Blacksmithing in the old days. Blacksmith

Blacksmithing has been known to people since ancient times. Forging is one of the oldest methods of metal processing. The technique of cold forging native iron and copper was known to ancient people. So the blacksmiths of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Iran in the 4th millennium BC beat cold sponge iron with mallets to remove impurities. And among the American Indians, cold forging was used until the 16th century.

The technique of forging has steadily improved. In order to give the metal the desired shape, it began to be heated. Hot forging was used in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, in Europe, Asia and Africa. Since the need for metal products has always been high, the profession of a blacksmith has become one of the most revered. At first, blacksmiths themselves both melted and forged metal. For iron smelting and forging, they used a forge, poker, crowbar, anvil, hammer and tongs. With the help of these tools, the blacksmith could single-handedly make ordinary household items, such as knives, nails, sickles, shovels, scythes, and the like, which did not require complex technological methods. However, for the manufacture of more complex products (chains, bits, svetets, iron rings), an assistant was required, so experienced blacksmiths began to work with apprentices.
The first forged items were primitive and rough, but further development blacksmithing led to the creation of real masterpieces that still amaze with craftsmanship.
Blacksmithing reached a special development in the Middle Ages. In Europe and Russia, craftsmen handcrafted weapons and armour, agricultural implements, handicraft tools, lamps, gratings, chests and many other metal items. Often forged products were decorated with gold leaf, the finest notch, perforated or embossed pattern. In the 11th-13th centuries, the manufacture of edged weapons and combat armor for knights and nobility developed especially successfully. The manufacture of weapons required special skill and great care in metal processing from the master gunsmith. The most time-consuming was the manufacture of chain mail: it was necessary to forge iron wire, connect, weld and rivet hundreds of small rings.
In a special place was the hardening of steel weapons. Even the ancient Romans knew about the hardness and flexibility of steel, as well as about the extraordinary properties that it took after hardening.
The urban blacksmith craft differed from the rural one in greater complexity and variety of forging techniques. As early as the 13th century, blacksmiths in the cities worked for mass production. In the cities there were domniks, iron smiths, gunsmiths, armorers, locksmiths, etc.
Medieval blacksmithing was reflected in folk art and architecture. From the 15th - 19th centuries, skillful forged lights, hooks, candlesticks, and lanterns have survived to this day. And most of the castles and palaces were decorated with wonderful wrought iron bars and fences, samples of which can be seen in Paris, St. Petersburg, Prague, Vienna, etc. Some cities had a narrow specialization of blacksmith shops. For example, Herat was famous for household utensils, Damascus and Tula for weapons, and Nottingham for knives.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Tula blacksmith Pastukhov first used stamping. And half a century later, steam hammers appeared. At the beginning of the 20th century, hand forging was almost completely replaced by casting and stamping. However, in Lately we are seeing a resurgence of interest in artistic forging due to the rapid development of individual construction and new trends in architecture and design.

Metal products have been used by people since time immemorial. Primitive blacksmiths, surprising their fellow tribesmen, with the help of fire turned unsightly pieces of iron ore into weapons for hunting and farming, as well as into jewelry. Gradually, the blacksmith's craft improved, and the masters accumulated their secrets, rituals and traditions appeared. The fact that the work of a forge was an unusual and wonderful thing is confirmed by numerous legends, myths and legends. And it was not for nothing that the only "divine" profession was precisely the profession of a blacksmith.

Among the Slavs, Svarog was engaged in this honorable deed, among the Greeks - the lame Hephaestus, among the Etruscans - Seflax, among the Celts - Goibniu, etc. However, the attitude towards blacksmiths was more cautious than enthusiastic. Cooperation with one of the elements, with fire, in a constant iron clang and roar - all this gradually set the boundaries between ordinary people-farmers and blacksmiths. Due to the risk of fire, blacksmiths lived on the outskirts, and this gave the craftsmen an even greater touch of mystery.

In earlier periods for training blacksmithing sent boys who had physical disabilities, such as lameness. Such teenagers could not be warriors, and therefore, over time, they became blacksmiths. Maybe it is in connection with this that in many legends gnomes and dwarfs, trolls and elves act as blacksmiths. In some tribes, their own craftsmen - craftsmen were deliberately maimed so that they could not leave the village and work for strangers. Over time, they became a kind of "priests", who were the owners of not only professional, but also religious knowledge. Different peoples had different attitudes towards the masters of the anvil. For example, in African tribes one can observe global differences in this respect. Some tribes of the Black Continent treat blacksmiths with all sorts of respect, almost like priests. It is blacksmiths here who have the right to make money, educate the younger generation, and act as political leaders. Nevertheless, many tribes of Africans today consider blacksmiths to be sorcerers, despise, but, at the same time, fear them. In such villages, the blacksmith is a kind of pariah, and in addition to insults, he also has to fear for his life, and such murders go unpunished.

In Russia, blacksmiths were "given" evil spirits as assistants, and even as mentors - damn it. It was believed that it was thanks to the tips of this insidious creature that the masters received the valuable secrets of their craft. Even such words as "insidious" or "deceit" come from the verb "to forge". Russian blacksmiths also had their own special day - Kuzma and Demyan. On this day, the masters gave alms to the poor. The peasants believed that on this day the devil himself could come to the blacksmiths to shoe his horse. Moreover, suicides or drowned men were hidden under the guise of horses, so the blacksmiths did not work that day - they were afraid. There was also a belief that if the “client” left the forge in silence, did not thank and did not pay, then it was not a person at all, but again a devil. In general, iron itself was identified with evil spirits; it was not for nothing that folklore evil spirits (mermaids, devils) had some parts of the body made of iron. Therefore, blacksmiths who worked with metal were considered accomplices of evil spirits. But the metal products themselves often served as obligatory amulets, and the inhabitants of the Russian North believed that a drowning person needed to list metal objects - in this way they scared away the water one so that it would not be dragged to the bottom.

The peoples of the north endowed blacksmiths with almost the same magical power as shamans. It was believed that the blacksmith was even able to burn the soul of a shaman, but he kept his own in the fire. Blacksmiths, like shamans, can heal or predict the future.

According to the beliefs of the Buryats, once the founders of the first blacksmith dynasties were the nine sons of the heavenly blacksmith Boshintoy, who descended to the people. Therefore, any interested Buryat cannot become a blacksmith - for this you need to have a suitable pedigree, proving that the ancestor of the current master was the son of Bushintoy. The Buryat masters also have their own special rituals, sometimes very reminiscent of shamanistic ones. For example, a horse is sacrificed to patron spirits and gods, while the heart of the sacrificial animal is torn out. Some of the blacksmiths rub soot on their faces during certain rituals. The Buryats call them "black smiths" and are afraid of them.

For the Yakuts, initiation into blacksmiths is also not so simple. If a person expressed a desire to work with metal, he bought the necessary tools and set to work. If, passing by the forge, at night people heard the sound of a hammer or the noise of a bellows, it means that the new master had his own patron spirit, and such a person could become a real blacksmith. However, it also happened that after 2-3 years of working as a blacksmith, a person fell ill with a special disease: abscesses appeared on the limbs, and his back hurt. It was believed that this happens to those who did not have blacksmiths in their family, or they were, but for some reason no one was engaged in blacksmithing for a long time. In this case, again, sacrifice helped, but this time a three-year-old black bull with the participation of a shaman.

In general, sacrifices to the patrons of blacksmithing were a common thing. This method was practiced in India, and in Russia, and in Abkhazia (even back in the last century). As ritual offerings, specially made weapons were also used - usually they were thrown into a river or lake.

Weapons and items forged from "heavenly metal" - from iron meteorites - had special magical properties. One such meteorite weighing 34 tons was found in northern Greenland. For many years, local Eskimos made harpoon tips, knives, etc. from it. The "heavenly" metal has a high nickel content, and therefore it is quite easy to calculate. Many epic heroes and commanders were endowed with such magical weapons. King Arthur, Tamerlane, Atilla - ancient legends say that the weapons and armor of these warriors were of precisely "heavenly" origin. The favorite ring of King Solomon and the crown of Alexander the Great were also made from a "star" - from a meteorite. The dagger of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, found in his tomb, was also made from a meteorite.

Just like the northern peoples, the Slavs gave the blacksmiths "witchcraft" powers. He could heal, could drive away evil spirits from the village, and conduct wedding ceremonies. A good blacksmith had to be able to handle the most stubborn horse, and indeed, some had a special skill in taming animals. One peasant told how his uncle took a horse to shoe to three blacksmiths, but they could not take it by the leg - it was wild. And only the fourth was able to cope with the animal. After the blacksmith ran his hand from the horse's head to its feet, she calmed down and let herself be shod. Apparently, the master had some knowledge. (A similar case is described in one of the stories of veterinarian D. Harriot, where a captive Italian made an obstinate ox stand calmly by simply twisting his ear. The veterinarians who were present at the same time repeatedly tried to repeat the same trick with other oxen on their own - but to no avail).

The people working in the forge had their own customs and beliefs. So, it was impossible to arbitrarily take the blacksmith's tools, spit into the fire, sit on the anvil or finish someone else's work. Before working at the anvil, the master had to wipe his face.

Summing up, we can say that different peoples have their own blacksmithing traditions, and the attitude towards blacksmiths was also not quite usual. However, despite this, for the most part, blacksmiths were revered and wealthy people, and besides, they possessed special knowledge and secrets of the conspiracy.

Introduction

The origin and development of blacksmithing

In the view of the modern reader, forging is usually the manufacture of horseshoes for horses. But few people know that the ancient blacksmiths were the creators of such vital household and military products that not only served humanity for many hundreds of years without significant changes, but also contributed to the development of society. So, for example, many products that came to us from the Stone Age (a knife, a scraper, a saw, an awl, an ax, a hammer, etc.) and later embodied in metal by blacksmiths continue to serve humanity at the present time. And such a product as a horseshoe, which appeared in Europe at the beginning of the 8th century, was equated in importance by historians with the invention of a steam locomotive, since a shod horse could work with increased draft power on any soil without breaking or wearing out hooves. The development of iron led to great changes in the cultural and economic life of all peoples; for example, forged agricultural tools - pitchforks, choppers, shovels, rakes, scythes, sickles, coulters, harrows, plows with iron shares, etc. - raised agriculture to a new technical level and significantly increased the productivity of agriculture. Tribes and peoples who mastered the secrets of forging earlier than others received great advantages in all types of activities. Forging armor and weapons in areas where iron ore was mined and charcoal or coal was available significantly increased combat capability, which made it possible to expand the territory and create strong states.

Blacksmithing is the oldest craft associated with metal processing. For the first time, man began to forge native and meteoric metals in the Stone Age. A number of museums around the world, as well as the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have blacksmith tools of those distant times in their funds: small round stones - hammers and oval flat massive stones - anvils. Microscopic examination of the surfaces of these instruments revealed traces of native metal. On the reliefs of ancient Egyptian temples one can see blacksmiths working with stone hammers (photo 1.0.1 see on). However, it is impossible to specify the exact time of the birth of blacksmithing on the planet.

Long before the new era, people began to make products from native copper, silver and gold, which have high plasticity. On the territory of the former USSR, native copper in those distant times was known in the regions of modern Kazakhstan, the Urals, the Caucasus, Altai and in some regions of Yakutia. In these places, archaeologists discovered the remains of the first tools forged from copper. Relatively recently, archaeologists discovered the oldest Stone Age workshop for processing native copper in Karelia. Ancient blacksmiths, using stone hammers and anvils, more than 5 thousand years ago forged copper items for fishing and everyday life: fish hooks, knives, awl and other small items. In the region of Moldova and Right-Bank Ukraine, along the banks of the Dnieper, Dniester and Prut rivers, there is one of the oldest centers of copper processing from the era of the developed Trypillia culture (4th-3rd millennium BC). During this period, the craftsmen already used hardening of the working surfaces of copper tools, which significantly increased their hardness. This made it possible to gradually replace stone tools. This period is characterized by a variety of forged, cast and combined items, such as blacksmith chisels, knives, battle axes, petiolate arrowheads, bracelets, buckles, etc.

