Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts

by Alexander Langlands

Overview

“Hypnotic.… [Langlands] begins to see not just the beauty of an object.… but the deeper purpose for which each has been created.” —New York Times

Faced with an endless supply of mass-manufactured products, we find ourselves nostalgic for goods bearing the mark of authenticity—hand-made tools, local brews, and other objects produced by human hands. Archaeologist and medieval historian Alexander Langlands reaches as far back as the Neolithic period to recover our lost sense of cræft, combining deep history with detailed scientific analyses and his own experiences making traditional crafts. Cræft brims with vivid storytelling, rich descriptions of natural landscape, and delightful surprises that will convince us to introduce more cræft into our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393356571
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	01/15/2019
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	285,195
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Alexander Langlands is a British archaeologist and medieval historian. He is a regular presenter for the BBC and teaches medieval history at Swansea University. He currently resides in Swansea, Wales.

Table of Contents

Foreword: The Strimmer and the Scythe 1

Preface: Why Cræft? 7

1 Defining Cræft 13

2 Making Hay 39

3 Sticks and Stones 55

4 Grenjaðarstaður 79

5 The Skep-making Beekeeper 91

6 Taming the Wilds 109

7 Weft and Warp 131

8 Under Thatch 165

9 The Shoe and the Harness 193

10 Seed and Sward 217

11 The Oxna Mere 235

12 Fire and Earth 263

13 The Craft of Digging 295

14 Baskets and Boats 311

Postscript: Craft and Contemplation 335

Acknowledgements 344

Editorial Reviews

"A coherent and enjoyable argument for ‘not just a knowledge of making but a knowledge of being.’"

Guardian

"Part how-to, part memoir, the book gets at what it means to make things with your own hands, and how this experience connects us both to the past and to our present sense of place."

American Scholar

"Alexander Langlands is spot-on: crafting isn’t just about creating beautiful, useful objects. It’s about reclaiming the knowledge, wisdom, and power that link us to the collective history of civilization. Cræft is what makes us human."

Carleen Madigan

"I am in no way crafty, but this book had me yearning to thatch my own roof just to be in touch with the physical and attendant mental labor of putting something useful together."

Pamela Paul

"Alex Langlands is probably the only person who could have written this wonderful book, drawing as it does upon his extraordinary combination of experiences as an archaeologist and as somebody who has actively learned such a huge range of the traditional crafts which he explains. This is literally heritage in action, and artistry which produces practical rewards."

Ronald Hutton

"Hypnotic... In reconnecting with craeft, [Langlands] begins to see not just the beauty of an object or a building or a landscape, but the deeper purpose for which each has been created. And he understands, too, the environment they shape and upon which they depend.... At a time where our disconnection from the world around us is not just tragic but downright dangerous, recovering our status as Homo faber, the species that makes things, may be our salvation."

New York Times - Michael Bierut

"Whether it’s the small-batch hot sauce or the rage for craft beer, today’s consumer wants tradition, quality, and artisan everything. Langlands offers a fascinating history of what’s setting trends today."

Booklist

"Using a combination of memoir, history and cultural commentary – in the first chapter Langlands has his own Poldark moment with a scythe – Langlands makes a coherent and enjoyable argument for 'not just a knowledge of making but a knowledge of being.'"

The Guardian

"Archaeologist and BBC presenter Alexander Langlands offers a fascinating and surprisingly relevant dive into a subject that might seem niche to many—the origins of traditional crafts in medieval Europe... Readers get a richly atmospheric peek into “craefts” like the thatching of roofs, the spinning of wool, and the tanning of hides... What Langlands is advocating for in his book is more widespread knowledge about the time when craft was integral to daily life. In the era he studies, activities like beekeeping weren’t escapes from reality, but essential to it."

The Atlantic

"In Craeft, Mr. Langlands excavates the scintillating history of our truest super power: making clever things with our hands. This history is rife with real-life magic and affection, for our earth as well as one another. I am damn grateful for this book."

Nick Offerman

"Erudite, deftly argued, well written, and timely—Langlands weaves together the basic human desire to use our hands to make things with tradition, landscape, and the natural world. A delightful book that should be widely read."

Robert Penn