Hello!
I thought this would be a good place to find an answer to my question: “What is a knot tyer called?” I’ve heard that there is an old word not much in use any more, and I’d really like to know what it is! Does anyone know?
Thanks for your help.
I tried a direct translation from the Dutch word and indeed knotter /nt/ n. E18. [f. KNOT n.1, v. + -ER1.] 1 A person who or machine which ties knots.
It may not be the word you are looking for but it is one.
Willeke
One very old name (ca 1400’s) is Quipucamayocs
They tied the quipu, a knot based recording and calculating system.
You certainly won’t find this being used any more, because they were all wiped out by the Spanish Conquistadores.
Definition? There may not be one.
All the folks who tied knots were known by the work they did (or do). A weaver, a tailor, a sailmaker; a ship rigger. One did not call upon the skill of a “knot tyer” as one might call upon a bow maker or a miller. The best I can think of is a “rigger”, but much of what is needed for that job has nothing to do with knots and more to do with physics and an understanding of stress in materials.
I think there was no “knot tyer” of old, until me and my ilk came along. We are people who love knots, tye knots, study knots, but who have no commercial interest in knots (some practical folks are to be forgiven; their quest for the money leads them to make a living on their love, but they still love knots way too much to be really commercial). A difinition may exist: There may yet be; People who tie knots for no purpose, to no reason and just for the fun of it. These may be “knot tyers”. Experts who expand the knowledge, just to do so, may also be “knot tyers”.