Faxinating! Do you have any references for this? I've been intrigued about the lameness of smiths since noticing that both Wayland and Hephaestus (Smith by Divine appointment to the Pantheon of Olympus) were lame. The Fall of Hephaestus after he was thrown out of Olympus has interesting parallels with the Fall of Lucifer.

I expect smiths had (and have) hairy legs.