Anvil
A heavy iron block for shaping metal — the steady base against which form is hammered into being.
An anvil in a dream is the dream's image of the steady base against which form is hammered into being. The anvil does not strike; the anvil resists, and the resistance is what allows the hammer to shape. The dream brings the anvil when something in your life — a discipline, a difficult conversation, a piece of slow self-formation — is currently providing the unmoving surface that the work of shaping requires. An anvil ringing under good blows is the dream affirming that the firmness is essential to the result. An anvil cracked through by too heavy a blow is the dream noting that the base was pushed past its tolerance, and what was supposed to remain steady has now become part of what needs repair.