At the beginning of the III millennium BC. e. the tribes living on the territory of Armenia, in the Caucasus, already received flash iron from ores by direct reduction. As ores, they used easily accessible deposits of brown iron ore, called lake or swamp ore. The Hittites not only made weapons and household items from iron for themselves, but also traded them with Egypt and the countries of the Middle East. At the beginning of the 1st millennium, e. iron products began to be made by the inhabitants of Transcaucasia to the north of the Armenian Highlands, in the 8th century. BC e. blacksmith production of iron products is already widely developing in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Kerch (the old Russian name Korchev, probably from “writhing”, “kerchiy” or “korchin” - a blacksmith. - Note. ed.). Rich iron ores, which served as raw materials for blacksmiths to obtain iron, in the Kerch region lay almost on the surface of the earth. In these times, blacksmithing skills already reached a high level. In the forges, the forge was equipped with two-chamber bellows, in the center there was a large iron or bronze anvil. Blacksmiths used heavy hammers, pincers, chisels and axes for cutting metal, and a vice for clamping products.

Starting from the 7th century BC e. Scythia became the center of metalworking, the craft center of which was the Kamenskoye settlement. Archaeologists discovered there the dwellings of artisans, their workshops with tools and devices: lyacs for casting non-ferrous metals, blacksmith tools and products. The extraction of iron ore, as it was established, was carried out on the territory of the modern Krivoy Rog basin, 60 km away from the Kamensky settlement. Along with casting and forging, the Scythians had widely established the manufacture of gold and silver jewelry and all kinds of utensils using chasing, stamping and investment casting. It is interesting to note that samples of Scythian jewelry production were well known in the Greek colonies. It should be said that the blacksmiths of Scythia widely used forge welding to increase the size of the workpiece, joining dissimilar metals to improve the quality of the blades of cutting and chopping tools. They made knives in which a plate of harder steel was forged between two softer plates, resulting in knives with a self-sharpening blade. Scythian blacksmiths also knew how to forge Damascus steel, in which layers of iron and high-carbon steel were mixed, which created a pattern of dark and light stripes on the side surface of the product.

In the first millennium BC. e. Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes settled along the Upper Dnieper and Pripyat, Oka and Upper Volga (in the Middle Volga region - the ancestors of the Mordovian tribes, in the Ural regions - the ancestors of the Komi, Udmurts, Mary, Ostyaks and Mansi), who owned the secrets of obtaining bloom iron, not knowing the manufacture of copper-bronze products. And in the Urals and Siberia, iron production developed simultaneously with copper and bronze. In the first centuries of the new era, northern tribes who lived in the middle reaches of the Lena and Yenisei rivers, as well as residents of Altai, began to use iron products.

Blacksmithing in Russia. By the end of the ninth century Slavic tribes unite and the Old Russian state arises. Large military and trade and craft centers were formed, such as Kiev, Novgorod the Great, Smolensk, Polotsk, etc. Centers for the production of dishes and various household items from silver and gold were created in these cities, and the specialization of blacksmiths and gunsmiths was introduced. In connection with the growth of urban planning, the craft of church blacksmiths is developing, engaged in the manufacture of cathedral fences, window bars, finials and other products. Opportunities opened up before Russian artisans, ties with foreign markets grew stronger, and the participation of artisans in the economic affairs of the city expanded. City craftsmen possessed high technology, boldly improved Western European weapons and created their own highly artistic products. During this period, there is a constant improvement of the means of production and the adaptation of workshops to mass production. Stamping and step-by-step production are being widely introduced, the division of blacksmiths into gunsmiths, goldsmiths, chasers, engravers and jewelers is being completed. During this period, over 60 blacksmith specialties already existed in Kiev.

However, most blacksmiths forged weapons and chain mail. Chain mail was a mandatory accessory for the protective armor of combatants; it did not hamper movement in battle and protected from almost all types of weapons. The creation of chain mail was a painstaking and time-consuming task, because for weaving it was necessary to forge more than 40 thousand rings, and then rivet them with special “carnations”. Already at that time, in the manufacture of chain mail, flow technology was used: first, the wire was forged, then wound onto a rod and chopped into separate rings. The ends of each ring were flattened and holes were punched in these areas. Then, rivets - “carnations” were planted from a thin wire (0.8 mm), and after that the assembly or “weaving” of chain mail began. The entire work took more than three months of daily work. painstaking work. There were three ways to make rings: from forged wire, from cold-drawn (drawn) wire, and by cutting whole rings from a sheet. Chain mail was assembled using various technologies. The rings were not only riveted, but also welded by forge welding. For greater elegance, rings made of non-ferrous metals were woven into chain mail: copper, gold, silver, forming various ornaments. Kiev warriors had both long-skirted chain mail with a headband, mask, bracers, and short chain mail, which covered only the upper part of the warrior's torso. The guards wore helmets to protect their heads. According to the manufacturing technology, helmets were divided into solid forged and composite. The first were forged from a single piece of metal and had the greatest strength with the smallest mass. Less time-consuming was the manufacture of helmets, riveted from two or four forged parts, which were assembled into a single whole with the help of strips and rivets, and the lower edge of the crown was pulled together with a hoop. The joints of the plates were covered with decorative overlays. To protect the face, a nosepiece with eye cutouts was riveted to the helmet, and sometimes a chain mail visor or mask, which was forged individually for each warrior. To protect the neck and partially shoulders, an aventail was attached to the lower edge of the helmet. Helmets for princes were decorated with gold and silver overlays, their surface was engraved and decorated with precious stones.

Blacksmiths paid much attention to the manufacture of military and award weapons: swords, axes, pikes, etc. The gunsmiths perfectly mastered the secrets of making swords from high-carbon steels such as damask steel or Russian damask steel - kharaluga. In this regard, it is necessary to say a few words about damask steel, since this iron-carbon alloy, which has unique properties, has not been fully studied to date, scientific articles and monographs are written about it. For the first time in Russia, from a scientific point of view, Pavel Petrovich Anosov (1799–1851), an outstanding scientist-engineer and mining plant, began the study of damask steels. He said that "by the word" bulat "every Russian is accustomed to understand the metal is harder and sharper than ordinary steel." India is considered the birthplace of damask steel, in which the best varieties of wutz were “cooked” - blanks made of cast steel in the form of cakes with a diameter of about 13 cm and a thickness of about 1 cm. The mass of such a cake was a little more than a kilogram. Consequently, for the manufacture of a sword weighing 1.5–2.5 kg, 2–2.5 wutz were required. Another ancient center of Wutz production is the country of Puluadi, which was located on the territories of modern Turkey, Iran, Armenia and Georgia. From here it went, as noted by the Soviet historian academician G.A. Melikishvili, the name of Wutz is "pulat", which later received the Russian sound - "damask steel". As established by P.P. Anosov, as a result of long-term scientific and experimental research, damask steel is a high-carbon steel containing more than 2% carbon and a minimum amount of harmful impurities and non-metallic inclusions. Steel is welded at high temperature in crucibles without air access and cooled together with the furnace. A distinctive feature of damask ingots is that there is a peculiar wavy pattern on the polished cut, which manifests itself with weak etching. However, for the manufacture of a damask blade, it is not enough to obtain an ingot, it is necessary to forge it using a special technology, heat treat and finish it. The secrets of these operations continue to be revealed to this day. Recently, a book by the remarkable master of damask and Damascus steels Leonid Arkhangelsky "Secrets of damask steel" (M.: Metallurgiya, 2007) was published, in which he revealed many secrets of making damask products. A lot of work to improve domestic damask steels is being carried out by the well-known metallurgical engineer Igor Tolstoy, who created a site for the production of small-sized damask ingots and the manufacture of high-quality blanks for blades from them.

The production of a blade from welded damask steel - Damascus is a long and laborious process: the workpiece is pulled into a strip, then it is folded, welded by forge welding and forged again. This "layer cake" is cut into lengthwise pieces, which are woven or twisted and again welded by forge welding, carefully forged. In this case, forging is carried out with special hammers and blows are applied at different angles to the longitudinal axis of the product. For the manufacture of swords, sabers and daggers from Damascus, the famous Suzdal blacksmith V.I. Basov (1938–2007) used blanks consisting of about 700 or more than a thousand layers. As a result of such complex forging techniques, the famous “damask patterns” appear: striped, jet, wavy, mesh, cranked, etc. It should be noted that the patterns are much lighter than the background (ground), which is gray, brown or black. The darker the ground and the more convex and lighter the pattern, the higher the value of the blade, and the quality of forging is determined by a clear and long sound. Heat treatment of a blade product consists of hardening and subsequent tempering. This is a very responsible operation, since the hardness, elasticity and flexibility of the blades depend on it. Each master had his own secrets: after forging, Damascus gunsmiths hung their blades, red-hot, into a strong wind; Caucasian - passed the red-hot blade to the rider, who galloped without stopping until it was completely cooled. Many craftsmen hardened their products in spring or mineral water, in dew, in wet canvas, in lard, and such barbaric methods of hardening blades are also known: a red-hot blade was thrust into the body of a pig, a ram, or even a young strong slave. P.P. Anosov quenched the specimens in tallow (oil) or in water, while heating for quenching and tempering was carried out in baths with molten lead. Tempering products is also a very important heat treatment operation. Required depending on chemical composition began to choose the tempering temperature and the cooling medium. Master gunsmiths determined the temperature of the blade by the colors of tint, and used water, oil or air as a cooling medium. After forging, the blades were processed on grindstones, then ground and polished. Grinding was carried out first on coarse-grained grinding stones, then on fine-grained ones. Finer grinding was carried out with various powders using fabrics and wood. Finally polished with fine powders and pastes. The process of grinding and polishing damask blades continued from morning to night, month after month. It was with such titanic labor that damask and Damascus swords, sabers and blades were created. All these unique products also received a highly artistic finish of the blade, handle, scabbard. This work was carried out by special master artists and also lasted for years. In 2010, a unique book by the Tula blacksmith-gunsmith Oleg Semenov "Author's weapons, creating an image, finishing" (M .: Adelant) was published, in which he revealed all the secrets of finishing bladed weapons at a high scientific, technical and artistic level. In Damascus until the end of the XIV century. the best weapons in the world were forged from Indian Wutz and Damascus. In the XV century. Damascus was captured by Timur's army and completely destroyed. All artisans, including many blacksmiths and gunsmiths, were taken to Samarkand and other cities of Central Asia. At this time, the production of bulat begins in the cities of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkey, Iran. "Russian bulat" - kharalug - steel (such as Damascus), which was forged from bloomery iron. The technology for manufacturing weapons from multilayer welded steel was well known to the Slavic peoples already in the 6th century. Kharaluzhny weapons (swords, spears) and armor are often mentioned in ancient Russian literature. So, in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign" several times it is said about haraluzhny swords, spears, flails, chain mail and even hearts: "Vayu brave hearts are shackled in a cruel charaluz, and tempered in a buest."

During the period of power Kievan Rus majestic Sophia cathedrals are being built in Kiev, Novgorod, Polotsk. Blacksmiths take an active part in construction. Powerful ties are forged - "strands" and belts for fastening walls, vaults and arches. The windows are closed with lattices with beautiful drawings, front doors and gates are assembled from metal "boards". The crate (cranes) for domes and hipped roofs is forged, and as the final link, eight-pointed crosses are assembled and installed on the tops of the domes. Goldsmiths also achieve high craftsmanship, making highly artistic goblets and vases, bowls and brothers, dishes and cups. Products are decorated with perforated carving, engraving, precious stones and embossed embossing.

At the beginning of the XIII century. on the territory of Russia there were numerous feuds that brought death and destruction. Many builders and artisans were killed on the battlefields and taken prisoner. However, from the second half of the XIV century. the country is gradually reviving, including the restoration of crafts - the children and grandchildren of blacksmiths begin to forge plowshares and hoes, scythes and weapons. In 1380, Prince Dmitry Donskoy, having gathered a well-armed army, gave battle on the Kulikovo field. Blacksmiths contributed to the victory in many ways: they dressed the Russian warrior in reliable protective armor - chain mail and helmets; well armed with excellent swords, axes, spears, bows, arrows. IN subsequent years the unification of Russian lands into a single state continues, new cities appear, commodity-money relations develop, the number of artisans grows, and the foundations of industry are laid. However, blacksmithing began to turn into a powerful craft only after mankind learned how to extract iron from ores and raise the temperature of a fire or furnace above 1000 ° C. In the XV century. areas of ironworks were determined in the Moscow region, in the regions of Tula, Serpukhov and Kashira, in the Zamoskovskiy Territory near Beloozero and Poshekhonye, ​​Yaroslavl, Galich and Kostroma, in the Novgorod Territory near Bezhitsa and Ostashkov, in the Ustyuzhensky Territory, in Karelia in the city of Olonets, in Primorye near Yarensk and in Zaonezhye on the so-called Lopsky churchyards. In the same period, blacksmiths began to specialize in regions. Thus, Ustyuzhensk blacksmiths forged cannons, squeaked, cannonballs, and made large quantities of “weapons” against cavalry - “sweeping flyers”. In the area of ​​Beloozero, peasants independently boiled iron and forged nails and staples for ships from it; in Vologda they forged axes, knives, scythes, nails; in Kostroma - steelyards; in Tver - needles, hooks, shoe and wallpaper nails. In the XVI century. The iron industry continues to expand, new ore deposits are discovered near Kashira, where lumpy iron ore came to the surface, Veliky Ustyug and Tula, as well as near the Pomeranian Karelians. An “iron mill” with a water wheel that powered “samoks” was being built on the Lakhoma River in the Vychegda region, and the “Solovki Chronicler” speaks of the existence of iron-making production on the lands of the Solovetsky Monastery.

