If the piece was a sword, it would speak with a loud and melodious ring when it struck an enemy s shield or another weapon. Often, such swords were thought to have magical or spiritual powers and were handed down from one generation of warrior to the next, a treasured heirloom and a focal point of family sagas in the military societies. Many of them had names, especially amongst the peoples who were not within the Roman or Greek cultural sphere. From the misty North Sea coasts of Britain and Ireland to the Pacific shores of the islands of Japan, a mysticism grew up around fine weapons that withstood the rigors of battle and the blessings and protection they conferred on the warriors who used them. What the ancient ironworker did not realize was that he was in reality making steel.
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, with some special steels containing other elements.
The modern metallurgist will tell you that any steel containing less than about one quarter percent carbon is too soft for drill bits, chisels, or knives. Six or seven tenths of a percent is a nice mix for an axe, chisel, or other tool that needed to keep an edge. Anything over one percent was extremely hard and brittle, and would shatter when struck too hard. All the forgoing statements assume that the steel has been heated to the correct temperature and cooled down at precisely the right rate, a process called quenching. Fire itself was a mysterious thing.