Hurstwic_ Clothing in the Viking Age

7/30/2019 Hurstwic_ Clothing in the Viking Age

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4/11/13 Hurstwic: Clothing in the Viking Age

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As with many aspects of Viking-age material culture, our knowledge of Viking era clothing is fragmentary. The Vikingpeople left few images and little in the way of written descriptions of their garments. Archaeological evidence is verylimited and spotty. Thus, different scholars examining the evidence come to different conclusions. What is presentedin this article represents only a range of possible interpretations.

All the Germanic peoples in northern Europewore similar clothing. While variations did exist,throughout the Norse era and across the Norselands, clothing styles were remarkablyconsistent. The photo on the left shows men'sclothing similar to that worn throughout the Norse

regions, while the photo on the right shows adistinctly eastern Norse style for men.

Up top, men wore a tunic that was tight fittingacross the chest with a broad skirt. Down belowwere trousers which could be either loose fittingor tight. Women wore a long shift with asuspended overdress. Both men and womenwore a long cloak or a jacket to provide warmthand protection in inclement weather.

Most of our knowledge of Viking-era clothing and

textiles comes from archaeological finds, whilesome comes from literary sources and writtenlaw. Most finds of Viking-era fabric are fromgrave goods. As one might expect, fabric doesn'tsurvive very well when buried underground. Thesurvival of large quantities of fabric is quite rareand requires unusual soil conditions. Sometimesthe traces of textiles are found on the undersideof jewelry, as the corrosion products of the fabricin contact with the jewelry in the grave etch thejewelry. From these ghost images, the weaveand thread count may be determined.

Remains of clothing are also found in other places. Norse people used worn out clothing for many purposes.Sometimes, it was coated with pitch and used to seal cracks in the shipbuilding process. In other cases, fabric wascoated with pitch to use as a torch, but never lit. These pitch-coated fabrics have survived very well. At least one entiregarment (a pair of men's trousers) has survived from the Viking era because someone used it in the process ofbuilding a ship.

Men's Clothing
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www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/clothing.htm 2

The outer garment for the man's upper body was the kyrtill, theovertunic. It was constructed from wool and was constructedusing surprisingly complicated patterns, with many pieces thatneeded to be cut out of the fabric and sewn back together.However, when it was all laid out, very little fabric went to waste.

The photo to theleft shows theindividualpieces of fabricbeing fittedtogether to

make the tunic.The photo to theright shows afinished tunic.

The complexityresults in agarment thatdoesn't bind orrestrictmovement. Theupper part of the

garment isrelatively tight-fitting, but thesleeves arefitted to providefreedom ofmotion. The skirtranged fromthigh length toknee length. Aswith mostarticles of

clothing, thelength wasdetermined bythe wealth of theowner. A poorerman would notwaste materialthat wasn'tneeded, while amore wealthyman would showoff his wealth by
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/clothing.htm#


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using morematerial thanwas needed. Onhot days, theskirt was liftedup and tuckedinto the belt forbetter cooling.

Sleeves wereprobably longerthan is typical inmoderngarments,reaching wellpast the wrists.

The tunic was pulled on over the head. There were usually no fasteners, although sometunics had a simple button and loop of thread (left) to fasten the neck opening. Akeyhole neckline was the most common, although many other shapes were used for

the neck opening for both men and women. Men's necklines were high, since agarment that revealed the chest was considered effeminate.

Tunics of all but the poorest people were decorated with braid, at least on the necklineand cuffs. The tunics of the more wealthy were also decorated with braid on the hem ofthe skirt. The braid was woven from brightly colored wool using the tablet weavingtechnique, described later in the article.

Silk was also used to trim a tunic, although the cost of imported silk must have limited this kind of trim to only thewealthiest people.

Under the tunic, it's likely that most men also wore an undertunic (left).This was made most commonly from linen. (Linen was more expensivethan wool, but more comfortable against the skin.) The construction wassimilar to that of the overtunic, except that the sleeves and skirt weremade longer. It has been suggested that the undertunic was visibleunder the overtunic, so that people could see that one was wealthyenough to be able to afford an undertunic.

Some survivingundertunics are assembled

from many pieces of fabric(left) with no apparentpurpose to shape thegarment. Were the panelsand stitching mean to bedecorative? Or merely aneconomical attempt toconstruct a garment fromwhatever fragments offabric happened to be leftover from other projects?


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This replica also has asquare neck opening withoverlapping flaps in front toseal out cold weather. Theflaps are held shut withcords and loops (right).