In the 17th century iron production from peasant-handicraft becomes industrial. In 1631, the first Ural factory on the Nice River began to operate. In the Olonets region, the Ustretsky and Kedrozersky factories forged cannons and cannonballs, and also smelted iron for sale. In 1640, the first copper smelter in Russia was built on the Kamgorka River (not far from Solikamsk).

Gradually, the center of iron production with "water" (driven by a water wheel) hammers moved to Tula, where in 1656–1637. The first blast-furnace plant of the Moscow state was built. At the end of the XVII century. the rich and enterprising blacksmith Nikita Demidovich Antufiev (Demidov; 1662–1725) organized the first iron-making factory in Tula, for which he built a 400-meter dam at the confluence of the Tulitsa River with the Upa, built two high blast furnaces and launched two hammer mills, on which, with the help of " water" hammers forged iron blanks (Fig. 1.0.1). At the same time, turning and drilling machines, powered by a “water” drive, appeared at Tula factories. The 18th century became the century of the wide development of the metallurgical and blacksmithing industries, Tula, on the instructions of Peter I (1672–1725), turned into an all-Russian forge of weapons personnel. In memory of this, a sculpture of Peter I was installed in the city. Highly qualified personnel of Tula blacksmiths-gunsmiths were sent to Ustyuzhna-Zheleznopolskaya, and in 1704 170 craftsmen went to a large factory in the Olonets region. Tula gunsmiths also formed the backbone of skilled workers at the Lipetsk arms factory, founded in 1702.

Rice. 1.0.1.Hammer factory of the 17th century

Choosing Voronezh as a location for shipyards and metallurgical plants, Peter I spared no effort or money to speed up the construction of ships. He attached great importance to the development of metallurgy both in the center of Russia - in the regions of Tula, Kashira, and in the southern regions, which were directly adjacent to Voronezh, as well as in the Urals. In a short time in the south of the Russian state, in the region of Lipetsk, ironworks appeared: Borinsky (1693), Lipetsk - Upper and Lower (1700–1712), Kuzminsky (1706) and later Novopetrovsky (1758) . This was facilitated by deposits of iron ore, huge forests that meet the need for fuel, and abundant supplies of water energy. Rivers intercepted by dams became a source of cheap energy, which was used by iron factories using a water wheel drive. In 1839, an obelisk was erected in Lipetsk to commemorate the work of Peter the Great in the creation of iron factories, with a cast-iron slab with a bas-relief "Forging Volcano" mounted on its pedestal.

With the development of metallurgical production, the need to improve the quality of the iron produced was revealed, and in 1722 Peter I issued a decree according to which all produced iron should be checked and branded with special stamps. Somewhat later (in 1731), a government decree was issued on the hallmarking of Siberian state-owned iron: “Siberian state-owned iron is branded with four hallmarks, namely: 1) - the name of the master who made the iron, 2) at which the iron was made, 3) Russian coat of arms, 4) the name of Brackovshchikovo ... "As a result of Peter the Great's transformations in Russia, already in 1736, at 21 new metallurgical plants, there were 101 blast furnaces and more than 470 flashing lever hammers, and in the 1760s. - already over 120 metallurgical and ironworks, producing about 82,000 tons of pig iron and 49,000 tons of iron per year. At this time, Russia ranks first in the world in the production of cast iron and iron. Russian iron "Old Sable" was highly valued on the world market.

With the development of heavy industry, shipbuilding and artillery, the existing equipment at the end of the 18th century. no longer satisfied technological needs. More powerful forging machines with new types of drive and new technologies were needed. By this time, the great self-taught inventor Ivan Ivanovich Polzunov (1728-1766) had already created the world's first "fire-acting machine for factory needs", which he considered as "a new engine for general use." At the beginning of 1766, Polzunov's first two-cylinder steam engine was tested and showed "serviceable engine operation." Using the principle of operation of the I. Polzunov machine, the English engineer D. Watt (1736–1819) in 1784 received a patent for the world's first steam hammer. However, the introduction of steam hammers into industry is associated with the name of another English machine inventor and industrialist, James Nesmith (1808–1890), who in 1842 built a steam hammer with a mass of falling parts of 3 tons. Soon his hammers began to be used in Russian factories: two steam hammer in 1848 began to work at the Yekaterinburg mechanical factory and the Votkinsk shipbuilding plant. The development of hammer equipment followed the path of increasing the mass of falling parts, which made it possible to produce large forgings for shipbuilding, artillery, and various factory machines. In the middle of the XIX century. the most powerful hammers in the world with a mass of falling parts up to 50 tons were installed at the Obukhov and Perm plants (Fig. 1.0.2). A model of such a hammer was exhibited in 1873 at the World Exhibition in Vienna.

Rice. 1.0.2."Tsar-hammer" Motovilikha plant in Perm.

Where the anchors were forged. Forging anchors is the most complex and responsible type of work, since the fate of the ship depended on the strength and reliability of the anchor. It is known that the first iron two-horned anchor was invented and forged by the Scythian Anacharsis in the 7th century. BC e. from metal obtained from Kerch ore. Until the end of the XVII century. anchors were forged by hand, and then with the help of "water" hammers at anchor factories. Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kazan, Gorodets, Voronezh, Lodeynoye Pole, as well as many cities of the Urals were famous as anchor masters. It is known that the anchor craftsmen of Yaroslavl and Vologda forged about 100 "large two-horned anchors" for the ships of the sea flotilla, built on the orders of Boris Godunov.

The rapid development of Russian shipbuilding under Peter I led to the rapid development of metallurgy and blacksmithing. The anchors for the ships were forged by blacksmiths gathered from all over Russia. By a special decree, Peter I forbade them to forge any products that were not related to the fleet, and ordered the monasteries to pay for their work. The blacksmiths of the first Russian breeders - Demidov, Butenat, Naryshkin, Borin, Aristov, and others - also had to supply anchors. Later, "state-owned iron factories" were established in the Novgorod and Tambov provinces. For the first frigates of the Petrine fleet, which were built in 1702 on the Svir and Pasha rivers, anchors were forged in Olonets, but in 1718 part of the anchor forges were transferred from Olonets to Ladoga, and from there in 1724 to Sestroretsk. IN last years During the reign of Peter I, ten state factories were already working for the needs of the fleet: in the north of the country - Petrovsky (the cities of Beloozero and Kargopol were assigned to it), Izhora, Konchezersky, Ustyretsky, Povenetsky and Tyrnitsky; in the south - Lipetsk, Borinsky and Kuzminsky.

After the death of Peter I, anchor production began to develop in the Urals - at the Votkinsk, Serebryansky, Nizhneturinsky and Izhevsk plants. The first of them was founded in 1759 by P. Shuvalov on the Votka River at the confluence of Berezovka and Sharkan. The abundance of forests, rivers and cheap work force provided the enterprise with rapid development, and it turned into one of the largest mining plants in Russia in the 18th century. Ores for the manufacture of wrought iron were delivered to the Votkinsk plant from Blagodat Mountain along the Chusovaya and Kama rivers. The best wrought iron went to the anchors. Until 1850, at the Votkinsk plant, the welding of all parts of the anchor was carried out in furnaces, but soon they were replaced by welding furnaces that were heated with firewood. Around the same time, a steam hammer with a mass of 4.5 tons of falling parts appeared at the plant, which greatly simplified and improved the technology for manufacturing anchors. In the anchor shop of the Votkinsk plant, depending on the orders for anchors, 250-350 people worked. An artel of one master, several apprentices, two to five workers, not counting those employed in the transportation of coal, worked on each fire of a forge or furnace in each shift. The plant produced anchors weighing from 3 to 300 or more pounds. The heavy anchors of this plant weighing 336 pounds (almost 5.5 tons) were installed on large battleships. By the end of the XVIII century. Izhevsk plant becomes the largest in the Urals. In 1778, 24 anchors weighing 60–250 pounds, 134,553 pounds of iron were forged on it. 110 people were employed in the anchor production of the plant.

Rice. 1.0.3.City forge.

The heaviest Admiralty anchors (weighing up to 10 tons) for the battlecruisers Borodino, Izmail, Kinburn and Navarin were forged in Izhora, where in 1719 the Admiralty factories were founded by decree of Peter I. The forging hammers in these factories were powered by water wheels.

Blacksmith craft in Moscow. The early period of the Iron Age of Moscow can be judged from the materials of archaeological excavations in the village of Dyakova, located on the banks of the Moskva River (near the village of Kolomenskoye), Kuntsevsky and Mamonovsky settlements. However, only under Yuri Dolgoruky did Moscow become a city with a developed handicraft and trade. On the Kremlin cape and on the settlement, the “urban basis of life” is developing (Fig. 1.0.3). Metallurgical and blacksmithing production was developed here - archaeologists discovered blast furnaces, clots of slag, and crackers. On the territory of modern Zaryadye, a large workshop (6.5 × 4.5 m in size) of bloomery and foundry production and a site for the manufacture of bronze pinheads were excavated, and near the Kitaygorod wall, a foundry and blacksmith workshop, which housed a house and a foundry section.

As the city grows, all crafts associated with fire, due to the fear of fires, are gradually forced out of the territory of the Great Posad beyond the rivers Moscow, Yauza, Neglinnaya, since the rivers are a good protection of the city from fire. Craft settlements are created on the sites of settlements: blacksmiths, foundry workers, potters, etc.

From the 16th century Moscow blacksmiths begin to work on imported iron raw materials - a way of life that they received from Novgorod, Ustyuzhna-Zheleznopolskaya, Serpukhov and Tikhvin. Since that time, blacksmiths have been divided into gunsmiths, armorers, locksmiths, etc. Blacksmiths-gunsmiths forged "white" (cold) and firearms, wove chain mail, and armored masters forged plates for armor. For the first time, plate armor - “plank armor” - is mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle. Forged convex plates (200-600 pieces) were attached to leather shirts with an overlap, which increased the overall thickness of the armor, and the curvature of the plates softened saber blows. In the XV-XVI centuries. there is a "fusion" of ringed and plate armor. The neck and shoulders of the warrior are covered with a steel necklace, the chest is a mirror, and the hands are protected by iron vambraces.

Armored masters settled in separate “armored” settlements located in the area of ​​​​modern Bolshaya and Malaya Bronny streets, and the city of Bronnitsy was already known in the 15th century. as a supplier of armor to the sovereign's army. The high quality of the work of the Moscow blacksmiths-gunsmiths can be judged by the fact that many kings and princes had weapons and armor of the "Moscow forge". So, in the inventory of weapons and armor of Boris Godunov there was the following entry: "Moscow Rogatin, Moscow spear, shells, helmets." In the Armory there is a knife of Prince Andrey Staritsky (youngest son of Grand Duke Ivan III) of Russian work of the 16th century, the blade of the knife is damask with a gold notch and the Russian inscription: “Prince Ondrey Ivanovich, years 7021”, which, translated into modern chronology, means 1513. It is known that damask blades were forged by Moscow masters Nil Prosvita, Dmitry Konovalov and Bogdan Ipatiev. Highly appreciating the art of blacksmithing, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich sent students "to learn damask saber bands" to Astrakhan. Helmets of the Moscow vykov not only successfully competed with Western ones, but were also considered especially valuable armor in the royal treasury. Decorated with gold, silver or gilded copper overlays, they were expensive, and they were worn mainly by princes and boyars. When moving, as the chroniclers note, the helmets sparkled and shimmered in the rays of the sun and gave the impression of "golden helmets". A unique example of Russian blacksmithing and jewelry art can be considered a damask helmet (or “Jericho cap”), which is exhibited in the Armory. This is a ceremonial helmet forged by the famous Kremlin blacksmith-gunsmith Nikita Davydov (from Murom) for Tsar Mikhail Romanov. Tula from damask steel decorated with the finest gold carving. Earpieces and the visor of the helmet are decorated with pearls and Russian gems. The front of the helmet is decorated with a chased gilded brow, colored enamels and precious stones. And around the tip of the helmet there is a belt of arabesques - an Arabic saying from the Koran. This saying was translated into Russian by the greatest connoisseur of the Arabic language T.G. Chernichenko: “And please the believers.”

