Blacksmith

metalwork · craftsmanship · history · tools

Fire powers everything. Blacksmiths heat metal in a forge until it turns red hot and soft, making it possible to shape with hammers. Without the heat, the metal would be too hard to work with.

Hammer and anvil magic. A blacksmith places hot metal on a flat metal surface called an anvil, then uses hammers to pound it into the desired shape. The hammer strikes create gates, tools, horseshoes, and decorative pieces.

Made things everyone needed. Before factories, blacksmiths created essential items for their communities, including farming tools, nails, cooking pots, hinges, locks, and weapons. They were some of the most important workers in their villages.

Different metals, different skills. While blacksmiths usually worked with iron and steel, some blacksmiths worked with other metals too. A whitesmith did more delicate work with gold, silver, and pewter.

The smithy was the workshop. The place where a blacksmith worked had several names: a smithy, a forge, or a blacksmith's shop. These were hot, loud, busy places filled with the sound of hammers on metal.