The New Age of Iron

In medieval times, blacksmiths made it possible for family to ride horses to faraway kingdoms—and to then prevail over those kingdoms by wielding a certain quantity of cold, hard steel. But the industrial revolution sunk the market for handmade swords and horseshoes. Smithing went from indispensable to old and, by the end of the twentieth hundred the practice seemed to have been reduc to a cultic nag driven by people with enough independent time and disposable income to forge really heavy candlesticks for fun

However, smithing is making something of a comeback—and I’m not just referring to Jonathan Franzen’s metallurgic endorsements in The Corrections or Orlando Bloom’ grieving Middle-Ages blacksmith widower in Kingdom of Heaven. centurys of metalwork schools have sprung up in new years, and organizations like the Artist-Blacksmith’s Association of North America (ABANA) now entertainer huge welcome-all-comers biennial conferences.