Kuznetsov of Moscow can also be considered the founders of Russian artillery. From the annals it is known that during the defense of Moscow from the hordes of Khan Tokhtamysh in 1382, Russian troops used artillery: cannons that fired stone cannonballs, and "mattresses" that fired "shot", i.e., buckshot. Starting from the XV century. Moscow becomes a major metallurgical and blacksmithing center. Here the Cannon hut was created, which later became the first metallurgical plant in Russia with a mechanism driven by water-filled wheels. “At the end of the 15th century. A large foundry for that time was built - the Cannon Yard. It was a foundry and forging industry, with several foundry barns and blacksmith workshops. To set in motion all kinds of mechanisms - furs, hammers, etc. - on the Neglinnaya River in the 17th century. several large water-filled wheels were supplied, for which it was blocked by a dam, ”it is written in the guide“ Through the streets of Moscow ”about the emergence of the Cannon Yard, and according to the plan that has survived to this day, one can imagine how the workshops were located (Fig. 1.0.4) . N.I. Falkovsky in the book “Moscow in the History of Technology” gives a description of this largest arms factory in Russia: “The equipment of the enterprise was as follows: there was a barn in which there was a large hammer, with a large anvil chair, a forge and two large water furs. There was a special forge of cannon smiths with an anvil. There were six machine tools for drilling gun barrels with water in the barn... In the blacksmith barn there was a large hammer and anvils, where barrel boards were forged with water. The hammer fist weighed 245 kg, and the anvil - over 400 kg and was mounted on a powerful wooden pedestal - a chair. The custard forge had 10 forges. Among the tools were: an anvil with forks for bending barrel boards, ten barrel cores (crutches), five hooks on which barrels are bent. 134 people worked at the plant at that time, among them 14 cannon smiths. The main products of the plant in those years were guns, cannonballs, and various types of edged weapons. The squeaks and pistols of Russian gunsmiths were distinguished not only by their original finish, but were also equipped with a flintlock ... In addition, orders were made for the city - tongues for bells, shackles and various components for machine tools and various machines, gates for the Kremlin and the White City, were forged, various household and artistic products. From the 15th century they begin to make cannons from bronze, and later from cast iron.

Rice. 1.0.4.Cannon Yard is the first major metallurgical center in Russia.

Starting from the XV century. the Moscow army no longer went on a campaign without artillery. So, the walls of Kazan could not withstand the destructive fire of artillery of the troops of Ivan the Terrible. Peter I from a young age was interested in arms factories. While in Moscow, on one of the holidays, after a solemn service and dinner with the boyars, he went to the Cannon Yard. There he ordered the cannons to be fired at the target and the bombs to be thrown, and, to the horror of the boyars, he himself lit the fuse and fired the cannon. He demanded to indicate the most experienced artilleryman who served in the Cannon Order, from whom he wanted to learn. And in the future, cannon supplies, “funny lights” for fireworks were delivered from here to Peter I for training sessions. "Cannon smiths" worked not only in the "yard", but also in the so-called dungeons in the Spassky, Nikolsky monasteries, in workshops at warehouses, as well as on campaigns. In 1698, the first artillery school was opened at the Cannon Yard. In 1648, a branch of the Cannon Yard was built on the Yauza River - the "Barrel Mill", which was intended for "forging with water" cannon musket and carbine barrels, iron boards, wire - "drawn" and white iron. It should be noted that the technology for manufacturing artillery pieces was very complex and responsible. At first, boards were forged from the crown (Fig. 1.0.5) - metal sheets up to 10 mm thick (for guns), 1900 mm wide and 1400 mm long; then the edges were prepared for longitudinal and transverse (butt) welding; the boards were bent into a tube on a grooved anvil or lining and the longitudinal seam of the trunk was overlapped on the mandrel. After that, end welding on the mandrel of two middle links of the barrel and end welding to the middle links of the barrel of the extreme parts of the barrel adjacent to the breech and to the muzzle tube were carried out. The requirements for the quality of forging barrels were stipulated by a special decree of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich of 1628: “The executors would squeak for shooting, and so that there were no squeaks and squeaks in those squeakers and would be straight, so that they would be solid for shooting.” By the beginning of the XVIII century. The cannon yard was a large metallurgical center of Russia, which employed about 500 people. However, the development of metallurgical and weapons factories in Novgorod, Pskov, Ustyuzhna-Zheleznopolskaya, Vologda, Tula and the Urals gradually reduces the importance of the Cannon Yard, and at the end of the 18th century. it was already turning into an arsenal, and in 1802 it was abolished: “On April 16, it was ordered to hand over all the weapons stored in it to the Arsenal, to dismantle the buildings and use the materials for the construction of the Stone Yauza Bridge.”

Rice. 1.0.5.Forged cannon manufacturing technology.

Since the 17th century in Moscow and other large cities of the country, extensive construction of palace and park ensembles begins, and many blacksmith workshops switch to the manufacture of large and small fences, window bars, visors and finials. The uniqueness of old Moscow streets is explained by the presence of a large number of openwork forged fences, balcony railings and light lace canopies of entrances of the 17th-19th centuries. Famous masters of classicism, architects of Moscow V. Bazhenov, O. Bove, M. Kazakov, D. Gilardi, I. Vitali, representatives of modern A. Erickson, V. Walcott, F. Shekhtel, as well as architects of the Soviet school A. Shchusev, D Chechulin, V. Schuko widely used forged metal in the creation of palaces, mansions, houses and parks. The most interesting are the fences made in the Moscow Baroque style of the second half of the 18th century according to the pattern of forged metal. (Fig. 1.0.6). Powerful stone pillars contrast with the “light and playful” forged pattern (photo 1.0.2). Yaroslavl blacksmiths, using plant motifs, forged the gates and the fence of the courtyard of the former chambers of the boyar Volkov (photo 1.0.3), which is in Bolshoy Kharitonievsky lane, house 21, but here the pattern is already completely symmetrical and composed of heart-shaped bends of the stems - the “chervonok” (a favorite motif of Russian decorative art of the 18th–19th centuries). The places of weaving are closed with beautiful stamped rosettes.

Rice. 1.0.6.The fences of the temples, made in the Moscow baroque style. 18th century

Since the 19th century when designing fences, artists and architects are beginning to widely use industrial long products, as a result of which general drawing fences become more strict, straight lines predominate, finials are made in the form of balls or peaks. This period includes the fences of the building of the Moscow English Club, made in the style of Moscow classicism (now the State Central Museum modern history Russia) and the old building of the Library. V. I. Lenin (Pashkov's house). Openwork forged lattices look amazing against the background of the former palace buildings of the Kuskovo, Kuzminki, Arkhangelskoye estates near Moscow. Owning numerous blacksmith and metalwork workshops in the city of Pavlovo-on-Oka, Count Sheremetev, using the labor of serf blacksmiths, decorated his estate in Kuskovo with masterpieces of art. The window grating of the grotto (architect F. Argunov) resembles the vegetation of the underwater kingdom (photo 1.0.4). It is interesting to note that Ivan Gorbun, the father of the famous actress Praskovya Ivanovna Kovaleva-Zhemchugova, worked as a blacksmith in Kuskovo.

In Moscow, the largest number of fences and lattices of the late XIX - early XX century. made in modern style. The asymmetrical twists of the forged stems create some kind of fluid ornament of merging, intertwining and entangling outlandish plants. The pattern from the gratings often passes to the wall of the house already in stone or plaster, spills over the entire facade and ends with powerful waves on the cornice or in the pattern of the roof parapet. The grilles of the mansion in Kropotkinsky Lane and the Metropol Hotel are made in this style (Fig. 1.0.7 a, b) and the canopy of the National Hotel (photo 1.0.5), a large number of houses along Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street.

Rice. 1.0.7.Moscow fences in the Art Nouveau style: a - a mansion in Kropotkinsky lane; b - hotel "Metropol".

This class also includes the balcony grille of house 20 on Prechistenka Street (photo 1.0.6), and the unique fence of the mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard, house 25 (photo 1.0.7), fences and balcony grilles of the M. Gorky House-Museum on Spiridonovka (photo 1.0.8). A forged umbrella over the entrance to the former pharmacy No. 1 on Nikolskaya Street can be called a genuine blacksmith's "symphony" (photo 1.0.9). The umbrella is assembled from complex blacksmith products: on top, like candles, twisted knobs with leaves and curls lined up, the side and front walls of the umbrella consist of a diamond-shaped mesh with interceptions in knots and a garland along the lower edge. Stylized buds hang from the corners, and acanthus leaves with spirals intricately wriggle along the brackets. At the entrance of this house there are unique lamps in the form of trees (photo 1.0.10).

The umbrella that opened over the entrance to the building of the Russian University for the Humanities on Nikolskaya Street is made in pseudo-Gothic style. The pattern of forged elements is as if drawn with a compass and a ruler: slotted shamrocks, four-bladed rosettes, lancet arches. The iron lace of the umbrella, as it were, merges with the stone carvings of the pilasters of the building and, “capturing” the lancet windows, rises to the roof parapet and tops.

Coming out to the Red Square and approaching the Execution Ground, you can see a forged gate with an openwork pattern in the Renaissance style. The central part of the lattice link is filled with a spiral with a fantastic animal, whose legs and tail are twisted with the basis of the lattice.

Moscow blacksmiths were the first craftsmen who started making watches. From the ancient Russian chronicle, we learn about the construction of the first tower clock in Moscow Russia: “... and this watchmaker will be called a watchmaker,” and further: “In the summer of 6912 (1404) ... Prince Vasily conceived a watchmaker and put it in his yard.” The watch was made by the learned Serbian monk Lazar from Cape Athos, and they were installed on one of the towers of the white-stone Kremlin. Tower clocks with chimes and bell music became especially widespread in the 16th and 17th centuries. (Fig. 1.0.8). They were staged in large monasteries, in cities. At the end of the XVI century. in the Moscow Kremlin, clocks were installed on three towers: Spasskaya, Taynitskaya and Troitskaya, and at the beginning of the 17th century. - on Nikolskaya. In the first half of the XVII century. in Moscow, under the guidance of the English mechanic Galoway, work was underway to build a new large clock on the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin. This clock with a moving dial and with a complex device for bell music (chimes) gained great fame. A little later, the master of the Armory, Pyotr Vysotsky, installed a tower clock in Kolomenskoye over the new stone gates. These clocks had a complex mechanism for moving the dial and a hammer drive for eight "reversible" bells.

Rice. 1.0.8.The first Moscow chapel.

It should be noted that when creating watch movements, high precision was required in the manufacture of a large number of complex parts and fitting them to each other. All parts of the clock mechanism were made by skilled blacksmiths. At first, wheels and gears of various sizes, shafts and axles were forged, and a frame was assembled from thick forged strips. After that, a large number of chain links were forged, and painstaking work began on assembling and debugging watches. The work was complicated by the fact that the dimensions of some parts reached 5 m or more, and their mass reached tens and hundreds of kilograms. And on such wheels and gears, it was necessary to forge a strictly defined number of teeth with high accuracy “by step”. Thus, watchmaking technology has been around since the 15th century. demanded theoretical knowledge in the field of mathematics and astronomy, without which it was impossible to either build clocks or regulate their course.

At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. Moscow was characterized not only by the growth of large "metal" enterprises, which required a large amount of iron, cast iron, steel for the production of various products and structures, wire, nails, rails, etc., but also by the growth in the number of forges. City forges were divided into public and house forges. The public were to be attached one to the other, forming the Blacksmith's Row. House forges were usually located in separate areas and were wooden, stone or combined, one-story or two-story. The forges themselves were located on the first floor, while the living quarters were on the second.

The origins of blacksmithing go back to ancient times. We find the first mention of blacksmiths in the myths of ancient Greece: from the time when the divine blacksmith Hephaestus forged nails for the crucifixion of Prometheus on a Caucasian rock. This is where the history of blacksmithing began.

