What are the hammer and the anvil and what was their use?
These are tools that the reaper used to renew the edge of the scythe blade, dented or damaged by impacts against hard materials (stones, pieces of wood) present on the ground.
The scythe hammer is a hammer with two flat heads and a short wooden handle.
The scythe anvil is a metal bar with a conical section pointed at the lower end (so that it can be fixed to a support or stuck into the ground) and equipped with a square and flat base at the upper end (on which the blade to be struck with the hammer was placed).
Halfway along its length, the anvil often has iron curls that prevented the tool from sinking into the ground during the beatings.
The reaper rested the scythe blade on the anvil and with the hammer he struck it with firm blows along the entire length, from one side and the other, to remake the edge or smooth out the dented edge.
