The Bewitched Knife
An iron knife that Swedish folk tradition used against harmful magic, one of the many protective uses of steel and iron in Nordic belief. A knife or other steel object laid across a newborn's cradle was believed to keep the bortbyting, the changeling, from swapping the child, and similar iron was set under the birthing bed and over the stable door to hold off trolls and the mare. A knife was also run through a bewitched churn, struck into the threshold, or thrown over the roof to break a spell that had soured the milk or the luck of a farm. The sign-carved knife served the healer in 'signing'