Cræft : an inquiry into the origins and true meaning of traditional crafts Cover Image

Cræft : an inquiry into the origins and true meaning of traditional crafts / Alexander Langlands ; [wood engravings by Harry Brockway].

Craeft (other title)
Craft (other title)

Langlands, Alex, (author.). Brockway, Harry, 1958- (illustrator.).

Summary:

The Old English word "craeft" signified knowledge, skill, wisdom, and resourcefulness. Today, in the wake of industrialization, people are again seeking products made with authenticity -- artisan breads, local honey, craft beers, furniture and other goods made by human hands. Archaeologist and medieval historian Alexander Landlands travels from his home in Wales along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe learning a wide range of traditional manual skills, and searching for the lost meaning of craeft.

Record details

ISBN: 9780393635904
ISBN: 0393635902
Physical Description: 344 pages ; 25 cm
Edition: First American edition
Publisher: New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.

Content descriptions

General Note:	"First published in 2017 by Faber and Faber Ltd under the title Cræft: how traditional crafts are about more than just making." -- title page verso. Includes index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Foreword: The strimmer and the scythe -- Preface: Why cræft? -- Defining cræft -- Making hay -- Sticks and stones -- Grenjaðarstaður -- The skep-making beekeeper -- Taming the wilds -- Weft and warp -- Under thatch -- The shoe and the harness -- Seed and sward -- The oxna mere -- Fire and earth -- The craft of digging -- Baskets and boats -- Postscript: Craeft and contemplation.