What is the purpose of the things in front of my fireplace? What are they called?

Factual Questions
1

I recently moved into a house with a fireplace. There are two of these decorative looking things that sit in front of it, with rods coming out of the back that extend into the fireplace. They look something like this (the rod comes out from where the X is):

O O
OOO OOO
O O
OXO OXO
O O O O

Last week I was at a party at our director’s house, and their fireplace has similar things. I asked several people, including our director’s wife, what the things were for. No one really knew, so the general consensus was that they are decorative. I don’t buy that, because then why would there be rods coming out of the back? They’re heavy enough to stand up on their own.

So tell me dopers, what is the purpose of these things? What are they called? For now, I’m calling them thingys. If I find out they really are just decorative, I’ll change the name to doodads.

2

I believe they are called ‘and-irons’. Not sure about the spelling. I don’t really understand your graphic, but a fireplace should have some sort of grate or stand to hold the logs. This also keeps them from rolling out onto the mantle.

3

Crap. My picture didn’t come out right! Okay, here’s just one of them - you’ll have to imagine two if these sitting next to each other:

. O
OOO
. O
OOO
OXO
O. O

Yes, there is a grate that sits over the rods.

4

Yes, they’re called andirons (one word, no hyphen).

From here: http://www.hansenwholesale.com/fireplaces/andirons/andexamp.html

"The original purpose of andirons was to hold the wood up off the hearth inside the fireplace so that it would burn properly as well as help keep logs from rolling out onto the floor.

Today, we often use a grate instead, but in order to preserve the tradition of the fireplace we still use andirons for their decorative appeal."

5

Andirons or “Fire-dogs.”

The horizontal frame (grate) holds the logs or coal above the ground to allow more complete combustion. The vertical sections at one time included hooks which could support a spit for cooking. Dates from the time when fireplaces were functional and were used for heating and cooking. They have morphed over time to accent the decorative, rather than the functional.

6

He he he…You guys are good! 7 minutes from post to answer, 14 minutes from to link with pictures.

I love you guys.

7

Yep:

Websters: andirons
" : either of a pair of metal supports for firewood used on a hearth and made of a horizontal bar mounted on short legs with usually a vertical shaft surmounting the front end"

8

D’oh! I thought the andirons were the set of tools that sit off to the side; the little shovel and hook and ash brush. Is there a name for those (besides fireplace tools?)

9

voguevixen, those are fire irons.