Point of reference: Normalizing will make the carbides smaller and distribute them more evenly. This will relieve stresses to a degree and make the hardness uniform when you quench it. Annealing makes the carbides bigger and the metal is softer than normalizing. The big carbides sequester carbon into areas and makes the hardening less uniform. As Ed said, forge, normalize to relieve stress, anneal to make it softer for grinding. Many smiths also normalize prior to hardening, too.
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