> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Date:: 2026 > Tags:: #craftTranslated #Iran #India #Romania > WeftLinks:: [[World Craft Dictionary]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > Across languages, the knot gives words to being stuck, to being bound together and to remembering. ### The knot A knot is a fastened loop of fibre, the point where a line turns back on itself and holds. It is among the oldest human techniques, used in nets, rope, carpets, lace and string figures. Because almost everyone has tied and untied knots, the experience is widely shared, and many languages draw on it to describe states of mind and relations between people. ### Persian The Persian word for knot is gereh (گره). It is also the unit of the hand-knotted carpet, where density is counted in knots. In everyday speech, kāram gereh khordeh (کارم گره خورده), "my work has become knotted", means that one's affairs are stuck. It is used to describe problems with work, study or life in general, often with a request for prayers. A more intractable problem is kalāf-e sardargom (کلاف سردرگم), the tangled skein. Literally it refers to the loose end of yarn lost somewhere inside a skein. A solution exists, but it cannot yet be reached. The knot can also be positive. Sarnevesht-e mā be ham gereh khordeh (سرنوشت ما به هم گره خورده), "our destinies are knotted together", describes lives that are deeply connected and shared. ### Romanian Romanian draws on the loom. A încurca ițele means to tangle the heddles, to become confused or to confuse a situation. Its opposite, a descurca ițele, to untangle the heddles, means that a situation is being clarified. These expressions remain common in speech and fiction, though less so among younger people, many of whom have never seen a loom. ### Hindi In Hindi, gānṭh bāndhnā (गाँठ बाँधना), to tie a knot, can mean to commit something firmly to memory or to resolve on it. This recalls the knot tied in a handkerchief as a reminder, a practice found across Europe. In the Andes, the Inca khipu developed knotting into a system for recording numbers and information. ### English English carries similar meanings. A difficult question is a knotty problem. Marriage is tying the knot. Someone without purpose is at a loose end. An impossible problem solved by force is cutting the Gordian knot. ### Two meanings These expressions share two meanings that appear to pull in opposite directions. The knot is an obstacle, the tangle that stops work. It is also a bond, the tie that joins lives together. Both come from the same physical experience. A knot holds because it resists, and the effort that makes it hard to undo is the same effort that makes it secure. ### From hand to thought Lakoff and Johnson argued that metaphor is a basic mechanism of thought, in which a concrete source domain helps us understand an abstract target domain. Knot expressions fit this pattern. The tangling of fibres becomes a way of understanding difficulty, and the tying of threads a way of understanding commitment. Howard Risatti locates craft knowledge in the coordination of hand and material, built through repetition and the resistance of matter. The patient work of untangling a knot gives a tactile sense of what it means to find a hidden solution. This suggests that knot metaphors keep their force only while people still have the experience of knotting. The Romanian case, where loom expressions fade with the loss of the loom, is an example. Tim Ingold extends the argument. For Ingold, the knot is the basic principle by which things hold together in a world made of lines. Lines of fibre, movement and life are bound together at knots, while their ends remain loose to join with others. In this light, knotting offers a model for how thinking, memory and relationships take shape. ### Contribute We welcome expressions about knots from other languages, particularly Korean (maedeup), Japanese (musubi), te reo Māori, Yolŋu Matha and Quechua. ### References - Ingold, T. (2015). The life of lines. Routledge. - Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors we live by (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press. - Risatti, H. (2007). A theory of craft. University of North Carolina Press. ### Garland stories - [The Knot Garden](https://garlandmag.com/the-knot-garden/) - [Can an algorithm learn a knot?](https://garlandmag.com/article/can-an-algorithm-learn-a-knot/) - [Korean Maedeup: A culture of knots](https://garlandmag.com/maedeup/) - [Quarterly Essay: Remembering the string figures of Yirrkala](https://garlandmag.com/article/quarterly-essay-remembering-the-string-figures-of-yirrkala/) - [The Kaikai of Rapanui](https://garlandmag.com/article/the-kaikai-of-rapanui/)