Fantasy, myth and legend are filled with magical or mysterious metals - and sometimes even the mundane ones were considered to have amazing properties. Let's take a look at the lore of...
- Orichalcum
- Arsenical Bronze
- Iron
- Meteoric Iron
- Damascus or Wootz Steel
- Lead
- Gold
- Silver
- Mercury
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| Orichalcum wasn't quite as good as gold... (Jingming Pan) |
OrichalcumThe metal orichalcum (originally the Greek ὀρείχαλκος or oreíchalkos for mountain copper) shows up in games like the Elder Scrolls series, White Wolf's Exalted and more. It also turns up in the writings of Plato, specifically his "Critias" which deals with the history of the fictional of Atlantis. Plato describes a metal being dug from the ground "that which is now only a name and was then something more than a name, orichalcum." This precious metal (second only to gold) which the Atlanteans used to plate the walls of their citadel and the inside of Poseidon's temple. Interestingly he describes them as being adorned with the red light of orichalcum. The temple also featured a column of orichalcum inscribed with the injunctions (laws) of Poseidon.
Homer also mentions the metal in his hymn to the goddess Aphrodite, describing her being dressed in jewelry of gold and orichalcum. It's pretty clear the Greeks put a high value on this metal.
The Romans were also aware of orichalcum, though they called it aurichalcum (a slight change playing on the Latin "aurum" or gold.) This "gold-copper" was described by Pliny as having an outstanding popularity and quality, but being mined to exhaustion. Despite this, the Romans (there are a few Hellenistic examples, such as coinage minted by Mithridates VI of Pontus) used this metal to mint coins such as asses, sestertii, dupondii quadrantes and semisses. They'd heat zinc to the point where it would become a gas in closed crucibles with molten copper, producing a copper-zinc alloy - or in essence, brass.
So, given that brass is a man-made alloy, you might be wondering why some ancient writers described it as being dug out of the ground. Well (assuming the writers were being accurate) it's possible that the production of orichalcum was a happy accident. There are several mines in Greece that contain both copper and zinc (the Lavrion Mining District contains both metals, has been worked for thousands of years and even features Serpierite, a compound mineral containing both copper and zinc that typically forms after an area has been mined!) It wouldn't be much of a stretch for workers to smelt copper ore alongside zinc ore and obtain a basic kind of brass. Since brass with a low zinc content comes out with a red tint, this may help explain the red light mentioned by Plato.
Orichalcum is often described as resembling gold - and this impression is only strengthened by a 6th century BCE wrecked ship dubbed "Gela II" discovered off the coast of Sicily that was found to be carrying a sunken treasure hoard of orichalcum!
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| Bronze is still in fashion... (Caio Fernandes) |
Arsenical Bronze
Humanity's... well, for want of a better term, "tech tree" progressed through the Stone Age to the Copper Age, Bronze Age and then Iron Age. Of course, the edges of each age can be a little fuzzy - and it's between the Copper Age and the Bronze Age that we find arsenical bronze.
Now, typical bronze is a combination of copper and tin, with the resulting ally being harder than copper but easier to cast into a shape. That's not the only kind of bronze out there though - some modern bronzes substitute tin with aluminum or even silicone... but at the beginning of the Bronze Age, some bright spark came up with arsenical bronze.
The earliest evidence we have for the production of arsenical bronze comes from Iran during the early Bronze age some 5,000 years ago. Large deposits of slag and speiss (byproducts of smelting) suggest the production of both copper-arsenic and iron-arsenic alloys were produced, with the iron-arsenic probably being used to add arsenic to the copper. Evidence of a similar process occurring during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt nearly 4,000 years ago has been found on Elephantine Island in the Nile.
Researchers have found that arsenical bronze is a great deal more ductile (stretchy) than tin bronze, which was stiffer and better suited to be work-hardened (being beaten on an anvil - this causes the neat, sliding lattice of crystals a metal object is made of to get scrunched up, making them less able to slide and the metal object less "bendy" as a result.) As a result, arsenical bronze was much easier to make into thin sheets than tin bronze - meaning it was an efficient way to make blades.
Of course, there was a bit of a caveat. Arsenic is incredibly toxic to humans and anyone smelting or working the metal would be constantly exposed. No wonder people moved on to using tin bronze, then iron!
