Such techniques in Japan were sacred (involving many Shinto rites) and passed very ceremoniously from master to apprentice (and apprenticeships would be very, very long), and, as such, there would be an almost mystical aura involved in those swords. I'm no metallurgist, but the actual Japanese blade is more like a 'steel alloy' - a combination of different kinds of steel welded together - than a single kind of steel.

The Japanese dealt with those by employing several different steel types. This would be consistent with a technique that is primarily used for swords and/or edged weapons, since besides lightness (to make them easier to swing), you need to avoid brittleness, you need hardness for the edge, it must be flexible to an extent but not too much, you should be able to polish it and etch it with designs (for aesthetic reasons), without, however, endangering the lightness (polish/etch it too much, and you ruin the sword), and so forth - an impressive amount of different characteristics that are usually mutually exclusive. Also, Japanese traditionally used several different kinds of steel in producing the famous Samurai swords the actual workmanship of such a sword (even today) is incredible, for the sheer number of processes involved in doing the whole sword (and not just the blade itself). )īesides that, I always imagined that Valyrian steel shares the characteristics of Japanese steel in the Middle Ages which is tempered steel made of many layers, by repeatedly folding and hammering on the steel that will produce the blade part (see ).

Valyrian steel, although being often quoted as being 'far too rare', nevertheless seem to be found pretty much at every armoury in Westeros.

Ck2 agot valyrian armor