considered the Thunderbolt, [Meteorites being thunderstones, possibly even a fragment of the thunderweapon(?) more to research on here]. Meteorites have been known to be considered sacred, coming from the heavens, and were worshipped and even given names of Gods/Goddesses. Astarte at Tyre in Syria, Diana of the Ephesians, Amun at Thebes and Seth at Cabasa. Even though they were held sacred, wether they were considered holy or accursed depended upon one's attitude towards the god one thought it represent. Since the meteorites were considered sacred, so was the iron itself. [also the process of extracting the iron was considered a sacred act as well. "man purifies himself before daring to extract iron from the ore," (p.6) Hence the reason behind purifing oneself before the process.] The sacred quality of iron therefore gave magical/supernatural qualities to the iron made. "A sword made of it has supernatural cutting power, a magic instrument can force death itself and it is good against fairies or evil spirits." The Egyptians called meteoric iron bia [once smelted iron was introduced into Egypt, bia-ni-pet (iron from the sky) was used for meteoric iron so as to differentiate between the two.] Bia was iron and its value came from its meteoric origin, being considered a physical manifestation of the thunderbolt. Bia was used by the Egyptians for magical tools. The relatives of a dead man presented the deceased with food, but needed the services of a high priest called an Un-ra (Opener of the Mouth) to assist the dead. The ritual instruments used by the priest were 'made of bia which came forth out of Setesh (Seth, the Storm-god).' Therefore the priest had the very power of the thunderbolt itself, with which to rend/blast open that which was sealed in death. Being the thunderbolt, it had the bursting power inherent in itself. Notes: The mention of purification before extracting the iron I believe is an important point that most of us take for granted. I know myself the value of centering, clearing one's thoughts, and being focused on the task at hand. (and more importantly know firsthand what happens when your not.) I am still looking for other ritual purification practices before smithing that are still being used today. I have been looking for information on Japanese practices. I know purification and centering are important in the martial arts. I would be surprised if the Japanese did not carry this over into other aspects of crafts. Also, Meteoric iron is always linked to giving supernatural qualities (like superior cutting ability) to weapons. I have been looking into actual proof behind this, for instance, does meteoric iron have a high carbon content that would lend itself to hardening? My thought on this is that iron extracted from meteorites was of a slightly better quality that what man was able to smelt at the time (wrought iron or bog iron) and that any weapon capable of holding and edge for any length of time was considered "magical". (One of the Icelandic sagas, the Ere-Dwellers saga, actually mentions someone stopping several times in a battle to bend his sword straight again with his foot due to the inferior metal of the blade! "So then befell a great battle, and Steinthor was at the head of his own folk, and smote on either hand of him; but the fair-wrought sword bit not whenas it smote armour, and oft he must straighten it under his foot." - Eyrbyggja Saga, Ch.44 'The Battle in Swanfirth'Tyrell
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