MYTHOLOGY

"One of the most confusing terms in the ornamental metals business is the phrase "wrought iron." However, the confusion is understandable since even dictionaries cannot agree on a single definition The first thing to clear up is the spelling. Many consumers spell the metal "rod iron" or "rot iron."

The Millennium Project

...was a site specific sculpture/performance scheduled to take place on December 31, 1999 at midnight. The plan involved the installation of a furnace of wood and stone from which molten iron will be generated and delivered via a timber formed trough to the throwing arm of a catapult known as a trebuchet from which it will be launched into the North Sea. In the words of the author: "This event celebrates the end of the age of iron and the sometimes traumatic transition to a new, unascertained age..".

Did it happened? We don't know, but it was a great idea.. E-mail the author, Professor George Beasley at the Georgia State University School of Art and Design or take a look at his web site: The Millennium Project

We first encounter the Blacksmith in Greek mythology as Hephaestus band then in Roman mythology as Vulcan. These figures established the Blacksmith and his art as magical characters with special powers to tame and control the hardest and most useful metal then known. An impression that endures, in some part, to the present day.
The ability to forge this hard metal by changing its mechanical characteristics put the Blacksmith on the same level with the doctors and astrologers. Their importance to humanity and affinity with the Gods was necessary to ensure the healing of their patients.
The Blacksmith needed the same affinity enabling the metal to be blessed and therefore not to break in battle. This requirement was hardly surprising when you consider the importance of a sword remaining strong during close combat. So was born the image of the blacksmith as a man, particular in his ways, strong and sometimes brusque, but capable of winning the fight. His materials, rough and unworkable at the beginning, became so improved by him that the Gods allowed him to over indulge himself with wine. Not so different after all from their powerful father figure, Hephaestus (Vulcan), the husband of the beautiful Aphrodite (Venus), Gods of the Earth's interior and respected by Zeus (Jupiter), father of the Gods. The ancient Romans, more practical and less dreamy than the Greeks, yet from which culture they had absorbed so much, transformed and rationalized the figure of the Blacksmith.