Editing Blacksmith (section)

=== Mythology ===
[[File:Völund on ardre 01.png|thumb|right|[[Wayland Smith|Wayland]]'s smithy in the centre, [[Niðhad|Níðuð]]'s daughter [[Böðvildr]] to the left, and Níðuð's dead sons hidden to the right of the smithy. Between the girl and the smithy, Wayland can be seen in an eagle fetch flying away. From the [[Ardre image stone]] VIII on [[Gotland]]]]

In Hindu mythology, [[Tvastar]] also known as Vishvakarma is the blacksmith of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]]. The earliest references of [[Tvastar]] can be found in the [[Rigveda]].

[[Hephaestus]] (Latin: [[Vulcan (god)|Vulcan]]) was the blacksmith of the [[deity|gods]] in [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology]]. A supremely skilled artisan whose forge was a volcano, he constructed most of the weapons of the gods, as well as beautiful assistants for his smithy and a metal fishing-net of astonishing intricacy. He was the god of metalworking, fire, and craftsmen.

In [[Celtic mythology]], the role of Smith is held by eponymous (their names do mean 'smith') characters : [[Goibhniu]]  (Irish myths of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]] cycle) or [[Gofannon]] (Welsh myths/ the [[Mabinogion]]). [[Brigid]] or Brigit, an Irish [[goddess]], is sometimes described as the patroness of blacksmiths.<ref>[https://druidry.org/resources/brigid-2 Brigit - the Order of bards, Ovates and Druids]</ref>

In the [[Nart]] mythology of the [[Caucasus]] the hero known to the [[Ossetians]] as [[Kurdalægon]] and the [[Circassians]] as [[Tlepsh]] is a blacksmith and skilled craftsman whose exploits exhibit [[shaman]]ic features, sometimes bearing comparison to those of the Scandinavian deity [[Odin]]. One of his greatest feats is acting as a type of male [[midwife]] to the hero [[Xamyc]], who has been made the carrier of the embryo of his son [[Batraz]] by his dying wife the water-sprite Lady Isp, who spits it between his shoulder blades, where it forms a womb-like cyst. Kurdalaegon prepares a type of tower or scaffold above a quenching bath for Xamyc, and, when the time is right, [[Incision and drainage|lances]] the cyst to liberate the infant hero Batraz as a newborn babe of white-hot [[steel]], whom Kurdalægon then quenches like a newly forged sword.<ref>Bonnefoy, Yves (1992) [1981], Doniger, Wendy (ed.), "Asian Mythologies", ''Mythologies'', University of Chicago Press 1991, p. 340, an edited translation based on ''Dictionnaire des mythologies et des religions des sociétés traditionelles et du monde antique''.</ref>

[[File:Spectre over Los from William Blake's Jeruesalem.jpg|thumb|The artist [[William Blake]] used the blacksmith as a motif in [[William Blake's mythology|his own extensive mythology]]. Here, [[Los (Blake)|Los]], a protagonist in several of Blake's poems, is tormented at his smithy by the figure [[Spectre (Blake)|Spectre]] in an illustration Blake's poem [[Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion|''Jerusalem'']]. This image comes from Copy E. of that work, printed in 1821 and in the collection of the [[Yale Center for British Art]]<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/object.xq?objectid=jerusalem.e.illbk.06&java=no|title = Copy Information for Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion | publisher = [[William Blake Archive]]| access-date = Sep 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=  Object description for "Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion, copy E, object 15 (Bentley 15, Erdman 15, Keynes 15)" |publisher= [[William Blake Archive]] |url= http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/illusdesc.xq?objectid=jerusalem.e.illbk.06&objectdbi=jerusalem.e.p6 |editor1=Morris Eaves |editor2=Robert N. Essick |editor3=Joseph Viscomi |access-date= September 12, 2013 }}</ref>]]

The [[Anglo-Saxon]] [[Wayland Smith]], known in [[Old Norse]] as [[Völundr]], is a heroic blacksmith in Germanic mythology. The [[Poetic Edda]] states that he forged beautiful gold rings set with wonderful gems. He was captured by king [[Níðuðr]], who cruelly [[hamstringing|hamstrung]] him and imprisoned him on an island. Völundr eventually had his revenge by killing Níðuðr's sons and fashioning [[goblets]] from their skulls, [[jewellery|jewels]] from their eyes and a [[brooch]] from their teeth. He then [[rape]]d the king's daughter, after drugging her with strong beer, and escaped, laughing, on wings of his own making, boasting that he had fathered a child upon her.

[[File:Godenhjelm - Ilmarinen takoo Sammon.jpg|thumb|''[[Ilmarinen]] Forges the [[Sampo]]'', [[Berndt Godenhjelm]], 19th century]]
Seppo [[Ilmarinen]], the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor in the ''[[Kalevala]]'', is an archetypal artificer from [[Finland|Finnish]] mythology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/kvrune09.htm |title=The Kalevala: Rune IX. Origin of Iron |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=2014-02-27}}</ref>

[[Tubal-cain|Tubal-Cain]] is mentioned in the [[book of Genesis]] of the [[Torah]] as the original smith.

[[Ogun]], the god of blacksmiths, warriors, hunters and others who work with iron is one of the pantheon of [[Orisha]] traditionally worshipped by the [[Yoruba people]] of [[Nigeria]].