This dates from a time when mining techniques were exceedingly primitive and couldn’t go very deep underground. So a find of meteoric iron meant that one was able to have a much better sword than the guys who were mucking about with copper or bronze swords. In that respect, the quality was better, but certainly couldn’t compare to a modern sword.
Here’s the story about making a modern version of meteoric iron sword.
I watched two seperate documentaries on meteoric iron, made some years apart. The first documentary was about a new discovery of a meteorite* that hit Bavaria during the Celtic Age (“the sky fell on their head”, as Majestix in Asterix was always afraid of). Apart from the immediate shock of the destruction itself, the harvest nearby was destroyed, (dust leading to bad weather), so the survivors spread out and moved into neighbouring territories. When the neighbours didn’t want to share, they used force, and the peaceful Celtic farmers transformed into fierce warriors, using the special iron from the meteorite to forge their weapons. The claim was that the meteoric iron was higher in carbon than normal iron at that time (that might have to do with inferior smelting techniques at that time, though, I don’t remember the details), and when the Celts started trading their swords to the Romans (or hiring out to the Romans as soldiers), the balance of an Empire got a new edge.
The second documentary, several years later, said that this whole story was the product of one hobby scientist who wanted to get attention (and got it) with far-fetched claims, which all disintegrated under closer inspection (by other scientists, whoe were a bit miffed about the whole attention thing to exaggerated stuff): it’s now doubtful again that the meteorite which crashed was as big as claimed, or as catastrophic, nor was the iron that special in content compared to contemporary iron. So the whole rock-fell-from-the-sky-and-changed-society, while an interesting story, was most likely simply a story, not a plausible reconstruction.
*Sorry, I can never remember the different exact terms between meteors, meteorites and comets. I know one term is used for outside the atmosphere, one term for the rocks that have crashed, one term for dirty snowballs made of ice - I thought that was comets, but apparently comets are also sometimes made of rock?, plus another term for the small stuff that burns up in the atmosphere. So please insert the correct term for “big rock crashing from the sky”.
Meteor: rock from space that burns up in the atmosphere.
Meteorite: rock from space that survives the entry into our atmosphere and lands intact(ish).
Comet: Dirty snowball, composed primarily of water ice and frozen gases; may be coated with bits of rock, dust and space debris.
Bolide: a big-ass meteor; a fireball.
Titanium is a decent choice for armor. It’s used in the A-10 to protect the cockpit. Making a sharp, tough blade requires different properties than making good armor - imagine a depleted uranium sword.
double
And one still in space is a meteoroid.
Ok i agree about steel being the best available metal we have now, but the real question is what kind of steel. I don’t mean what type of alloy. I mean what would be the grain type. Because when you heat steel at different temperatures and for different lengths of times the steel changes at a microscopic level. Like when you heat steel to a certain temperature it all becomes austenite, but if you super cool it to room temperature it all becomes martensite. But would it be better to slowly bring it down and make bainite instead. Any experts out there know what would be best?
Gimme carbon fiber with a carbide edge. Osmium core for heft and balance, please. Only the best for fighting zombies.
Before this zombie gets locked… Nova has done two good episodes that might be interesting to readers of this thread.
At least the first is on Netflix.
Kryptonite.
We’ll get that {EXPLETIVE DELETED}, yet! 
No love for mithril?
As a machinist I have to throw in my two cents about titanium. It is very soft, very aluminium like. Why people love it for golf clubs and bicycle frames is because it’s about 80% as strong for 40% of the weight of steel. (rough rule of thumb disclaimer for GQ)
Doesn’t hold an edge for beans and will get gouged to hell against a crappy steel sword. But on the upside your arms won’t get tired from all the pre battle posturing of waving it around above your head and doing fancy manouvers.
Qualify it some more. Wood is a superior material to steel in making a weapon with the same reach as a sword. It’s lighter and faster, and gives more yield. Kendo/kenjutsu practitioners never drill real katanas with wooden swords (bokken) because the bokken can bend or shatter the best katanas around. There’s just the edge and point of the steel sword that can thrust and crack into armor, or cut into flesh. So it’s more versatile as a weapon than a wooden sword.
If you want to stick to metals, I would recommend a steel that’s not to hard and brittle. Most of the current crop of powder “super steels” are not suitable for swords because they chip easily. Of these, cpm 3v is the best as it is designed to be tough and wear-resistant, unlike those like cpm s30v or 154cm which are harder and more wear-resistant but lack yield and toughness.
It’s an old Russian dictum, I think - staff beats sword, sword beats ax, ax beats staff.
That’s for armour, not blades. Mithril is light, and a weapon needs some weight to it.
I’ll stick with starmetal. You can’t slay dragons if your sword hasn’t got any starmetal in it, common knowledge. Terry Pratchett knows.
Depends on the weapon. Stabbing weapons like daggers, spears and rapiers don’t need much mass.
No objectivist is going to vote for Rearden metal?
Terry may have bowed to fantasy convention in real life, but in the Diskworld, the greatest sword is not flashy, shiny or made of magical materials. It is carried by the true heir to the throne of Ankh Morpork (Captain Carrot) and is very plain, completely non-magical (according to a witch), and exceptionally efficient at cutting things (which is what you want from a sword if you are going to be a king). And you don’t bother about the bloke that pulls a sword from a stone - but you might want to meet the fella that put it there in the first place.
How do the lizard and Spock fit in, then?
Understanding the interaction of crystal formation and matrix in metals is still far off, and so these choices are still a matter of art rather than clear science. Although I did watch a BBC show on Metals, and they showed Rolls Royce making turbine blades - they use a lost wax casting method, then they control the cooling so the entire cast is a single metal crystal (titanium alloy, not steel) that can handle the tension when it is rotating. Was very cool.
I have my doubts. I always carry a knife, and since I keep losing them, I keep buying them. Long ago, the kind of knives I buy were all regular steel. However, they became trendy, corrosion darkens the blade, and people don’t want blackened blades. So, they began to produce them using stainless steel, which is worthless for a blade (it can’t keep an edge). From then on, I was sold several different stainless steel alloys that, according to the sellers, were as good as standard steel. They weren’t. None of them. Not by a long shot.
I can’t tell for sure that this particular stainless alloy isn’t equal or better to basic carbon steel. But I don’t buy it. Maybe it’s the best stainless alloy available, but the best steel alloy? It will take a lot of evidences to convince me of it.
(FTR, I’ve now my knives custom made, again with regular steel blades)