[stinkbutt]

it was one of the most popular and widespread occupations

[fnordpiglet]

I think it’s more accurate to say most communities had a blacksmith. “Farmer” was the most popular and widespread occultations. A community at that time didn’t require a ton of specialized labor, they needed more people using the output of a blacksmith.

[z3phyr]

Unlike how popular culture depicts, blacksmiths seldom operated alone. A village would have a big team of blacksmiths, including many acolytes.