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Old 05-25-2020, 09:53 AM   #11
Dalillama
 
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Default Re: cold iron

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I thought the reference was to "cold wrought iron" -- that is, to iron worked by hammering, without heating. That this was used to work meteoritic iron before the invention of forges probably cements the connection.
Nope. You can't cold work iron into a weapon. 'Cold iron' is semantically equivalent to 'hot lead' and refers generally to any tool or weapon made of iron or steel. This is the only meaning the term has ever had prior to D&D introducing a separate kind that affected certain monsters. Iron in general has been sovereign against all manner of supernatural threats in European lore at least since Pliny, who suggests that iron nails placed about the doorway will keep out malign spirits.
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Old 05-25-2020, 10:08 AM   #12
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Default Re: cold iron

Does anyone know of myths about magical beings avoiding natural deposits of iron? That could make an interesting setting or excuse for pockets of humans in an otherwise uninhabitable to humans world.
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Old 05-25-2020, 11:00 AM   #13
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Default Re: cold iron

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You can't cold work iron into a weapon.
Not true: the Inuit, for example, cold-worked iron from the Cape York meteorite into lance heads and knives. Cold-working preserves the crystalline structure of meteoritic iron (Widmannstätten pattern), which cannot be duplicated on Earth, so the identification is sound.
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Old 05-25-2020, 11:39 AM   #14
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Default Re: cold iron

This thread made me realize that I don't actually know what cold working means.
A quick Google search says it's working a metal below its recrystalization temperature. For iron, that is around 450 C depending on numerous variables. So cold is a very relative term.
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Old 05-25-2020, 11:51 AM   #15
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Default Re: cold iron

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Does anyone know of myths about magical beings avoiding natural deposits of iron? That could make an interesting setting or excuse for pockets of humans in an otherwise uninhabitable to humans world.
You don't get natural deposits of metallic iron except as meteorites, and iron compounds are everywhere.
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Old 05-25-2020, 01:34 PM   #16
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Default Re: cold iron

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Originally Posted by Dalillama View Post
Nope. You can't cold work iron into a weapon. 'Cold iron' is semantically equivalent to 'hot lead' and refers generally to any tool or weapon made of iron or steel. This is the only meaning the term has ever had prior to D&D introducing a separate kind that affected certain monsters. Iron in general has been sovereign against all manner of supernatural threats in European lore at least since Pliny, who suggests that iron nails placed about the doorway will keep out malign spirits.
The point of that part of the poem is that the King had cannon and the Baron had only hand weapons and a castle, and was bringing a sword to a gun fight. Then it of course switched to where we realize it was a parable.
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Old 05-25-2020, 01:54 PM   #17
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Default Re: cold iron

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You don't get natural deposits of metallic iron except as meteorites, and iron compounds are everywhere.
But iron ore must be able to get pretty concentrated. At least enough to affect compasses. With how long compasses of some sort have been around, I'd think there could be a myth or two related to that.
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Old 05-25-2020, 03:05 PM   #18
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But iron ore must be able to get pretty concentrated. At least enough to affect compasses.
That's an issue of ore type. Magnetite (commonly found as black sand) reacts to magnetic fields.
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Old 05-25-2020, 05:38 PM   #19
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Default Re: cold iron

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Not true: the Inuit, for example, cold-worked iron from the Cape York meteorite into lance heads and knives. Cold-working preserves the crystalline structure of meteoritic iron (Widmannstätten pattern), which cannot be duplicated on Earth, so the identification is sound.
True. Technically I should have said "can't make weapons suitable for fighting opponents with steel or even bronze equipment."
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Old 05-26-2020, 10:31 AM   #20
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Default Re: cold iron

As an aside, if you insisted on having metal that have never been heated, you could presumably electro-precipitate iron … not sure it would be much use, but it would fit the bill if required for some mystical reason... folklore always did adore a loophole.
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