It appears that a wide range of styles of trousers were used in theNorse lands. Some were tight. Some were baggy. Some trouserswere of simple construction. Some were complicated, usingelaborate gores around the crotch area for freedom of motion, andbuilt-in socks (like modern sleepwear for toddlers), with belt loopsaround the waist. A sketch of a historical pair of trousers with thispattern is shown to the left.

In chapter 16 ofFljtsdla saga, the trousers of Ketillrirandason are described as having no feet, but straps underthe heels, like stirrups.

Trousers had no pockets and no fly. The lack of a fly meant thatmen had to pull up their tunic skirts and drop their trousers torelieve themselves. The lack of pockets in any Viking-era clothingmeant that men and women had to carry their everyday items inother ways, described in more detail later in this article:suspended from the belt, carried in pouches, carried around theneck, or suspended from brooches.

It is possible that some trousers were held up with a simple drawstring in thewaist band, as seen in the reproduction trousers shown to the left. Yet manysurviving examples of trousers have belt loops, suggesting that the trouserswere held up with a belt.

Some means of holding up the trousers is required. Since there is no fly or

opening at the waist, the waist band must be big enough to pass over the hips.A pair of trousers with no means to secure them will simply fall down to theankles.

Fighting men took advantage of that fact. In chapter 6 ofBrar sagaSnfellsss, Ln-Einarr was fighting with Einarr when Ln-Einar's trouser beltsnapped. As Ln-Einarr clutched at his trousers, Einarr gave him his deathblow.

One episode in the sagas suggests that tight-fitting clothing was considered showy or ostentatious. In chapter 45 ofEyrbyggja saga, roddur orbrandsson had been wounded in a fight. His trousers (which had feet in them) weresoaked with blood. A servant tried to remove the trousers, tugging with all his might, but the trousers would not come


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off. The servant said that the orbrandsson brothers must be stylish dressers, since their clothes were so tight fittingthat they couldn't be taken off. Subsequently, Snorri goi looked more closely and discovered that the pants werepinned in place by a spear in rodd's leg.

One wonders if rodd's trousers were similar to the Thorsbjergtrousers, a tight fitting style. The original is a well-preserved artifact from

4th century Germany, but poorly preserved trousers with a similar cutwere found in Viking era Hedeby. A sketch of the pattern is shown to theright, and a linen reproduction is shown to the left. The original had belt

loops on the waistband, and feet attached to the legs, which were notreproduced here. Detailed information, sewing instructions, and patternsfor this reproduction may be downloaded from the Hurstwic library.

Some of the Germanic people (such as the Saxons and the Franks) are known to have wornputtee-like leg wrappings from knee to foot (shown in many of the photos on this page, and

to the left) to gather the excess fabric of their baggy trousers. The evidence for their use inwestern Norse lands is scant, but better evidence exists from eastern Norse regions.

The wraps consistent of two long, narrowstrips of cloth, typically wool, which were

wound around the leg and foot. By starting atthe knee and wrapping downwards andending at the toes, no clips or fasteners areneeded. The wraps stay firmly in place, evenduring vigorous activity.

During the Viking age, the fabric would havebeen woven to the correct dimensions for theintended purpose, rather than cut from largerpiece of cloth, as was done for the replicashown to the right. As a result, a leg wrapfrom the Viking age would have selvages

along each edge which resisted fraying,rather than a stitch used on the modernreplica.

An episode in the sagas suggests that leg wrappings wereuncommon enough in Iceland to be worthy of note. Chapter 9 of
http://www.hurstwic.org/library/how_to/thorsbjerg_trousers.pdf


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Gull-oris saga describes Grmr, who wore a white cloak, whitetrousers, and swathing bands (spjarrar) wrapped around hislegs. And so, he was called Vafspjarra-Grmr (swathing bandGrmr).

On the other hand, these leg wrappings provide significantprotection to the lower leg when crashing through dense brush,such as exists in Icelandic birch forests. In addition, they helpkeep legs and trousers warm and dry when walking in snow

(left).

We know little about underpants used during the Norse era. No surviving examples are knownto exist. It is believed that they followed the same patterns as trousers but were typically kneelength. Like trousers, some may have been simple, and some may have been complicated inthe crotch area, again for freedom of motion. Like trousers, they had no fly. A drawstring at thewaist or belt held the underpants up, and they may have had drawstrings at the knees. Whenavailable, they were made of linen for comfort, but wool was used as well.

