Ask the smith! (Part 1)

“At the beginning of course, lad!”

And no, he did not mean back to the time when Mahal taught the dwarves the art of shaping metal

“Any smith must know his ore! They are all of different quality you know. The iron mined here at Thorin's hall is of low quality. Better quality Iron is imported from Othrikar, Zigilgund, the Iron Hills and Erebor. The best quality of course is found in the Misty Mountains, in Khazad-dûm.”

An odd expression of longing spreads over the old master's face and I can't help but wonder if he ever forged iron from Moria.

“It is extremely rare of course, today it only exist in old heirlooms, made a millennia ago. But now and then such priceless artifacts get reforged and that is a rare pleasure for an old smith such as myself. But that does not mean the lesser iron ore is useless. It all depends on what you need it for, and how great a smith you are. A great smith can make a mighty sword from lesser iron, something a novice could not achieve even with Khazad Iron.”

I ask him how ore turns into swords and axes. The old dwarf chuckles heartily then continues

“By smelting and forging of course, silly! Every dwarf knows this. Our miners dig out the iron ore from our mines. The smelters melt the ore and purify it. The heated ore turns into a red-hot , formable mass called a bloom. The smiths hammers on this hot mass to shape it, and to make it free of any lumps or impurities that might otherwise congeal around it. This work is usually done by our novices.“

I see him take out a thick iron plate, or ingot if you will, to show me

“This is the result! It is called wrought iron. You can see the mark of Thorin's hall stamped into the iron. Ingots made elsewhere have their distinctive stamps. That is how we tell the different qualities of Iron apart. Wrought iron is easily shaped when reheated, and can fairly easy be shaped and bent to many forms. Like straps, hinges, horseshoes, minor tools and so forth. But it is too soft for use in weapons, armour or quality tools.”

It sounds so easy when master Molda talks about his trade but I for one find it complicated and intriguing at the same time.

“For weapons and armour you need steel. Making steel is a fine tuned process and the next step for our young apprentices. For that you use a blast furnace, a tall chimney-like structure like those out in the crafting hall. Air is pumped through alternating layers of charcoal and iron ore, using large bellows. The coal binds to the iron and we have made steel. There is of course some other ingredients we use but that is a trade secret and the reason our dwarrow steel is the strongest. The molten steel can them be cast into ingots or other shapes.“

You mean like swords, axes and hammers?

“Well yes and no. You will get a weapon of very poor quality if you would just cast it. But we do it sometimes when we need weapons for our young children and their first practice. To properly make a weapon, or armour, you need to work long and hard with hammer and anvil. For the real masterpieces takes a lot of time to craft, and the masters often make the steel themselves rather than letting apprentices do it.”

Very interesting and I thank you for this lesson in making iron and steel. For the next issue of the Khazadgund Tablets we will delve into the art of sword making. Until them, happy smelting!