Editing Anvil (section)

==In popular culture==
[[File:Tohmajärvi.vaakuna.svg|thumb|upright|A fiery anvil in the coat of arms of the [[Tohmajärvi|Tohmajärvi municipality]]]]
===Firing===
[[Anvil firing]] is the practice of firing an anvil into the air using [[gunpowder]]. It has been popular in [[California]], the [[eastern United States]] and the [[southern United States]], much like how [[fireworks]] are used today. There is a growing interest in re-enacting this "ancient tradition" in the US, which has now spread to England.<ref>{{cite web
 |title=St Clements Day Celebrations 
 |url=http://www.okehamptonpeople.co.uk/news/Blacksmiths-celebrate-St-Clement-s-Day-Sticklepath-s-Finch-Foundry-November-21st/article-1523527-detail/article.html 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119001210/http://www.okehamptonpeople.co.uk/news/Blacksmiths-celebrate-St-Clement-s-Day-Sticklepath-s-Finch-Foundry-November-21st/article-1523527-detail/article.html 
 |archive-date=2009-11-19 
}}</ref>

===Television and film===
A typical metalworker's anvil, with horn at one end and flat face at the other, is a standard prop for [[Cartoon physics|cartoon gags]], as the epitome of a heavy and clumsy object that is perfect for dropping onto an antagonist. This visual metaphor is common, for example, in [[Warner Bros.|Warner Brothers]]' ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' and ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' shorts, such as those with [[Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner]].<ref>{{Cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/2012/12/acme-poster-kickstarter/ | title=Elaborate Poster Puts All of Wile E. Coyote's ACME Purchases on Your Wall | magazine=Wired | date=18 December 2012 | access-date=25 April 2014 | author=Maly, Tim}}</ref> Anvils in cartoons were also referenced in an episode of ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'', where one of the main characters tries to have a conversation about "Where did all the anvils go?", a reference to their falling out of use on a general scale.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/155545-23-questions-about-lorelai-gilmore-that-gilmore-girls-left-unanswered|title=23 Questions About Lorelai Gilmore That 'Gilmore Girls' Left Unanswered|website=Bustle.com|date=19 April 2016 |access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thedailyenglishshow.com/show/1400-gilmore-girls-where-did-all-the-anvils-go-acquire-the-dress-ubiquitous/|title=#1400 Gilmore Girls - Where Did All The Anvils Go?, Acquire, The Dress, Ubiquitous|website=Thedailyenglishshow.com|access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref> ''[[Animaniacs]]'' made frequent gags on the topic throughout its run, even having a kingdom named Anvilania, whose sole national product is anvils.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/animaniacs-king-yakko-no-pain-no-painting-les-1798173387|title=Animaniacs: "King Yakko" & "No Pain, No Painting"/"Les Miseranimals"|website=Tv.avclub.com|date=7 July 2012 |access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref>

===Books===
[[Dwarf (folklore)|Dwarves]] were blacksmiths who used anvils for metalworking in [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'', most iconically on ''[[The Magician's Nephew]]'' and ''[[Prince Caspian]]''; as well as in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Hobbit]]''.

===Music===
<!--"Tuned Anvils" redirects to this section title, so if you change it please also change the redirect. TIA.-->
[[File:Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods p 004.jpg|thumb|Mime at the anvil by [[Arthur Rackham]]]]
[[File:Tuned Anvils from Emil Richards Collection.jpg|thumb|A [[chromatic]] set of tuned anvils]]

Anvils have been used as [[percussion instrument]]s in several famous [[musical composition]]s, including:

