Just located another interesting item concerning superstition and folklore as applied to weapons, in 19th c. Sweden and certainly considerable time prior;
"...in Swedish folklore rifles were associated with various popular and magical beliefs, mostly concerning the ability of the weapons to hit and kill its target. The rifle itself could be a magical item, For example the material a good rifle barrel should be made of, should contain nails from a cemetary, a piece of silver, bones from an executed man and coffin nails".
taken from Pers-Anders Ostling, "Rifles in Swedish Folklore:Magical Properties of Weapons", in Vol.#4 2003, p.26, "Varia: Journal of the Swedish Arms & Armour Society".
While obviously pertaining to firearms, I have simply included this item to illustrate superstitious concepts often applied to weapons, which extended of course in many cases even more so to edged weapons. The inclusion of various botanicals believed to possess key metaphysical properties into the processing of steel is well described by Robert Elgood in "Hindu Arms and Ritual", and it there are likely many other instances that may be found in other cultures, certainly in the Indonesian cultural sphere.
While excellent suggestions have been presented in the discussion that describe the dynamics of metallurgy and the adding of forged metal from such sources as nails and horseshoes from practical standpoint, I feel that the folklore perspective may have a degree of plausibility as well. Although we view such topics with much more scientific perspective today, I think we must remember the environment in which such things were viewed in the period we are considering.
While the blacksmiths were probably using the materials we are discussing with sound reason and for reasons known only unto themselves, those who described these processes in many cases certainly embellished these descriptions imbued with thier own limited knowledge of the procedures as well as thier own superstitious beliefs.
Best regards,
Jim
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