The name of Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, etymologically means "blacksmith". Among his descendants was Tubal Cain, who chose blacksmithing. The Bible identifies him as the inventor of various kinds of copper and iron tools used both for agriculture and for military operations. One of the first mentions of blacksmiths is in the story of the construction of the Jerusalem Temple under King Shlomo. Among those who built the walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah were blacksmiths who made doors and gates with locks and bolts. In Jerusalem, before its capture by the Romans in 70 BC, some streets and quarters were inhabited exclusively by blacksmiths.

In Russia, iron was known to the early Slavs. The oldest method of metal processing is forging. At first, ancient people beat spongy iron with mallets in a cold state in order to "squeeze the juice out of it", i.e. remove impurities. Then they began to heat the metal and give it the desired shape.

Already in the 7th-9th centuries. the Slavs have special settlements of metallurgists. Forges in Slavic settlements were located away from residential buildings, near rivers: the blacksmith constantly needed fire in the forge to soften the metal and water to cool finished products. Blacksmithing was considered by the Slavs to be a mysterious and even witchcraft occupation. No wonder the very word "blacksmith" is related to the word "intrigues". The blacksmith, like the plowman, was a beloved hero of Slavic folklore.

In the products of the ancient Slavs, the ornament is very calm, and the images do not inspire fear in a person. A resident of the endless wilds, the ancient Slav saw in fantastic creatures that inhabited, as he believed, forests, waters and swamps, not so much his enemies as patrons. They protected and protected him. He felt involved in their lives, and therefore in art, in forged products, he sought to emphasize this indissoluble bond. The artistic tastes and skills that formed then did not disappear with the rise of feudalism and the adoption of Christianity.

The process of feudalization led to the formation in the 9th century. Kievan Rus, a large state that quickly gained fame throughout the world of that time.

The name of the legendary founder of the city of Kiev - Kiy - is related to the word "forge"; the name itself could mean "club", "hammer". In Ukraine, legends are known about how a blacksmith harnessed a monstrous snake to a plow and forced it to plow furrows that became riverbeds or were preserved in the form of ancient fortifications - “serpent shafts”. In these legends, the blacksmith is not only the creator of handicraft tools, but also the creator of the surrounding world, the natural landscape.

The complexity of the process singled out blacksmiths from the community and made them the first artisans. In ancient times, blacksmiths themselves smelted the metal and then forged it. The necessary accessories of a blacksmith - a forge (smelting furnace) for heating a cracker, a poker, a crowbar (pick), an iron shovel, an anvil, a hammer (sledgehammer), a variety of tongs for extracting red-hot iron from the furnace and working with it - this is a set of tools necessary for melting and forging works.

For Kievan Rus, the adoption of Christianity was of progressive importance. It contributed to a more organic and deeper assimilation of all the best that Byzantium, which was advanced for that time, had.

In the X-XI centuries, thanks to the development of metallurgy and other crafts, the Slavs had a plow and a plow with an iron plowshare. On the territory of ancient Kiev, archaeologists find sickles, door locks and other things made by blacksmiths, gunsmiths and jewelers.

In the 10th century, above-ground stoves appeared, the air was pumped into them with the help of leather bellows. The furs were inflated by hand. And this work made the cooking process very difficult. Archaeologists still find signs of local metal production on the settlements - waste from the cheese-making process in the form of slag.

In the 11th century, metallurgical production was already widespread both in the city and in the countryside. The raw material for obtaining iron was swamp and lake ores, which did not require complex technology for processing and were widespread in the forest-steppe. The Russian principalities were located in the zone of ore deposits, and blacksmiths were almost everywhere provided with raw materials.

Very quickly, the culture of Kievan Rus reached a high level, competing with the culture not only of Western Europe, but also of Byzantium. Kiev, one of the largest and richest cities in Europe in the 11th-12th centuries, experienced a brilliant heyday. According to Titmar of Merseburg, a German writer of the early 11th century, there were several hundred churches and many markets in Kiev, which indicates a brisk trade and vigorous building activity. The applied art of Kievan Rus, the art of blacksmiths, was distinguished by high skill. Having gained distribution in everyday life, it equally manifested itself in cult objects (salaries, carved icons, folding crosses, church utensils, etc.).

Written sources have not preserved to us the forging technique and the basic techniques of ancient Russian blacksmiths. But the study of ancient forged products allows historians to say that the ancient Russian blacksmiths knew all the most important techniques: welding, punching holes, torsion, riveting plates, welding steel blades and steel hardening. In each forge, as a rule, two blacksmiths worked - a master and an assistant. In the XI-XIII centuries. the foundry partly became isolated, and the blacksmiths took up the direct forging of iron products. In Ancient Russia, any metal worker was called a blacksmith: "blacksmith of iron", "blacksmith of copper", "blacksmith of silver".

The simplest forged products include: knives, hoops and buds for tubs, nails, sickles, braids, chisels, awls, shovels and pans, i.e. items that do not require special techniques. Any blacksmith alone could make them. More complex forged products: chains, door breaks, iron rings from belts and harnesses, bits, lighters, spears - already required welding, which was carried out by experienced blacksmiths with the help of assistants.

The production of weapons and military armor was especially developed. Swords and battle axes, quivers with arrows, sabers and knives, chain mail, helmets and shields were produced by master gunsmiths. The manufacture of weapons and armor was associated with especially careful metal processing, requiring skillful work techniques. Russian helmets-shishaks were riveted from iron wedge-shaped strips. The well-known helmet of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, thrown by him on the battlefield of Lipetsk in 1216, belongs to this type of helmet. It is an excellent example of Russian weapons and jewelry of the XII-XIII centuries.

In the XI-XIII centuries, urban craftsmen worked for a wide market, i.e. production is on the rise.

In the XIII century, a number of new craft centers were created with their own characteristics in technology and style. But we do not observe any decline in the craft from the second half of the 12th century, as it is sometimes asserted, either in Kiev or in other places. On the contrary, culture grows, covering new areas and inventing new techniques. In the second half of the 12th century and in the 13th century, despite the unfavorable conditions of feudal fragmentation, Russian craft reached its fullest technical and artistic flourishing. The development of feudal relations and feudal ownership of land in the XII - the first half of the XIII century. caused a change in the form of the political system, which found its expression in feudal fragmentation, i.e. creation of relatively independent states-principalities. During this period, blacksmithing, plumbing and weapons, forging and stamping continued to develop in all principalities. In rich farms, more and more plows with iron shares began to appear. Masters are looking for new ways of working. Novgorod gunsmiths in the 12th - 13th centuries, using new technology, began to produce blades of sabers of much greater strength, hardness and flexibility.

In the architecture of Ukraine 14-17 centuries. Fortress architecture was of great importance. The territory of Ukraine then represented the arena of fierce struggle (Poland, Lithuania, Hungary), was subjected to devastating raids of the Tatar and then Turkish hordes. As a result, the products of blacksmiths also served to protect the fatherland, and decorative means were used very restrainedly.

From the middle of the XIII century, the dominion of the Golden Horde was established over Kievan Rus. Events 1237 - 1240 became perhaps the most tragic in the centuries-old history of our people. The cities of the Middle Ages suffered irreparable damage. The craftsmanship accumulated over the centuries was almost lost. After the Mongol conquest, a number of techniques familiar to Kievan Rus disappeared, and archaeologists did not find many objects common to the era preceding the yoke. Because of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in the XIII-XV centuries. there has been a significant lag in the development of the cities of feudal Russia from the cities of Western Europe, in which the bourgeois class begins to emerge. A small number of household items of the 14th-15th centuries have survived to our time, but even they make it possible to judge how the development of crafts in Russia gradually resumed. From the middle of the XIV century. a new boom in handicraft production began. At this time, especially in connection with the increased military needs, iron processing became more widespread, the centers of which were Novgorod, Moscow and other Russian cities.

In the second half of the XIV century. For the first time in the country, Russian blacksmiths made forged and riveted cannons. An example of the high technical and artistic skill of Russian gunsmiths is the steel spear of the Tver prince Boris Alexandrovich, which has survived to this day, made in the first half of the 15th century. It is decorated with gilded silver depicting various figures.

From the middle of the 16th century in Ukrainian architecture, the influence of Renaissance art is felt. The influence of northern Italian, German and Polish art is most noticeable in the architecture and applied arts of the cities of Western Ukraine, especially Lviv. The spirit of medieval aloofness and asceticism was replaced by secular aspirations. The motives of nature, inspired by the landscapes of the Carpathian region, are lovingly conveyed in the products of blacksmith masters. The ornament, decoration "vine" has found wide application.

In full force, the artistic features of iron were revealed later, especially in Ukrainian art of the 17th-18th centuries.

Window openings were closed with openwork wrought iron bars, gardens and parks were decorated with skillfully made wrought iron fences and wrought iron gates. Richly decorated iron doors with forging elements decorated stone temples, palaces, in the construction of which masters of all types of crafts took part.

In the 18th century, forging was widely used to make fences for city estates, mansions, and churchyards. The technique of iron casting competes with it, displacing forging as an expensive work. But the originality of artistic solutions, which is achieved by forging, retains interest in it in the 19th century.

In 1837 A new master plan for Kiev was approved. In 1830-50s. a number of large public and administrative buildings were built in the city: the Institute of Noble Maidens (1838-42 architect V.I. Beretti), the Kiev University Ensemble (1837-43 Beretti), offices (1854-57 M.S. Ikonnikov ). A new type of buildings appeared - tenement houses, which had floors for shops, a hotel, a restaurant, an office.

The fantasy and skill of blacksmiths, ingenuity, mastery of technology, excellent knowledge of the features and capabilities of metal made it possible to create highly artistic works of blacksmithing, an infinitely large and expressive world of forged metal.

The use of forms of various historical styles - Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, as well as many oriental elements, led to the emergence of eclecticism.

Fancy patterns are created from bindings. In fences, balcony railings, stairs design, everything is dominated by capricious curvilinear outlines, stylization of plant motifs, especially herbs, flowers, with curved stems and bizarre petal shapes.

In the 20th century, decorative forged metal was replaced by welded structures, which is associated with the development of rolling and stamping industries, artistic forging began to be simplified.

The variety of directions and concepts in architecture and applied arts contradicted the goals of the totalitarian regime that was being formed at that time. By the beginning of the 1930s, the authorities had established tight control over art and architecture. The main components of the Soviet decorative art of 1920-30s are simplicity and functionalism. The totalitarian government perceived the formal search for artists and architects as too apolitical, too democratic, not amenable to ideological control. The violation of democratic principles in the life of society was reflected in the creative atmosphere. The foundation of the creative process was violated - the artist's freedom of expression. The years of Stalinism are one of the most tragic periods in the history of art in our country. The method of socialist realism, shackled by the rigid framework of directives, is the only direction of art in the 30-50s. Blacksmithing was recognized as "bourgeois" and ceased to exist for a long time. Only after the collapse of the USSR and the fall of the socialist. blacksmithing system got the opportunity for uncensored, creative development.

Currently, the popularity of forged products is growing. Decorating a house, garden, apartment and office with forged interior items has become "fashionable" among wealthy people. Nothing can transform, emphasize the individuality of an apartment, house, garden as truly beautiful and stylish forged interior details. And this is indisputable, since it is artistic forging that is one of the last "living" crafts in our age of standard products produced in mass circulation.

The revival of artistic forging is of great importance for modern arts and crafts.

The first metals mastered by people were gold, silver, copper and its alloys. This is due to the existence of these metals in their native form, chemical resistance and ease of cold processing. The fusibility of copper made it the first metal smelted by man. The oldest finds of copper products date back to the 7th millennium BC. e. These were jewelry forged from native copper (beads, tubes folded from flattened sheets ...). Then metallurgical copper and copper alloys with other metals appear (regardless of composition, bronzes are called by historians). It was alloys (arsenic, tin and other bronzes), due to their greater hardness and wear resistance, that took first place as a technological metal (material for tools). They also became the basis of the emerging metallurgy of alloys.

Ore deposits of copper with access to the surface are not numerous. Places of copper mining, important for the development of the ancient world, were located in Asia Minor, whose inhabitants were the first to master the art of mining and smelting copper. So, in Egypt, where the deposits of copper ore are negligible, it was imported from the Sinai Peninsula. The ancient Egyptians denoted copper with the hieroglyph "ankh", denoting eternal life, the planet Venus and the female gender. The Greek name for copper "chalkos" is formed by the name of the main city of the island of Euboea, on which there was a deposit, from where the ancient Greeks first began to receive copper. The Roman, and then the Latin name for the metal "cuprum" comes from the Latin name of the island of Cyprus (in turn, derived from the Assyrian "kipar" = copper). Copper was mainly smelted on the island and exported in the form of ingots, in the form of stretched oxhide. Ore was also exported to countries that were close, such as Syria. This is evidenced by the finds of ore in Ras Shamra (analyses confirm the origin).

