#dragonbone

The wine was a rare sweet amber from the Summer Isles that he had brought all the way north from Casterly Rock, and the book a rumination on the history and properties of dragons.

Tyrion curled up in his fur with his back against the trunk, took a sip of the wine, and began to read about the properties of dragonbone.

Ramokee Witch

The Dragon Bone Axe Final? kikoeart.com

Oh snap, I had not thought about the dragonbone / iron connection. So Valyrian Steel is kind of Platonic Iron, I guess?

(y’all, please read this post first)

This is how I think about this:

A quality steel sword is, approximately, 0.5% carbon

Damascus steel had double or triple the carbon content of regular steel

If Valrian steel is analogous to damascus steel (and it is), I think it’s getting its magical properties from the high carbon content

Forged iron has more carbon than a regular steel sword; iron made in a blast furnace is like 3-4% carbon

“Dragonbone is black because of its high iron content” --> the dragons are made of iron (high carbon content) --> the dragons are fire, passion, life in the midst of death

“Carbon is the universal building block for life” 

In a book series that celebrates life and underscores the fact that people’s “lives have meaning” (more posts about that), a book series in which GRRM has said the central conflict is “a war for life itself” ... I think life is antithetical to the Others. Something about iron / carbon / valyrian steel destroys them. 

This prop version of #Skyrim’s Dragonbone Dagger looks real enough to fight bandits with.