When studying primitive history at school, methodological difficulties arise in explaining the process of emergence of social differentiation and formation of elites in ancient societies. This article presents a variant of using mythological and linguistic sources to reconstruct these processes on the example of the professional group of blacksmiths. The results of the research allow us to define the main type of their activity as religious. Such a situation is typical for many archaic societies, in which blacksmiths constituted a special sacral group, and their activity was mythologised. Based on the analysis of the blacksmith’s mythology the basic characteristics of this image are highlighted: creativity, ambivalence, chthonicity, magical power, connection with gods and demons.

Keywords: linguistics, school practice, teaching, pedagogical difficulties, primitive history, mythology, blacksmith, liminality, dragon-slayer, chthonism