One of the regions rich in copper ores was the mountains of the Caucasus, especially Transcaucasia, where more than four hundred ancient copper deposits are known. On the basis of deposits in Transcaucasia at the beginning of the III millennium BC. e. there is its own metallurgical hearth. Already from the middle of the III millennium BC. e. The Caucasus supplied the steppe tribes of the Northern Black Sea, Don and Volga regions with its metallurgical products and retained this role for almost 1000 years. Therefore, the first period in the history of metallurgy in Eastern Europe is quite rightly called the Caucasian. However, there were other centers, such as, for example, the Dono - Donetsk region, where there is archaeological evidence of independent smelting of copper by the tribes of the Catacomb culture, from the copper ore deposits of the Donetsk Ridge.

Basically, the Copper Age of Eastern Europe arose on "imported" material. Copper for items found on the lands of modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are of Balkan, Caucasian and South Ural origin. So the finds of copper products in the proto-cities of the Trypillia culture (Ukraine, Moldova) were created from Balkan copper. A lot of raw materials were obtained by the tribes of Eastern Europe from the deposits of the Dzungarian and Zailiysky Alatau (modern Kazakhstan) and even workings in the Sayans. They were brought with them by the nomadic peoples of the Great Steppe. Rarely, but there are products made of copper from Scandinavian deposits.

Talking about the blacksmiths of the "copper age" is not entirely correct. Actually blacksmith forging was rarely used for processing, more often the product was cast. The fact is that copper is different in properties from iron. If a copper object is heated and thrown into water, it will not become harder (harden), but will become softer (annealing or tempering). Copper only gets harder with time. An artificial way to make the cutting edge of a copper product harder is hardening (a series of light blows). Long before the arrival of the Slavs in Eastern Europe, the ancient peoples of Eurasia mastered various casting technologies: in an open and then in a closed mold, and the most advanced technique - investment casting. Most of the copper products were made in the "rough" right at the place of extraction. For example, in the southern Urals, it is not uncommon to find batches of cast bronze sickles prepared for further sale.

In fact, forging (percussion) technologies for copper products at that time mainly concerned finishing - chasing, engraving, polishing or coating products (fragments) with blackening, gold or silver ... At the turn of the 2-3 millennium, information appeared that corrected the opinion about the established ideas about the history of metallurgy Europe as the periphery of ancient Eastern civilizations. Based on archaeological research carried out up to 2001 at the sites of the Danube region (Romania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria and eastern Serbia), archaeometallurgists came to the conclusion that the Vinca civilization (5500-4000 BC) was familiar with the mining, smelting and processing of copper to the Middle East regions. The source of the metal was the early Eneolithic mines, such as Rudna Glava (near Maidanpek), the Belovode and Belolitsa deposits (near Petrovets on Mlava) ... Perhaps here is the cradle of European metallurgy.

iron age

Man has known iron (Fe) for a very long time, but it was meteoric iron. In 1818, the polar expedition of the Englishman J. Ross found a large iron meteorite on the shore of Melville Bay (Melville Bay) in the northeast of Greenland. At the end of the 19th century, one of the expeditions of Robert Peary to the north of Greenland (near Cape York) found a huge iron meteorite (weighing about 34 tons). For many years, the Eskimos separated small pieces of iron from these "heavenly stones" and made knives and harpoon tips and other tools from them. Ancient chronicles speak of weapons made from the "metal of the sky", which belonged to heroes or generals. Products made of meteoric iron are easily distinguished by their high nickel content. But this resource did not satisfy the needs of mankind.

Around 1200 BC, the "Iron Age" began - a person crossed the temperature barrier and learned how to get iron from ores. An open fire (bonfire flame) can give a temperature of 600-700˚С. Temperatures of 800-1000˚С are obtained in a closed pottery furnace, and there is already a possibility of obtaining grains of pure metal. Only in a cheese-blast furnace can temperatures up to 1100˚-1300˚С be ensured. and confidently receive reduced iron. Metal grains are interspersed in a spongy mass of oxides and slags (critsu). This was not a surprise for the ancient smelters - molten copper is characterized by active gas absorption, so castings from it also turn out to be spongy, porous and require further forging. Therefore, the cooled iron crack is crushed, pieces with metal are taken away and forged again. Only in furnaces of a special design (with intensive pressurization) does the metal melt and flow into the lower part of the hearth, so that the slag floats on it. This technology leads to the carburization of iron and the production of cast iron, which is not amenable to forging.

Traditionally, the discovery of iron smelting from ores is attributed to the Asia Minor people of the Khalibs, because the Greek name for iron (steel) Χάλυβας comes from this people. Aristotle left a description of the "Khalib" process of obtaining iron, from enrichment by rock flotation to smelting using certain additives (flux? alloying?). It follows from the text that the resulting metal was silver in color and did not rust! Indeed, the first samples of iron of terrestrial origin were found in the Middle East in the form of small shapeless lumps (Che-ger-Bozer, Iraq) and date back to 3000 BC. The most ancient iron products also include two items found during excavations in Egypt: one in a pyramid built 2900 BC, and the other in Abydos in a burial ground built 300 years later.

According to scientists, metallurgy arose independently in a number of places on the globe - various peoples mastered it in different time. This was facilitated by a much greater distribution of iron-containing compounds than copper-containing ones. So everywhere different peoples mastered the process of obtaining iron from "meadow" ores. These raw materials are loose, porous formations, consisting mainly of limonite with an admixture of iron oxide hydrates, sand (clay) with phosphoric, humic and silicic acids. It is formed by subsoil waters with the participation of microorganisms in marshes and wet meadows. Thanks to the biological component, this raw material is constantly renewed and for local needs such a source in First stage development of iron production was "inexhaustible" and widespread.

Smelting and processing of iron

Many blacksmiths bought finished metal from smelters, which they could melt, pour into a mold, stamp, draw, bend, twist, forge, mint, weld into a single product (forge welding), etc. All these techniques, like iron metallurgy, were known to various peoples (Baltic, Fino-Ugric and Turkic) of Eastern Europe long before the appearance of the Slavs. Many peoples of the Asian part of the former USSR knew and processed iron. Shoeing horses is related to both blacksmithing and veterinary orthopedics.

Forging

For details see: forging.

Forging is the main technical action of a blacksmith. It includes drawing, cutting, upsetting, stitching, bending, torsion (twisting), finishing, embossing of a pattern, relief and texture printing, and in addition, forge welding, casting, copper brazing, heat treatment of products, etc. It is produced exclusively with heated metal, which fundamentally distinguishes blacksmiths from locksmiths, craftsmen in cold metal working. Originally, the word locksmith meant "locksmith", from the German lock (Schloss) or key (Schlüssel). In the future, before the appearance of machine tool masters, this was the name of all craftsmen who processed metal with cold. For example, blacksmiths and locksmiths can connect individual parts into a single product with one technique - riveting, but forging (forge welding) is exclusively a blacksmith's technique, just like soldering is a plumbing one.

A large number of identical shaped metal products can be made by stamping, which can be hot or cold. This method is also referred to as blacksmithing and plumbing.

Casting

See more: casting.

Instruments

In the forge you can find a lot of equipment, tools and fixtures. The main (mandatory) equipment includes temperature-setting: a hearth (a device for heating blanks) and a container with water (for cooling). This should also include a large (main) anvil. Blacksmith tools and accessories for manual forging can be divided into: the main one - with the help of which the workpiece is given the shape and dimensions corresponding to the original plan (drawing, sketch, drawing ...). Distinguish between support, percussion and auxiliary. Percussion: hammers (sledgehammers), hand hammers and various shaped hammers. Support: various anvils and spurs. Auxiliary: A) Different kinds tongs and grippers, fixtures and small-scale mechanization ... Used to capture, support and rotate workpieces during forging, as well as to transport them to perform other operations In general, everything that comes into contact with the workpiece, but does not participate in forging (does not touch the anvil , hammer and working area of ​​the workpiece). This also includes a vice and various devices (knobs, keys) used, for example, for torsion (twisting), a bending plate (steel plates with holes into which rods are inserted according to a given pattern and dimensions and a hot workpiece is bent around them). B) Chisels, blacksmith axes, undercuts, undercuts, which are used to cut (chop off) the workpiece to obtain a forging of the required length. C) Punches (beards), firmware ... They punch (cut through) holes in the workpiece various shapes, and expand them if necessary. Facilitate and speed up the work of a blacksmith fixtures, which can be divided into: overhead, underlay and paired. Overhead devices: Heels and trowels, clamping, crimping, rolling ... They are temporarily applied or installed on the surface of the workpiece and beaten with a hammer, which smoothes the surface or vice versa, deforms it, to reduce the thickness (of the entire profile), create thinnings (annular on round workpieces or grooves on the plates) ...

Backing tool: bottoms, special fixtures and forms. They put it between the workpiece and the anvil, after which they hit the workpiece. This is how the profile of the workpiece is bent or formed. Separately, there are nailers for forging heads (hats) of nails, bolts and other fastening tools. Pair instrument: consists of pairs of the two previous instruments. For example, it makes it possible to make a regular polyhedron from a cylinder.

Measuring (measuring) devices and devices: compasses, measuring compasses (with scales) and calipers, gauges of low accuracy (corks, rings), iron rulers and tape measures, goniometers, patterns, stencils and others. All of them are used to control the size and shape of the workpiece. Separately, there are various pyrometers to measure the temperature of the processed part of the workpiece and the combustion zone of the forge.

Only the main tools, equipment and devices are named and classified. In addition to them, there are many others, with the help of which blacksmiths used to perform a lot of specific operations, which are currently fully automated on industrial enterprises. So drawing boards were used for drawing (manufacturing) wire. These are steel plates with a number of calibrated holes, the diameter of which increases with a given step. The blacksmith took a workpiece (rod), heated it along its entire length, processed (narrowed) one of the edges with a handbrake, inserted boards into the hole, on the other hand grabbed the end with tongs and pulled the workpiece through the hole. Thus, he evenly reduced the diameter of the workpiece and lengthened it (hood). Then the workpiece was released in the hearth and pulled through the next hole, of a smaller diameter.

Products

Blacksmiths made a huge number of items necessary for human existence:

• instruments
• weapon
• building elements
• decorations, etc.

With the advent of industrialization manual production was replaced by factory flow. Modern blacksmiths, as a rule, are engaged in manual artistic forging and make piece products. Nowadays, the term is also used in the sense of a worker in a forge and press shop (for example, "blacksmith-puncher")

Archetypal blacksmith

In Russian villages, it was believed that a blacksmith could not only forge a plow or a sword, but also heal diseases, arrange weddings, tell fortunes, drive away evil spirits from the village. In epic tales, it was the blacksmith who defeated the Serpent Gorynychby chaining him by the tongue.

In "pre-Petrine" Russia, state blacksmiths were service people "according to the instrument" and received a salary from the state treasury. In the suburban Cossack regiments, blacksmiths were non-combatant Cossacks-"assistants" and took part in campaigns. In the cavalry units and horse artillery of the Russian army and the Red Army, until the middle of the 20th century, there were also positions blacksmiths.

Due to the fact that blacksmiths stood out from the general mass of the people earlier than others, and due to the fact that usually a blacksmith was a respected, fairly wealthy person, one of the most common surnames in the world is based on this profession - the all-Russian surname Kuznetsov, as well as Koval , Kovalev , Kovalchuk , Kovalenko, Kovalyuk (ukr.), Kovalsky, Kowalczyk (Polish), Smith (English), Schmidt (German), Lefevre, Ferrand (fr.), Herrero (Spanish), Darbinyan (arm.), Mchedlidze (cargo.), Chkadua (Megr.), Azhiba (abh.), Sepp (est.), Seppenen (fin.) etc.

Blacksmith in mythology, religion and literature

In the myths of ancient civilizations, the blacksmith god appears as a demiurge, the organizer of the world order, the initiator of the emergence of crafts. Often he is either a thunderer, or is associated with him (for example, he forges lightning), and also with the Sun. He may be characterized by lameness, curvature, hunchback, etc. - in ancient tribes, defective boys who could not become full-fledged hunters or warriors were given to blacksmiths as apprentices. In ancient times, blacksmiths could deliberately damage their legs so that they could not run away and join a foreign tribe. As a result, they became "master-priests" associated with secret knowledge, not only crafts, but also religious (hence the special mind of blacksmith heroes). In some tribes, blacksmiths merge with kings. The possession of blacksmithing was also attributed to mythical dwarfs, gnomes, cyclops, etc. In myths, the blacksmith is often a cultural hero.

