Editing Talk:1114: Metallurgy
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Fallen-star swords made sense in a universe where fallen stars are magical things rather than meteorites, like first-age Arda, or where civilization hasn't developed iron smelting, like early Hyborea. The problem is that most epic fantasy is set in a quasi-medieval setting in a solar system just like ours, so normal swords are late medieval steel and falling stars are lumps of impure iron that can't possibly be nearly as good as steel, but the writer still uses them because, you know, Tolkien and Howard did it, so it's standard fantasy. Even A Song of Ice and Fire, which goes into enough detail that you know their swords are like 13th century European steel, and has an interesting story about the superior Valyrian steel (which, like real-world Damascus steel, requires now-lost techniques, and which also required horrific sacrificial magic) still throws in a fallen-star sword because fantasy. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 06:35, 18 September 2015 (UTC) | Fallen-star swords made sense in a universe where fallen stars are magical things rather than meteorites, like first-age Arda, or where civilization hasn't developed iron smelting, like early Hyborea. The problem is that most epic fantasy is set in a quasi-medieval setting in a solar system just like ours, so normal swords are late medieval steel and falling stars are lumps of impure iron that can't possibly be nearly as good as steel, but the writer still uses them because, you know, Tolkien and Howard did it, so it's standard fantasy. Even A Song of Ice and Fire, which goes into enough detail that you know their swords are like 13th century European steel, and has an interesting story about the superior Valyrian steel (which, like real-world Damascus steel, requires now-lost techniques, and which also required horrific sacrificial magic) still throws in a fallen-star sword because fantasy. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 06:35, 18 September 2015 (UTC) | ||
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