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Category Archives: arts + crafts

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web-wyrhta

Posted on September 9, 2026 by Hana Videen

web-wyrhta, m.n: ‘cloth-worker’, a fuller, a worker who cleanses wool through the process of fulling. (WEB-WUER’H-ta / ˈwɛb-ˌwyrx-ta)

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tōl

Posted on August 12, 2026 by Hana Videen

tōl, n.n: that by which one makes things, a tool, implement, instrument; (in a collective sense) tools, machinery, apparatus. (TOAL / ˈtoːl)

Medieval manuscript image of a haloed man seated with writing implements, listening to a haloed man who comes down from the clouds to him holding a key.
Douce Apocalypse; England (London?), c. 1265-70; Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 180, p. 9. [digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk]
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chor-glīw

Posted on August 9, 2026 by Hana Videen

chor-glīw, n.n: choral dance, musical entertainment or celebration involving singer(s) and dancer(s). (KOR-GLEE-ew / ˈkɔr-ˌgliːw)

Medieval manuscript illustration of a person playing a gittern for a group of five dancers, three of whom wear animal masks (a stag, a rabbit and a boar).
Romance of Alexander; England, 14th century; Bodleian Library, MS. Bodl. 264. f. 21v. [digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk]

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hrēol

Posted on February 9, 2026 by Hana Videen

hrēol, n: reel, spool. (H’RAY-ol / ˈhreːɔl)

Medieval manuscript image of a woman spinning using a freestanding distaff; her cat has pounced on her twirling spindle.
The Maastricht Hours; Liège, 14th century; British Library, Stowe 17, f. 34r. [discardingimages.tumblr.com]
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hand-cræft

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Hana Videen

hand-cræft, m.n: skill or power of the hand. (HOND-KRAFT / ˈhand-ˌkræft)

In the margin of a medieval manuscript, a crowned man with a long beard and fancy robes points to his outstretched left hand.
Historia regum Britanniae; France (Normandy), 1150-1200; Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, Latin 8501A, f. 108v. [manuscrits-france-angleterre.org]
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nǣdl

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Hana Videen

nǣdl, f.n: a needle. (NAD-ull / ˈnæː-dəl)

A bone needle, a very rusty pair of shears and a bone thread-picker.
Bone needle and thread-picker and iron shears; England, early medieval period; Museum of London Archaeology. [mola.org.uk]
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blæc-horn

Posted on November 25, 2025 by Hana Videen

blæc-horn, m.n: ink-horn. (BLACK-HORN / ˈblæk-ˌhɔrn)

Medieval manuscript image of a haloed man sitting on a cushioned bench with feet on a footstool, with right hand dipping a pen into an ink-horn and with the left holding a book open on a lectern; a winged ox floats above holding a scroll.
Evangelist Luke at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke; N Germany (Magdeburg?), c. 1100; Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.889, f. 184v. [ica.themorgan.org]
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græft-geweorc

Posted on September 22, 2025 by Hana Videen

græft-geweorc, n.n: carved or graven work, a graven image. (GRAFT-yeh-WEH-ork / ˈgræft-jɛ-ˌwɛɔrk)

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wull

Posted on September 8, 2025 by Hana Videen

wull, f.n: wool. (WULL / ˈwʌl)

Medieval manuscript image of a wooly white sheep standing among some plants with a placid expression on its face.
Sheep in a bestiary; England, c. 1225-1250; Bodleian Library, MS. Bodley 764, f. 34r. [digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk]
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hamer

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Hana Videen

hamer, m.n: hammer. (HA-mer / ˈha-mɛr)

Medieval manuscript image of a woman sitting on a bench, raising a hammer with her right hand, holding with her left hand an arm on the anvil; a fire burns in an architectural niche.
Roman de la Rose, Nature at her Forge; France (Paris), c. 1350; Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.324, f. 106v. [ica.themorgan.org]

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