Ancient characters

• Hephaestus- the ancient Greek god of blacksmithing, the first master god
• Volcano- the ancient Roman god of blacksmithing, identified with Hephaestus
• Ceflans- Etruscan deity of underground fire, blacksmith god, corresponds to the Roman Vulcan

Celtic and Scandinavian characters

• Goibniou- Celtic blacksmith god, whose name even comes from the word "blacksmith".
• Gofannon- analogue of Goibniu among the Welsh
• Thor- Scandinavian god of thunder
• Velund (Volund, Weyland)- a blacksmith in Scandinavian mythology, a character in the "Song of Velund" in the Elder Edda. In the Arthurian legend cycle, he is credited with the creation of the sword Excalibur. In German legends, with the advent of Christianity, he ceased to be a deity and became the name of Satan (in the German pronunciation "Woland") - see Goethe's Faust character, from where he migrated to Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. The lameness of Satan has the same roots as the lameness of Hephaestus
• Mimir- Dwarf blacksmith who taught Siegfried (also the blacksmith's son)
• Irish blacksmith Coolanne whose dog was killed by Cuchulainn
• Calvis- the blacksmith god of Baltic mythology, who “forged” the Sun, like the Finnish god Ilmarinen(see "Kalevala"), Finno-Ugric Ilmarine, Karelian Ilmoillin and Udmurt god Inmar, also Telyavel

Slavic characters

• East Slavic cue
• Perun- ancient Slavic god of thunder
• Svarog- Old Slavic blacksmith god (?)

Asian characters

• Khasamil- god hatti
• Targitai- god of the Scythians
• Vishvakarman- hindu god
• Tvashtar- divine blacksmith, asura demon of Indian mythology
• blacksmiths Shyashvy, Ainar And Tlepsh in Abkhazian mythology (see the Nart epic). Also Phyarmat
• Pirkushi- blacksmith of Georgian mythology
• Kava- in the Persian epic Shahnameh, a blacksmith hero who rebelled against the tyrant Zahhak. Khlebnikov's poem "Kave the Blacksmith" is dedicated to him.
• Qusar-i-Khusas- in West Semitic mythology, who helped Balu
• Amatsumara- Japanese blacksmith god who created a mirror that needs to lure out Amaterasu
• Sumaoro at the Mandings in Africa, Sundyata. Able to become invisible, one of the qualities of divine blacksmiths and the items they create.
• Kurdalagon- the divine blacksmith in the Ossetian version of the Nart epic. Tempered the miracle hero Batradz.

Biblical, Christian, folklore and literary characters

• biblical Cain, the killer of the shepherd Abel, according to one of the apocryphal versions, was a blacksmith. Has a physical handicap - the so-called. the “seal of Cain” with which God marked him.
• Jewish Tubal-Cain (Tubalkain, Fovel), kabir, "father of all blacksmiths", 7th generation from Cain. In addition, this name is used in the ritual of the third degree of Freemasonry. Descendant of Cain in the 6th generation.
• blacksmith st. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, (c. 588-660) - patron of gold and silver craftsmen and chasers.
• St. dunstan who shoed Satan - the patron of blacksmiths and jewelers
• Ilmarinen is a character in the Karelian-Finnish epic Kalevala.
• folk hero Kosmodemyan(Kuzmodemyan)
• blacksmith Vakula, a character from Gogol's "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" - is the son of the witch Solokha and tames the devil
• cunning Lefty, Leskov's hero
• Blacksmith of Great Wootton- the hero of Tolkien's work of the same name
• Aule - Tolkien has the third most powerful of the Valar, the blacksmith of Arda, in his competence is solid matter and crafts; gnome maker; teacher of the Noldor, husband of Yavanna Kementari.
• Jason Ogg, the son of Nanny Ogg, is a minor character in the books by Terry Pratchett. For generations, representatives of his family, blacksmiths, have been shoeing Death's horse.
• The blacksmith bear from The Pit by Andrey Platonov.
• Cossack blacksmith Ippolit Shaly from the novel Virgin Soil Upturned by Mikhail Sholokhov.

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An excerpt characterizing the Blacksmith

- Well, au revoir, [goodbye,] goodbye. See?
- So tomorrow you will report to the sovereign?
- Certainly, but I do not promise Kutuzov.
- No, promise, promise, Basile, [Vasily,] - Anna Mikhailovna said after him, with a smile of a young coquette, which once must have been characteristic of her, but now did not go so well to her emaciated face.
She apparently forgot her years and used, out of habit, all the old women's means. But as soon as he left, her face again assumed the same cold, feigned expression that had been on it before. She returned to the circle, in which the viscount continued to talk, and again pretended to be listening, waiting for the time to leave, since her business was done.
“But how do you find all this latest comedy du sacre de Milan?” [Milanese anointing?] – said Anna Pavlovna. Et la nouvelle comedie des peuples de Genes et de Lucques, qui viennent presenter leurs voeux a M. Buonaparte assis sur un trone, et exaucant les voeux des nations! Adorable! Non, mais c "est a en devenir folle! On dirait, que le monde entier a perdu la tete. [And here is a new comedy: the peoples of Genoa and Lucca express their desires to Mr. Bonaparte. And Mr. Bonaparte sits on the throne and fulfills the wishes of the peoples. 0! It's amazing! No, it's crazy. You'll think the whole world has lost its head.]
Prince Andrei grinned, looking directly into the face of Anna Pavlovna.
- “Dieu me la donne, gare a qui la touche,” he said (the words of Bonaparte, spoken at the laying of the crown). - On dit qu "il a ete tres beau en prononcant ces paroles, [God gave me the crown. Trouble for the one who touches it. - They say he was very good pronouncing these words,] - he added and repeated these words again in Italian: "Dio mi la dona, guai a chi la tocca".
- J "espere enfin," continued Anna Pavlovna, "que ca a ete la goutte d" eau qui fera deborder le verre. Les souverains ne peuvent plus supporter cet homme, qui menace tout. [I hope that it was finally the drop that would overflow the glass. Sovereigns can no longer tolerate this man who threatens everything.]
– Les souverains? Je ne parle pas de la Russie,” said the viscount politely and hopelessly: “Les souverains, madame!” Qu "ont ils fait pour Louis XVII, pour la reine, pour madame Elisabeth? Rien," he continued animatedly. - Et croyez moi, ils subissent la punition pour leur trahison de la cause des Bourbons. Les souverains? Ils envoient des ambassadeurs complimenter l "usurpateur. [Sovereigns! I'm not talking about Russia. Sovereigns! But what did they do for Louis XVII, for the Queen, for Elisabeth? Nothing. And believe me, they are punished for their betrayal of the Bourbon cause. Sovereigns! They send envoys to greet the stealer of the throne.]
And he, with a contemptuous sigh, changed his position again. Prince Hippolyte, who had been looking at the viscount through a lorgnette for a long time, suddenly, at these words, turned his whole body to the little princess and, asking her for a needle, began to show her, drawing with a needle on the table, the coat of arms of Condé. He explained this coat of arms to her with such a significant air, as if the princess asked him about it.
- Baton de gueules, engrele de gueules d "azur - maison Conde, [A phrase that cannot be translated literally, as it consists of conditional heraldic terms that are not quite accurately used. The general meaning is this: The coat of arms of Conde represents a shield with red and blue narrow jagged stripes ,] he said.
The princess, smiling, listened.
“If Bonaparte remains on the throne of France for another year,” the viscount continued the conversation that had begun, with the air of a man who does not listen to others, but in a matter that he knows best of all, following only the course of his thoughts, “then things will go too far. By intrigue, violence, expulsions, executions, society, I mean a good society, French, will be destroyed forever, and then ...
He shrugged and spread his arms. Pierre wanted to say something: the conversation interested him, but Anna Pavlovna, who was guarding him, interrupted him.
“The Emperor Alexander,” she said with the sadness that always accompanied her speeches about the imperial family, “announced that he would leave the French themselves to choose their form of government. And I think there is no doubt that the whole nation, freed from the usurper, will throw itself into the hands of the rightful king, ”said Anna Pavlovna, trying to be kind to the emigrant and royalist.
“That is doubtful,” said Prince Andrei. - Monsieur le vicomte [Mr. Viscount] quite rightly believes that things have already gone too far. I think it will be difficult to go back to the old one.
“As far as I have heard,” Pierre, blushing, again intervened in the conversation, “almost all the nobility has already gone over to the side of Bonaparte.
“That’s what the Bonapartists say,” said the viscount, without looking at Pierre. “Now it is difficult to know the public opinion of France.
- Bonaparte l "a dit, [Bonaparte said this,] - said Prince Andrei with a grin.
(It was obvious that he did not like the viscount, and that, although he did not look at him, he turned his speeches against him.)
- “Je leur ai montre le chemin de la gloire,” he said after a short silence, repeating Napoleon’s words again: “ils n" en ont pas voulu; je leur ai ouvert mes antichambres, ils se sont precipites en foule "... Je ne sais pas a quel point il a eu le droit de le dire [I showed them the path of glory: they did not want; I opened my front ones to them: they rushed in a crowd ... I don’t know to what extent he had the right to say so.]
- Aucun, [None,] - objected the viscount. “After the murder of the duke, even the most biased people stopped seeing him as a hero. Si meme ca a ete un heros pour certaines gens, - said the viscount, turning to Anna Pavlovna, - depuis l "assassinat du duc il ya un Marietyr de plus dans le ciel, un heros de moins sur la terre. [If he was hero for some people, then after the murder of the duke, there was one more martyr in heaven and one less hero on earth.]
Anna Pavlovna and the others had not yet had time to appreciate these words of the viscount with a smile, when Pierre again broke into the conversation, and Anna Pavlovna, although she had a presentiment that he would say something indecent, could no longer stop him.
“The execution of the Duke of Enghien,” said Monsieur Pierre, “was a state necessity; and I see precisely the greatness of the soul in the fact that Napoleon was not afraid to take responsibility for this act alone.
– Dieul mon Dieu! [God! my God!] - Anna Pavlovna said in a terrible whisper.
- Comment, M. Pierre, vous trouvez que l "assassinat est grandeur d" ame, [How, Monsieur Pierre, you see the greatness of the soul in murder,] said the little princess, smiling and moving her work towards her.
- Ah! Oh! different voices said.
— Capital! [Excellent!] - Prince Ippolit said in English and began to beat his knee with his palm.
The Viscount just shrugged. Pierre solemnly looked over his glasses at the audience.
“The reason I say this,” he went on desperately, “is that the Bourbons fled from the revolution, leaving the people to anarchy; and only Napoleon knew how to understand the revolution, to defeat it, and therefore, for the common good, he could not stop before the life of one person.
Would you like to go to that table? Anna Pavlovna said.
But Pierre, without answering, continued his speech.
“No,” he said, becoming more and more animated, “Napoleon is great because he rose above the revolution, suppressed its abuses, retained all that was good—the equality of citizens, and freedom of speech and the press—and only because of that did he acquire power.
“Yes, if he, having taken power, without using it for murder, would have given it to the rightful king,” said the viscount, “then I would call him a great man.”
“He couldn't have done it. The people gave him power only so that he would deliver him from the Bourbons, and because the people saw him as a great man. The revolution was a great thing,” continued Monsieur Pierre, showing with this desperate and defiant introductory sentence his great youth and desire to express more and more fully.
- Revolution and regicide is a great thing? ... After that ... don’t you want to go to that table? repeated Anna Pavlovna.
- Contrat social, [Social contract,] - the viscount said with a meek smile.
“I'm not talking about regicide. I'm talking about ideas.
“Yes, the ideas of robbery, murder and regicide,” the ironic voice interrupted again.
- These were extremes, of course, but not in them all the meaning, but the meaning in human rights, in emancipation from prejudices, in the equality of citizens; and all these ideas Napoleon retained in all their force.
“Liberty and equality,” the viscount said contemptuously, as if he had finally decided to seriously prove to this young man the stupidity of his speeches, “all big words that have long been compromised. Who doesn't love freedom and equality? Even our Savior preached freedom and equality. Did people become happier after the revolution? Against. We wanted freedom, but Bonaparte destroyed it.
Prince Andrei looked with a smile first at Pierre, then at the viscount, then at the hostess. At the first minute of Pierre's antics, Anna Pavlovna was horrified, despite her habit of being in the world; but when she saw that, despite the blasphemous speeches uttered by Pierre, the viscount did not lose his temper, and when she was convinced that it was no longer possible to hush up these speeches, she gathered her strength and, joining the viscount, attacked the speaker.
- Mais, mon cher m r Pierre, [But, my dear Pierre,] - said Anna Pavlovna, - how do you explain the great man who could execute the duke, finally, just a man, without trial and without guilt?
“I would like to ask,” said the viscount, “how the monsieur explains the 18th brumaire.” Isn't this cheating? C "est un escamotage, qui ne ressemble nullement a la maniere d" agir d "un grand homme. [This is cheating, not at all like the manner of a great man.]
“And the prisoners in Africa he killed?” said the little princess. - It's horrible! And she shrugged.
- C "est un roturier, vous aurez beau dire, [This is a rogue, no matter what you say,] - said Prince Hippolyte.
Monsieur Pierre did not know to whom to answer, looked around at everyone and smiled. His smile was not the same as other people's, merging with an unsmile. On the contrary, when a smile came, his serious and even somewhat gloomy face suddenly disappeared and another appeared - childish, kind, even stupid, and as if asking for forgiveness.
It became clear to the viscount, who saw him for the first time, that this Jacobin was not at all as terrible as his words. Everyone fell silent.
- How do you want him to answer all of a sudden? - said Prince Andrew. - Moreover, in the actions of a statesman, it is necessary to distinguish between the actions of a private person, a commander or an emperor. It seems so to me.
“Yes, yes, of course,” Pierre picked up, delighted at the help that was coming to him.
“It’s impossible not to confess,” continued Prince Andrei, “Napoleon as a man is great on the Arkol bridge, in the hospital in Jaffa, where he gives a hand to the plague, but ... but there are other actions that are difficult to justify.
Prince Andrei, apparently wanting to soften the awkwardness of Pierre's speech, got up, getting ready to go and giving a sign to his wife.

