How fantasy fans are keeping a Turkish blacksmithing tradition alive

Kemeralti Bazaar, Izmir, Turkiye – To the casual passer-by, the Akdemir family’s workshop could be any traditional blacksmith’s forge. Dozens of hammers and tongs hang from the walls; kebab skewers, knives and axes lie across the benches; a length of steel glows in the fire. But for those familiar with fantasy worlds and gaming, a second look may be required.

Just a few steps inside the workshop's shutter-style doors, an enormous forged fantasy sword rests across a countertop, similar to the one wielded by the Lich King in the popular video game World of Warcraft. Elsewhere are weapons inspired by TV series and video games, including Game of Thrones and League of Legends, rendered in steel.

At the forge, Suleyman Akdemir, a large man with a furrowed brow, grips a glowing length of metal with long tongs, draws it from the fire, and lays it across the anvil. A few metres away, his father, Omer, 54, reaches for a tool. Then the power hammer crashes down, its blows reverberating through the narrow workshop and out into the covered streets of Izmir’s Kemeralti bazaar, forcing conversation to wait.

Suleyman, 30, wears a brown leather apron over a black T-shirt, his hands encased in black gloves. His father rarely stops working while he talks; Suleyman often pauses, turning towards his customers before returning to the forge.

Between father and son, exchanges are calm, almost formal. Here, they seem less like family than two craftsmen who have spent years learning how to work around one another.

When the hammer falls silent, Suleyman turns from the forge.

“Ever since I was a child. I’d say since I first learned to walk, I've been working here with hot forging,” he says, breaking into a smile.

The surroundings bear that history. The fantasy weapons are newcomers to a workshop where Suleyman's family has practised blacksmithing for generations. Yet, incongruous as they look among the agricultural tools and barbecue skewers, they may be one reason the forge is still running.

“Thank God, we can make anything we see,” Suleyman says.

That conviction has taken the Akdemirs somewhere his predecessors could hardly have imagined. Customers from around the world now send Suleyman images and ideas inspired by weapons they have seen on screen, which he interprets as individually designed, hand-forged pieces.