[TheForge] Blacksmith -Farrier Yak?

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> I have a presentation to give on Blacksmithing before a local group and I
was
> wondering if we could agree on when the "Blacksmith name gave away to
Farrier
> being the one that shoes horses etc.
>
> Anyone else that has any insight on giving a presentation on the subject
of
> blacksmithing and ironwork would be appreciated.
>
> Mike Ivey
> Savannah River Forge

Well, I have a bit of insight into this ;-)

Actually, farrier is much older than blacksmith, as a word. In SCA, my name
is Philippa Ferraria, which is the feminine form of ferrarius, which
originally meany "ironworker" and over time became farrier. In Medieval
French, the word was "Farrour", again meaning (depending on who you read)
either farrier or blacksmith.

Some of the difficulty is because many of these dictionaries didn't come
into being until the 1800s and the early 1900s, and they were using and
defining terms as they were generally understood AT THAT TIME.

The difference in the words would have come about in the late Medieval/early
Rennaisance period, when people were moving away from using the Latin
versions of words, and more into using the words as they were used in their
local area- English has a strong Germanic influence, and during some of the,
um, disagreements with "those damned Frenchies" ( understanding that France
and England have spent a fair amount of time arguing over the ages, or
conquering each other and hating the conquerors), the English folk moved
away from using the Latinized/French versions of the more common words.

Blacksmith is Middle English, I believe- not sure of the initial derivation-
German for black is "Schwarz", French is "Noir"- it might go back to one of
the Celtic languages- I'd likely have to do some research- will if you ask
me to. Smith looks to be a Germanicly influenced word, "smite" (strike/hit )
or schmiede (in modern German) as in schmiedehandwerk ( smith's trade/
wrought iron trade).

As far as the time period when the two trades were actually differentiated,
I don't have a clue.



Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....