Suddenly, Prince Hippolyte got up and, stopping everyone with signs of his hands and asking them to sit down, spoke:
- Ah! aujourd "hui on m" a raconte une anecdote moscovite, charmante: il faut que je vous en regale. Vous m "excusez, vicomte, il faut que je raconte en russe. Autrement on ne sentira pas le sel de l" histoire. [Today I was told a charming Moscow anecdote; you need to cheer them on. Excuse me, viscount, I'll tell you in Russian, otherwise the whole point of the joke will be lost.]
And Prince Hippolyte began to speak Russian with such a pronunciation as the French, who have spent a year in Russia, speak. Everyone paused: so animatedly, Prince Hippolyte urgently demanded attention to his history.
- In Moscou there is one lady, une dame. And she is very stingy. She had to have two valets de pied [footman] per carriage. And very large. It was her taste. And she had an une femme de chambre [maid] still tall. She said…
Here Prince Hippolyte fell into thought, apparently having difficulty thinking.
- She said ... yes, she said: "girl (a la femme de chambre), put on a livree [livery] and go with me, behind the carriage, faire des visites." [make visits.]
Here Prince Ippolit snorted and laughed much before his listeners, which made an unfavorable impression for the narrator. However, many, including the elderly lady and Anna Pavlovna, smiled.
- She went. Suddenly there was a strong wind. The girl lost her hat, and her long hair was combed ...
Here he could no longer hold on and began to laugh abruptly, and through this laughter he said:
And the whole world knows...
That's where the joke ends. Although it was not clear why he was telling it and why it had to be told without fail in Russian, Anna Pavlovna and others appreciated the secular courtesy of Prince Hippolyte, who so pleasantly ended Monsieur Pierre's unpleasant and ungracious trick. The conversation after the anecdote crumbled into small, insignificant talk about the future and the past ball, the performance, about when and where someone will see each other.

Thanking Anna Pavlovna for her charmante soiree, [a charming evening] the guests began to disperse.
Pierre was clumsy. Fat, taller than usual, broad, with huge red hands, he, as they say, did not know how to enter the salon and even less knew how to get out of it, that is, before leaving, to say something especially pleasant. Besides, he was scattered. Rising, instead of his hat, he grabbed a triangular hat with a general's plume and held it, pulling the sultan, until the general asked to return it. But all his absent-mindedness and inability to enter the salon and speak in it were redeemed by an expression of good nature, simplicity and modesty. Anna Pavlovna turned to him and, with Christian meekness expressing forgiveness for his outburst, nodded to him and said:
“I hope to see you again, but I also hope that you will change your mind, my dear Monsieur Pierre,” she said.
When she told him this, he did not answer anything, only leaned over and showed everyone once more his smile, which said nothing, except this: "Opinions are opinions, and you see what a kind and nice fellow I am." And everyone, including Anna Pavlovna, involuntarily felt it.
Prince Andrey went out into the ante-room and, leaning his shoulders on the footman who was putting on his cloak, listened indifferently to the chatter of his wife with Prince Hippolyte, who also went out into the ante-room. Prince Hippolyte stood beside the pretty, pregnant princess and stubbornly looked straight at her through his lorgnette.
“Go, Annette, you will catch a cold,” said the little princess, saying goodbye to Anna Pavlovna. - C "est arrete, [Done,]" she added quietly.
Anna Pavlovna had already managed to talk to Lisa about the matchmaking she was planning between Anatole and the sister-in-law of the little princess.
“I hope for you, dear friend,” Anna Pavlovna said, also quietly, “you will write to her and tell me, comment le pere envisagera la chose.” Au revoir, [How the father will look at the matter. Goodbye,] - and she left the hall.
Prince Hippolyte went up to the little princess and, bending his face close to her, began to say something to her in a whisper.
Two lackeys, one the princess, the other, waiting for them to finish talking, stood with a shawl and a redingote and listened to them, incomprehensible to them, French dialect with such faces as if they understood what was being said, but did not want to show it. The princess, as always, spoke with a smile and listened with a laugh.
“I am very glad that I didn’t go to the envoy,” Prince Hippolyte said: “boredom ... It’s a wonderful evening, isn’t it, wonderful?”
“They say that the ball will be very good,” answered the princess, twitching her sponge with her mustache. - Everything beautiful women societies will be there.
- Not all, because you will not be there; not all,” said Prince Hippolyte, laughing joyfully, and, grabbing the shawl from the footman, even pushed him and began to put it on the princess.
From embarrassment or deliberately (no one could make it out), he did not lower his arms for a long time when the shawl was already put on, and seemed to be hugging a young woman.
She gracefully, but still smiling, pulled away, turned and looked at her husband. Prince Andrei's eyes were closed: he seemed so tired and sleepy.
- You are ready? he asked his wife, looking around her.
Prince Hippolyte hurriedly put on his coat, which, according to the new, was longer than his heels, and, tangled in it, ran to the porch after the princess, whom the footman was putting into the carriage.
- Princesse, au revoir, [Princess, goodbye,] - he shouted, tangling his tongue as well as his legs.
The princess, picking up her dress, sat down in the darkness of the carriage; her husband was adjusting his saber; Prince Ippolit, under the pretext of serving, interfered with everyone.
- Excuse me, sir, - Prince Andrei dryly unpleasantly turned in Russian to Prince Ippolit, who prevented him from passing.
"I'm waiting for you, Pierre," said the same voice of Prince Andrei affectionately and tenderly.
The postilion moved off, and the carriage rattled its wheels. Prince Hippolyte laughed abruptly, standing on the porch and waiting for the viscount, whom he promised to take home.

“Eh bien, mon cher, votre petite princesse est tres bien, tres bien,” said the viscount, getting into the carriage with Hippolyte. - Mais tres bien. He kissed the tips of his fingers. – Et tout a fait francaise. [Well, my dear, your little princess is very cute! Very nice and perfect French.]
Hippolyte laughed with a snort.
“Et savez vous que vous etes terrible avec votre petit air innocent,” continued the viscount. - Je plains le pauvre Mariei, ce petit officier, qui se donne des airs de prince regnant.. [Do you know, you are a terrible person, despite your innocent appearance. I feel sorry for the poor husband, this officer who poses as a possessive person.]
Hippolyte snorted again and said through laughter:
- Et vous disiez, que les dames russes ne valaient pas les dames francaises. Il faut savoir s "y prendre. [And you said that Russian ladies are worse than French ones. You have to be able to take it.]
Pierre, arriving ahead, like a domestic person, went into Prince Andrei's office and immediately, out of habit, lay down on the sofa, took the first book that came across from the shelf (these were Caesar's Notes) and began, leaning on his elbows, to read it from the middle.
– What did you do with m lle Scherer? She will be completely ill now,” said Prince Andrei, entering the office and rubbing his small, white hands.
Pierre turned his whole body so that the sofa creaked, turned his animated face to Prince Andrei, smiled and waved his hand.
“No, this abbot is very interesting, but he just doesn’t understand the matter like that ... In my opinion, eternal peace is possible, but I don’t know how to say it ... But not by political equilibrium ...
Prince Andrei was apparently not interested in these abstract conversations.
- It is impossible, mon cher, [my dear,] everywhere to say everything that you think. So, have you finally decided on something? Will you be a cavalry guard or a diplomat? asked Prince Andrei after a moment's silence.
Pierre sat down on the sofa, tucking his legs under him.
You can imagine, I still don't know. I don't like either one.
“But you have to make a decision, don’t you? Your father is waiting.
Pierre, from the age of ten, was sent abroad with the tutor abbot, where he stayed until the age of twenty. When he returned to Moscow, his father released the abbot and said to the young man: “Now you go to Petersburg, look around and choose. I agree to everything. Here's a letter for you to Prince Vasily, and here's some money for you. Write about everything, I will help you in everything. Pierre had been choosing a career for three months and did nothing. Prince Andrei told him about this choice. Pierre rubbed his forehead.
“But he must be a Freemason,” he said, referring to the abbot whom he had seen at the party.
- All this is nonsense, - Prince Andrei stopped him again, - let's talk about the case. Were you in the Horse Guards?
- No, I wasn't, but that's what came to my mind, and I wanted to tell you. Now the war against Napoleon. If it were a war for freedom, I would understand, I would be the first to enter the military service; but helping England and Austria against the greatest man in the world... that's not good...
Prince Andrei only shrugged his shoulders at Pierre's childish speeches. He pretended that such nonsense was not to be answered; but it was really difficult to answer this naive question with anything other than what Prince Andrei answered.
“If everyone fought only according to their convictions, there would be no war,” he said.
“That would be fine,” said Pierre.
Prince Andrew chuckled.
- It may very well be that it would be wonderful, but this will never happen ...
“Well, why are you going to war?” Pierre asked.
- For what? I do not know. So it is necessary. Besides, I'm going…” He stopped. “I am going because this life that I lead here, this life is not for me!

A woman's dress rustled in the next room. As if waking up, Prince Andrei shook himself, and his face assumed the same expression that it had in Anna Pavlovna's drawing room. Pierre swung his legs off the sofa. The princess entered. She was already in a different, homely, but equally elegant and fresh dress. Prince Andrei stood up, courteously pushing a chair for her.
“Why, I often think,” she began, as always, in French, hastily and bustlingly sitting down in an armchair, “why didn’t Annette get married?” How stupid you all are, messurs, for not marrying her. Excuse me, but you don't understand anything about women. What a debater you are, Monsieur Pierre.
- I argue everything with your husband; I don’t understand why he wants to go to war, ”said Pierre, without any hesitation (so common in the relationship of a young man to a young woman) turning to the princess.
The princess was startled. Apparently, Pierre's words touched her to the core.
Ah, that's what I'm saying! - she said. “I don’t understand, I absolutely don’t understand why men can’t live without war?” Why do we women want nothing, why do we need nothing? Well, you be the judge. I tell him everything: here he is an uncle's adjutant, the most brilliant position. Everyone knows him so well and appreciates him so much. The other day at the Apraksins, I heard a lady ask: "c" est ca le fameux prince Andre? Ma parole d "honneur! [Is this the famous Prince Andrei? Honestly!] She laughed. - He is so accepted everywhere. He can very easily be an adjutant wing. You know, the sovereign spoke to him very graciously. Annette and I talked about how easy it would be to arrange. How do you think?
Pierre looked at Prince Andrei and, noticing that his friend did not like this conversation, did not answer.
- When are you leaving? - he asked.