Smidning

Smidning is a Swedish noun that appears mainly in historical, literary, or dialectal contexts. It is connected to the verb smida, meaning to forge or smith, and its core sense refers to the act of forming or shaping material, typically metal, by heating and hammering. In many texts, smidning also denotes the resulting forged object or product of smithing, such as a tool or decorative metal item. In other usages, the term can function more broadly as a metaphor for shaping or forming something with skill.

In modern Swedish, the more common word for metal forging is usually smide, and smidning is encountered primarily in older documents, archival material, or with stylistic or regional flavor. Because of its rarity and register, the precise meaning of smidning can depend heavily on context, and it may appear in compounds or in phrases describing work performed by a smith or a smithy.

Etymology is straightforward: the noun is formed from smida plus the general noun-making suffix -ning, yielding a noun of action related to forging.

See also: smithing, metalworking, smide, smedja, smed. For authoritative definitions and usage, consult standard Swedish dictionaries such as Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL) or the Nationalencyklopedin (NE), which may note smidning as archaic or regionally restricted in contemporary language.

Note: Because smidning is relatively uncommon in everyday modern Swedish, readers should pay close attention to context to determine whether it refers to the forging process, the finished forged object, or a broader sense of shaping material.