Forging History – The Blacksmiths of Denmark
Forging History – The Blacksmiths of Denmark
This short film by Irina Petrova takes viewers inside Den Gamle By in Aarhus, Denmark, where a small group of master blacksmiths continue the centuries-old craft rooted in Viking tradition. Working in open-air forges using time-honored tools and techniques, they shape iron into functional and decorative pieces that reflect the skill, endurance, and artistry of their ancestors.
Set against the backdrop of Denmark’s most immersive historical museum, the film captures both the physical intensity of the forge and the cultural dedication required to keep this ancient craft alive. It’s a portrait of living history—where every spark, hammer strike, and finished piece carries the legacy of Viking craftsmanship into the present.
Film Maker
Irina Petrova
Denmark
Born in Russia and based in Aarhus, Denmark, Irina Petrova is a documentary filmmaker and researcher.
She holds an MA in Visual Culture from HSE University (Moscow) and has completed several courses in documentary filmmaking and photography.
She uses filmmaking as a research tool to investigate anthropological and post-anthropological issues.
Her documentary No Need to Fight (2019), portraying the life of a woman living with ALS, was presented at the Days of Ethnographic Cinema International Festival in Moscow.
Expanding beyond human-centred narratives, she collaborated as a videographer with the PostHumanStudies Lab on a project exploring the Soviet-era “plant internet”, which was featured at the Ars Electronica exhibition (2022) and received a Special Jury Mention.
She is currently focused on archival filmmaking and video essay practices as tools for researching historical and cultural processes.
Film Master
Johannes Bengtson Copmann
- Craft
- Blacksmith
- Country
- Denmark
Johannes is the master blacksmith at the open air museum Den Gamle By in Denmark, where his main job is to preserve the blacksmithing craft and maintain the ironwork at the museum. With a combined background in both archaeology and blacksmithing, he is well rounded in the different periods of history, their designs and techniques. His greatest motivation is preserving the skills of the blacksmith, and passing those skills on to future generations, so they may both be used in preserving what we have, but also the possibility of them being used for new purposes.