Germanic Fire Striker

A hand-forged fire striker made of carbon steel, as commonly used in the early Middle Ages.
This medieval fire steel is modeled on an artefact found in a grave in Bavaria.

Scraping the firesteel with the sharp edge of a flintstone generates sparks that ignite the dry tinder which begins to smoulder. So-called tinder fungi usually served as tinder: The mushroom-like bracket fungi were harvested from the tree trunks and soaked in a nitrous solution or rubbed with black powder to allow them to kindle.