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| Iron has a more mystical history than it gets credit for... (Anastasiya D) |
Iron
This might seem like an odd one, but iron was considered to have magical properties in the time of the Romans. Pliny writes about several mystical properties of this metal:
- If a circle is traced with iron or a pointed weapon carried three times around them, a person can be protected against all noxious influences
- Nails taken from a tomb and driven into the threshold of a door will prevent night-mare (these were considered a little more serious than the modern view - "nocturnas lymphationes" was a form of madness brought on by spirits such as Lymphae
- Being pricked with a weapon that had wounded you could relieve sudden pains along with stitches in the sides or chest
- The bite of a mad dog (i.e. rabies) could be instantly treated via cauterization with a red-hot iron - even if hydrophobia has set in
- Water in which white hot iron had been quenched could be used as a potion to cure dysentery
- Lodestones or live iron (magnetized iron) caused more severe wounds
The uses didn't stop there. Rust (often scraped from an old nail) could be used as an astringent that caused tissues to tighten, dry or stop bleeding, which Pliny suggests can be used to close wounds or treat swellings. While rust does actually have astringent properties, we now know that it's an easy way to contract tetanus - so really, don't try it.
Interestingly, when discussing the quenching of iron Pliny writes that "Human blood revenges itself upon iron; for if the metal has been once touched by this blood it is much more apt to become rusty."
Meteoric Iron
One fun fact about iron is that it doesn't necessarily have to come from Earth. Metal harvested from meteorites could be used to make a weapon and status symbol combined - such was the case with a dagger found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The weapon was found inside the wrappings of the mummified pharaoh - and it raised a bit of a stir, since the metalwork seems to be a bit to advanced for the Egyptians of his era.
Analysis of the blade makes it almost certain the metal is not of this world. High levels of cobalt and nickel in the metal are consistent with meteoric metal, along with indicators of troilite - a substance very rare on Earth. Adding to the mystique is the fact that this blade is over 3,000 years old, but looks in better condition than half my kitchen knives!
One possibility raised by researchers is that the blade was indeed forged from a meteorite using a fairly low-heat, but also that the forging was conducted in the nearby Mitanni Empire. There's actually letters from the era that mention an iron dagger being given to Tutankhamun's grandfather, Amenhotep III.
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| Metal from the heavens... (Tasos Mansour) |
Damascus or Wootz Steel
You can get a modern, pattern-welded version of a Damascus blade today, but the traditional material used to make these weapons was wootz steel - and we've managed to lose the exact details of how it was made. That's a pity, as these blades were arguably the closest thing to a magic weapon on Earth.
So what was wootz steel? Crafted in India and Sri Lanka, this form of steel was made by heating a iron with plant matter (charcoal, wood chips, bamboo, leaves - anything with carbon really) in a sealed crucible. The resulting metal was an ultra-high carbon steel that could be used to (with the right expertise) make incredible weapons.
Analysis of surviving wootz steel Damascus blades has revealed that they are laid out in an arrangement called pearlite. Basically, trace impurities (especially vanadium) within the metal cause some of the steel to form bands of hard, brittle cementite (an iron-carbon compound) which is sandwiched between layers of soft, ductile ferrite.
The steel was frequently exported to the Middle East and forged into blades which (thanks to the cementite) could be hard and sharp... with the ferrite preventing them from being brittle. The bands of cementite could give the blades a wavy pattern on the metal, which could be enhanced by treatment with a weak acid (i.e. fruit juice.)
The final products both looked and seemed magical - some sources claim that they may have been twice as effective as a contemporary European blade. Researchers believe that they were the best steel until around the early nineteenth century - not bad for a technique that may have been developed up to three thousand years ago!
It's not entirely clear why the technique died out when it did, but it's possible that the East India Company restricted production. Laws governing who could fell trees may also have put a stranglehold on the charcoal required to smelt the metal.
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| One of the safer uses of lead... (Etienne Girardet) |
LeadModern fantasy often portrays lead as being anti-magic if anything, but back in Roman times it was considered to have powers of its own. Pliny writes that it:
- Could help remove scars if used as a medicine
- Could "restrain the venereal passions" if plates were worn near the loin and kidneys
- Be calcined and pulverized to make a lotion useful for closing wounds, ulcers and even hemorrhoids!
Lead has also been used to make or line coffins, even in Roman times. The process would have required a fair amount of effort and resources (mining ore, smelting it, casting it into a coffin... only to put it back under the ground) and most Roman lead coffins come from between the 2nd and 5th century CE.
The practice continued amongst the wealthy however, with even the Victorians getting in on the trend. Keeping with tradition, Queen Elizabeth II of England was placed in a lead-lined coffin.
So why bother? Well, lead is a very dense material and (when welded shut) a lead coffin will do a lot to preserve a body and prevent any smells, toxins or bacteria escaping. Preventing this both preserved the dignity of the dead and prevented the "bad air" which "miasma theory" suggested caused disease.
