Elf-magic

[MithLuin]

The easiest, most straight-forward approach to maintaining rust-free blades is how you keep a machete clean and stored in Latin America. The tropical environment is both wet and warm, so great conditions for making rust. Even in fairly dry air, you do get slow rust production from oxidation. So, the solution is to coat the blade in oil.

If you clean a blade properly, coat it in oil, and then store it in a scabbard, it shouldn't rust. Assuming the scabbard is of a decent design, anyway.

 

[Haerangil]

I know too much about metallurgy and material science to accept the concept of an 'unbreakable' sword made so by some magic spell. I'm fine with the Noldor making good strong steel, and leaving it at that.
.

Tolkien´s swords are so supernatural...
they survive millenias without rust, they can be reforged - which is impossible in reality.
unbreakable is just another.... "Fairytale thing"... it doesn#t add up much after all the other illogical, impossible properties if you ask me.

 

[MithLuin]

Actually, you *can* reforge a broken sword... just not the way they showed in the Peter Jackson films.

But yes, I hear you - it's magic. Magic doesn't exactly follow the rules of the natural world. Being...magic, and all. I will accept that the 'glowing blue' sword has nothing to do with its material construction - it's some sort of magic spell.

But strength, hardness, brittleness...these are all properties of the metal. You can't just lay a spell on top of the blade to alter that. Or, I mean, you can, but my mind balks at that a *lot* more.

 

[Haerangil]

nah not really... youll have to melt up everything again and re-do the entire ingot. Nothing i actually would even call RE-forging.

 

[Nicholas Palazzo]

But strength, hardness, brittleness...these are all properties of the metal. You can't just lay a spell on top of the blade to alter that. Or, I mean, you can, but my mind balks at that a *lot* more.

I get that, but LoTR does specifically say that Anduril is unbreakable when drawn from its enchanted scabbard, so we do know this is a thing in Middle Earth.