frecuentemente representado como el maestro de las armas del líder o guerrero , o como el artesano de los dioses . Una nota final se enfoca en un detalle físico peculiar : El herrero es a menudo representado como inválido o ciego .
Palabras clave : arquetipos literarios , arquetipo del herrero , narrativa de búsqueda , alquimia , mitología
Introduction
In many stories , in particular myths and folk tales , the hero ’ s occupation places him in certain adventures with predictable action sequences . One of the earliest of these occupational archetypes is the Blacksmith , a figure who appears in mythologies worldwide as both artisan and technician , as both respected culture hero and as feared creator of the weapons that have caused so much misery to humankind . What follows is a brief examination of the Blacksmith ’ s origins in literature , his ambivalent character , and the primary storylines shaped by his actions .
Origins
The Blacksmith is identified by the metal with which he works — iron , which in its ferrous form was not widely processed until approximately 1200 bc , the start of the Iron Age . But archaeological evidence of metalworking , at least in Europe , may go as far back as 5000 bc . A clay figurine excavated in Hungary holds a copper sickle over its right shoulder , clear evidence that the craft of smelting already existed ( Baring and Cashford 76 ; Campbell , Goddesses 37 ). Stories about the Blacksmith may be just as old . According to folklorist Sara Graça da Silva and anthropologist Jamshid Tehrani , who examined the Tales of Magic classified in the Aarne Thompson Uther ( ATU ) Index , the earliest story in that category is a Proto-Indo-European legend — some 6,000 years old — about a blacksmith ( 9 ). However , the Blacksmith
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