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Why not iron?

Rebonack··1 votes·602 views

Whenever a fantasy setting gets some form of innately magic-resistant material it almost always ends up being something strange and exotic. Sometimes a super-rare metal. Sometimes a spooky crystal of some kind. Sometimes a fancy rock. Petrified trees are certainly a new one (wouldn't mind hearing a why on the magic-sucking property some day).

But almost inevitably, the oldest standby for anti-magical material gets passed over.

Good old fashioned iron.

So I'm curious as a result. Did the topic of iron's anti-magic properties in folklore ever come up in the discussion? Was it seen as just too mundane a foil for magic? Because, honestly, its mundaness is exactly why it's such a great foil for magic. You could pretty easily take it a step further and say that while all iron has some degree of magic resistance this one special type of iron (sun-steel?) is extra special.

Iron has a few thousand years of narrative power behind its magic-thwarting properties, why not take advantage of that?

5 Comments

Sharjo7 votes

Because iron's such a commonly used metal that basically every human nation would then have access to anti-magic weapons and armour? Which kinda makes you wonder why anyone ever went to war with magic and didn't instead just batter down the walls of any sorcerous nation with a legion of steel-clad soldiers?

Rebonack1 votes

{quoted}

Because iron's such a commonly used metal that basically every human nation would then have access to anti-magic weapons and armour? Which kinda makes you wonder why anyone ever went to war with magic and didn't instead just batter down the walls of any sorcerous nation with a legion of steel-clad soldiers?

If we're talking about a setting where magic is supposed to be uncommon, isn't that a desired effect then? When's the last time we've seen large scale magical battles? The rune wars?

The rune wars were thousands of years ago, yes? I can imagine pretty easily that they take place in an era of human history before anyone figured out how to get iron metallurgy to work. A time when the only reliable source of iron is from rare meteor strikes. As time goes on, the ubiquity of iron makes magic more and more uncommon, more special. And only the really powerful mages who can over-come the dampening power of all those dastardly nails all the more special.

Would make for an interesting contrast between societies that make heavy use of magic and those that don't. Since iron fouls magic, you would need to use other materials. Bronze, wood, stone, fabric, bone.

Oh! And the above poster bringing up Morde reminds me.

Y'know why cemeteries have wrought iron fences around them?

Because the iron keeps the spooks in, of course. We've still got that design over in the Shadow Isles. I would imagine Riot took that route to make things spooky without really thinking about the folklore foundation underlying it. So does iron in Runeterra hem in spirits? Do some people in Runeterra believe that iron hems in spirits? Or was it just an ascetic picked without any real foreknowledge?

Khâmul2 votes

Mordekaiser You don't need magic armor to kill thousands of people.If they're dead,they can't harm you. If they're by your side (consent not needed),it's much better

FloRaider421 votes

But isn't iron a rather weak magic repellent ? As far as I am aware it only repels fairies and ghosts, which might help in daily life, but if someone is firing a fireball at you a magic-absorbing material is much better. So maybe Iron has some magic resistant properties, but if you can afford it there are far better materials at hand.

Rebonack1 votes

{quoted}

But isn't iron a rather weak magic repellent ? As far as I am aware it only repels fairies and ghosts, which might help in daily life, but if someone is firing a fireball at you a magic-absorbing material is much better. So maybe Iron has some magic resistant properties, but if you can afford it there are far better materials at hand.

Faeries, ghosts, and witches. A home with a horseshoe above the threshold (or a pair of sheers under the doorstep) was generally considered to be proof against malevolent spellcasting.

You do bring up a really important point, though. Iron was generally seen as a repellent against magical creatures and direct magical effects. Someone trying to hex you while you're wearing a magical helm? Totally safe. Someone conjuring up a magical fireball and blowing you to smoking giblets? Not so helpful.

If iron DID have magic repellent properties it would still leave plenty of room for magicproof materials. It would give us a reasonable stepping stone between 'no defense at all' and 'totally immune'.

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