Various metals in folklore/fantasy? (E.g. silver, cold iron, etc.)

[Beleriphon]

Also, its shiny. Everyone loves shiny stuff.

Gold does have a particular luster to it that other metals just don't.

Has other neat properties to that have been known for millennia. Its absurdly ductile. The Vancouver Science Centre once had a billboard with a 24 hour armed guard because it was covered in a single sheet of gold made from exactly 1 ounce of the stuff. A normal sized bill board, covered in gold.

Not even taking into account the monetary value of gold throughout history, there's something about it that people seem to be drawn to more than anything other metal. There's a quality to it that is hard to compare to other things.

[Bohandas]

Cobalt got its name from an association with kobolds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt

[Greywander]

Again, thanks for all the responses and discussion.

I was curious about branching out (ba dum tsh) to discuss the properties of various types of wood, but I didn't want to sidetrack the discussion here, so I started a new thread for it.
Link: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...asy&p=23881155

[Bohandas]

There's also Damascus Steel, which has yet to be fully reverse engineered

[Man_Over_Game]

Cobalt was originally tied to the word Kobold, which we all should know.

The reason is because Cobalt was often visibly mined with Copper, and it's often naturally combined with Arsenic. If the miners tried to smelt the Copper, it'd also break down the Cobalt (which they can see), and the Arsenic with it (which they can't). Arsenic Oxide (which happens after you heat it up) is extremely toxic, and causes major long-term health problems. They blamed their illnesses on goblins and evil spirits.

And so Cobalt is associated with evil spirits.

[Squire Doodad]

Cobalt was originally tied to the word Kobold, which we all should know.

The reason is because Cobalt was often mined with Copper, and it's commonly combined with Arsenic. If the miners tried to smelt the Copper, it'd also break down the Cobalt, and the Arsenic with it. Arsenic Oxide (which happens after you heat it up) is extremely toxic, and causes major long-term health problems. They blamed their illnesses on goblins and evil spirits.

And so Cobalt is associated with evil spirits.

In Japanese America, Cobalt is also associated with a giant two-horned deer that Sacred Swords your head off until you black out and drop half your money.

[sktarq]

Also, its shiny. Everyone loves shiny stuff.

well yeah...but this is shiny by nature and with little human effort to shape it. and stays shiny.
therefore better than other shiny things that have to be smelted in the eyes of many people.

plus touchstones have been around for long enough that purity testing was easier on gold and thus even more links to gold as "pure" could be made.

[Mith]

Mentions of Norse myths, the only reference to metals I am aware of is actually Damascus steel in Beowulf (he kills Grendal's mother with it IIRC).

And I am pretty sure the iron bane association with faeries may be because the Gaels came and killed all the bronze wielding Picts with iron weapons.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Mentions of Norse myths, the only reference to metals I am aware of is actually Damascus steel in Beowulf (he kills Grendal's mother with it IIRC).

Actually, mithril comes from Norse myth originally, specifically The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek.

[Mith]

Actually, mithril comes from Norse myth originally, specifically The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek.

Neat! Thanks for sharing!