There's also the ancient idea of chrysopoeia, or transmuting base metals (such as lead) into gold - there's also argyropoeia, for the production of silver.
Though none seem to have actually succeeded (despite a number of recipes floating around) there is a tiny element of truth to the idea. Bombarding heavy elements with protons and neutrons (something rather beyond classic alchemists) can transmute them into others - and gold has been produced from lead at CERN's Large Hadron Collider!
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| The flesh of the divine? (Zlaťáky.cz) |
Gold
Speaking of gold, did you know that the Ancient Egyptians considered gold (the hieroglyph for which is a broad collar - or nbw, neb, nub or nebu if spoken.) the flesh of the gods? The shining, incorruptible metal provided their skin, while their bones were made of silver.
The sun god Ra (sometimes Re) was particularly associated with the metal which was associated with divinity, eternity, wealth and power. Egyptian pharaohs made the most of this association, adorning themselves and their surroundings in the precious metal to take the semblance of a god!
Heading back to our friend Pliny, he notes that gold works as a remedy for a great deal of things, but specifically calls out its use in countering sorcery. He also notes that it can be prepared as an ash used to treat "lichens on the face" (facial skin infections) or putrid sores and ulcers. Curiously, he notes that carrying gold above the head can have negative consequences, especially for lambs and chickens!
As far back as 2,500 BCE in China, alchemists recommended consuming gold to increase one's longevity. Iranian alchemist Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan Al-Azdi is credited with inventing aqua regia (royal water) around 700 CE by dissolving pure gold in nitric and hydrochloric acid to make gold chloride, which could then be mixed with water to make a tonic.
The mixture was lauded as an elixir of life that could cure nearly anything, though it was said to be especially effective against mania, epilepsy, and St. Vitus Dance. In reality, it was a corrosive toxin that could cause kidney damage. One French noblewoman in particular (Diane de Poitiers) was noted to drink a tonic of gold chloride and diethyl ether each day to keep herself looking young - modern researchers investigating her remains believe that her daily golden tipple may have been what killed her!
Curiously, injections containing gold have been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis in modern times. It's also possible to buy liquors that contain gold-flakes (e.g. Goldschläger and Gold Strike) but I can't say I was particularly impressed when I tried some!
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| Silver is associated with purity - and science backs that association up! (Scottsdale Mint) |
Silver
Second place to gold comes silver, along with its own body of folklore. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the bones of their gods were made of silver. The metal is often associated with purity as well - even in ancient times, people noticed that water kept in silver containers spoiled more slowly. That's actually a real thing - researchers have found that many bacteria are harmed by silver, though viruses and protozoa are a trickier proposition. As mentioned above, Pliny claims that silver can be used alongside lead to prepare useful ointments.
Silver's also been associated with the moon since ancient times - probably due the resemblance of polished silver to the the bright lunar surface. Alchemical symbols for silver often borrowed from the shape of the moon,
Actual uses of silver for hunting monsters seem to be a fairly recent edition. Some accounts claim the Beast of Gévaudan (a monstrous wolf or wolf-like creature that menaced France during the 18th century) was brought down by a silver bullet (though most versions of the story make no such claim.) Another tale "The Werewolves in Greifswald" has the titular monsters slain by silver buttons!
There's also a story that the Sámi people would place a komsekule or šiella (a charm or amulet, frequently made of sliver) in a cradle to prevent the baby being swapped for a changeling!
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| An elixir of life? The evidence suggests otherwise... (Joseph Hoffman) |
Mercury
The metal mercury is liquid at room temperature, making it an incredibly strange looking substance. Perhaps that's why Ancient Chinese alchemists considered it to be a potential elixir of eternal life, if only they could get the mixture right.
By blending mercury and other substances (such as cinnabar, a reddish mineral composed of mercury and sulfur) they sought to create a medicine that would aid longevity... which was a bit hopeless, given the highly toxic ingredients they were using. The poet and alchemist Po Chu-i even noted that his old friends had all died before passing through middle age, and that only he (who had not yet taken an elixir) had survived to old age. You'd think that might have been a hint.
Where things get really interesting is the case of Qin Shi Huangdi, a Chinese emperor who rather liked the idea of eternal life. Despite the efforts of his alchemists, none of the preparations he imbibed seemed able to ward off death - so he arranged for a mighty tomb to be built instead.
The tomb is shrouded in mystery, and much of what we know about it comes from a historian called Sima Qian who was born slightly after the emperor died. You'd think that would make his writings a bit suspect, especially given his claims of a massive map of China with the water represented by rivers of mercury seem rather over the top... but researchers believe that the tomb does contain large amounts of the metal - especially since mercury concentrations from the tomb mound are much higher than those in the surrounding area!
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