Reply To: Wootz Damascus and Pattern-Welded blades
This is true Wootz Steel: 
The pattern is formed in the creation of the steel itself and is not pattern welded. Vikings and other Europeans sought to reproduce the legendary wootz but created Pattern Welded steel instead, an artform in and of itself that also enhances the strength of the steel, but never matched the performance of Wootz.
True wootz is made in a crucible with special ingredients thrown in and a precise amount of carbon. In the right conditions, Vanadium-Carbide bands separate out from the steel and make it super hard yet strong at the same time- a living contradiction in the nature of steel. Strength and hardness are inversely proportionate, which is why Sanmai/Sanmei from the Chinese and later Japanese blacksmiths had a flexible iron core with sharp hardened edges (Katana).