Ard found in the marsh at Åknes in Andøy. Age unknown.
The ard was common in agriculture until the more modern plough arrived in the mid-1800s. This type is also called a kneard, or a crocard. There are petroglyphs dating back to the Bronze Age where the ard as an agricultural tool is pictured. It is believed that the ard as a tool is as old as the oldest agriculture in Norway.
The ard consists mainly of two parts, the hill and the reef. The ridge is a large, bent piece of wood, from which the name “crocard” derives. The cut is the pointed piece of iron at the bottom, at the front of the shear being dragged through the soil. The reef is massive, with no open gaps, and can easily be removed for when maintenance was needed.
The ard was used by attaching it with a pulling device on horseback, which dragged it through the field. Behind went a driving guy or ardkar. The Ardkar guided the ard via a handle mounted in a hole up on the hill, called a cock. This arden lacks its cock.