*[[Louis Andriessen]]: ''[[De Materie]]'' (Part I), which features an extended solo for two anvils
*[[Kurt Atterberg]]: [[Symphony No. 5 (Atterberg)|Symphony No. 5]]
*[[Daniel Auber]]: opera ''Le Maçon''
*[[Alan Silvestri]]: ''[[The Mummy Returns]]''
*[[Arnold Bax]]: [[Symphony No. 3 (Bax)|Symphony No. 3]]
*[[The Beatles]]: "[[Maxwell's Silver Hammer]]" makes prominent use of the anvil.  Their roadie [[Mal Evans]] played the anvil.
*[[Benjamin Britten]]: ''[[The Burning Fiery Furnace]]''
*[[Aaron Copland]]: [[Symphony No. 3 (Copland)|Symphony No. 3]]
*[[Don Davis (composer)|Don Davis]]: [[The Matrix (franchise)|''The Matrix'' trilogy]]
*[[Brad Fiedel]]: ''[[Terminator (franchise)|The Terminator]]''
*[[Neil Finn]]: "Song of the Lonely Mountain," written for the end credits of ''[[The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey]]''
*[[Gustav Holst]]: [[Second Suite in F for Military Band]], which includes a movement titled "Song of the Blacksmith"
*[[Nicholas Hooper]]: ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (soundtrack)|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]''
*[[James Horner]]: Used it extensively in ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'', and his other films such as ''[[Flightplan]]'', ''[[The Forgotten (2004 film)|The Forgotten]]'' and ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]''
*[[Anvil (band)|Anvil]]: "[[Metal on Metal]]"
*[[Metallica]]: "[[For Whom the Bell Tolls (Metallica song)|For Whom the Bell Tolls]]"
*[[Randy Newman]]: ''[[Toy Story 3]]''
*[[Carl Orff]]: ''[[Antigone (opera)|Antigone]]''
*[[Howard Shore]]: [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy]]. Used predominantly for the theme of [[Isengard]].
*[[Juan María Solare]]: ''[[Veinticinco de agosto, 1983]]'' and ''Un ángel de hielo y fuego''
*[[John Philip Sousa]]: ''[[Dwellers of the Western World]]'', in which the second movement, ''The White Man'', calls for two pairs of anvils, the one small, the other large
* [[Johann Strauss (son)|Johann Strauss II]]: [[The Gypsy Baron|Der Zigeunerbaron]] (''The Gipsy Baron''; 1885): Ja, da wird das Eisen gefüge
*[[Josef Strauss]]: ''[[Feuerfest!]]'', op. 269 (1869). The title means "fireproof". This was the slogan of the Wertheim fireproof safe company, which commissioned the work.<ref>Scott, Derek B. (2008). ''Sounds of the metropolis: the nineteenth-century popular music revolution in London, New York, Paris, and Vienna'', p. 139. Oxford University Press, New York. {{ISBN|978-0-19-530946-1}}.</ref>
*[[Edgard Varèse]]: ''[[Ionisation (Varèse)|Ionisation]]''
*[[Giuseppe Verdi]]: ''[[Il Trovatore]]'', featuring the famous ''[[Anvil Chorus]]''
*[[Richard Wagner]]: ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' in ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' in scene 3, using 18 anvils [[Musical tuning|tuned]] in [[F (musical note)|F]] in three [[octave]]s, and ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'' in act I, notably Siegfried's "Forging Song" (''Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert!'')
*[[William Walton]]: ''[[Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)|Belshazzar's Feast]]''
*[[John Williams]]: ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'', ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]''
*[[Carl Michael Ziehrer]]: ''Der Traum eines österreichischen Reservisten'' (1890)

Wagner's ''Ring des Nibelungen'' is notable in using the anvil as [[pitched percussion]]. The vast majority of extant works use the anvil as [[unpitched]]. However '''tuned anvils''' are available as musical instruments, albeit unusual. These are not to be confused with the "sawyers' anvils" used to "tune" big circular saw blades. Steel anvils are used for tuning for use as musical instruments, because those based partly on cast iron and similar materials give a duller sound; this is actually valued in industry, as pure steel anvils are troublesomely noisy, though energetically more efficient. The hammer and anvil have enjoyed varying popularity in orchestral roles. [[Robert Donington]] pointed out that [[Sebastian Virdung]] notes them in his book of 1510, and [[Martin Agricola]] includes it in his list of instruments (Musica instrumentalis deudsch, 1529) largely as a compliment to [[Pythagoras]]. In pre-modern or modern times anvils occasionally appear in operatic works by Berlioz, Bizet, Gounod, Verdi, and Wagner for example. Commonly pairs of anvils tuned a third apart are used.

In practice modern orchestras commonly substitute a [[Drum brake#Use in music|brake drum]] or other suitable steel structure that is easier to tune than an actual anvil, although a visibly convincing anvil-shaped prop may be shown as desired. In ''Das Rheingold'' Wagner scored for nine little, six mid-sized, and three large anvils, but orchestras seldom can afford instrumentation on such a scale.<ref name="RDon">{{cite book |last=Donington |first=Robert |title=Music and its Instruments |work=University Paperbacks Third edition |year=1970 |publisher=Methuen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39I9AAAAIAAJ&q=Robert+Donington|isbn=9780416722802 }}</ref>