In chapter 16 ofFljtsdla saga, the saga author mentions that at the time of the events in the

saga (10th century), men did not wear underpants. Yet, just two chapters later, Gunnarirandabani is described leaving his tent at night to relieve himself wearing nothing but tunicand underpants. (At that moment, his pursuers spotted him, and Gunnar spent the rest of thenight and the following day dressed so while eluding his pursuers across the cold Icelandiclandscape.)

Gsla saga Srssonar(ch.16) says that Gsli walked one night to the neighboring farm at Sbl dressed in shirt and

linen underdrawers, with a cloak over his back. Gsli's plan was to enter the sleeping longhouse at night to kill hisbrother-in-law orgrmr. Although not explicitly stated, the lack of trousers would make it difficult for the people ofSbl to recognize the intruder by touch in the dark longhouse.

These two episodes (and many others) suggest that linen underwear was worn to bed.

It's been suggested that very poor men did not use underclothing and thus may have slept naked. In chapter 18 ofLjsvetninga saga, orbjrn rindill, a poor man from the East Fjords, was hired by Gumundr inn rki (the powerful) toserve as a spy at the home of orkell hkr (bully). On the night of the attack, orbjrn heard the dog barking and menriding up to the house. He sprang from his bed and ran outside naked, with his clothes in his hand and got dressedoutside. The episode suggests he slept naked.

The cloak was simply a large rectangular piece of wool, sometimeslined with contrasting color wool. Cloaks provided protection fromthe cold, from the wind, and to a limited degree, from the rain.


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Some cloaks were made with very dense, very thick wool, whichwould have provided extra protection. Cloaks were typically wornoffset, with the right arm (the weapon arm) unencumbered by thecloak. Cloaks could be embroidered, or trimmed with tablet wovenbraid. Typically they hung to somewhere between the knee and theankle depending on the wealth of the owner.

During the Norse era, Iceland exported wool in the form ofhomespun cloth (vaml) or ready-made cloaks (vararfeldur), also

called a shaggy cloak (rggvarafeldur). There were strictregulations on homespun, and it was used as a standard exchangeproduct, in the same manner as silver.

Homespun cloaks had a shaggy exterior, like sheepskin. Oneexplanation is that the shaggy appearance was created by tyingadditional threads to the warp threads while the fabric was beingwoven (left).

An explanation that better fits the descriptions of the fabric in thestories is that tufts from the fleece of the sheep were looped

around warp threads but not pulled tight, leaving a large loop. The resultinggarment resembled a patchy lamb fleece. A modern reconstruction of a shaggycoat displayed on a mannequin is shown to the right, but it's worth noting thatthis reproduction differs in appearance from surviving fragments of historicalshaggy fabrics. Perhaps the technique used in making the reproduction is in

error, or perhaps the surviving fragments have changed their appearance overthe intervening centuries.

Cloaks were held inplace by a pin at theright shoulder. The pinsranged from simplebone pins to elaborategold jewelry. Acommon style was thepenannular brooch(right top). The pin is

held captive on a ringthat has a break in it toallow the pin to passthrough the ring after ithas been passedthrough the fabric. Likeall Norse jewelry, thebrooch typically wouldhave been highlydecorated. A modernreplica simple pinfastener is also shown


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to the right, and anassortment of historicalpins are shown to theleft, made from iron,bronze, wood, or antler.

Other outer garments were also used, including woolen coats and jackets.

Caps were made

of wool, orsheepskin, orleather and fur.Some had earflaps for warmth.Typically, they weremade in thePhrygian style, withfour or moretriangular piecessewn together. Amodern replica

cap made in thismanner is shown tothe left, and somestitching details ofthe cap are shownto the right.

Grgs, the medieval Icelandic lawbook, has further evidence on the nature of caps worn. The law[St 362] prohibited a person from pulling the hat off of someone else's head. If there was nochinstrap, the penalty was a fine. If there was a chinstrap and the hat was pulled forward, thepenalty was lesser outlawry (banishment). But if there was a chinstrap and the hat was pulled

backwards, the hat wearer had the right to kill in retaliation, since it was considered throttling.

Other hood-like headcoverings called httrwere worn, especially forprotection in foulweather. Presumably, thehttr covered the headand shoulders, likehoods worn in the latermedieval period. InFljtsdla saga,Sveinungr ordered ayoung boy at his farm tohead out and gather inthe sheep. The boywanted to get his hoodand gloves beforeleaving, but Sveinungrshamed him into leavingimmediately. Sveinungrwanted the boy to be


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spotted and mistaken forGunnarr, who was beingpursued and who hadbeen taken intoSveinung's protection.

The replica hood shownto the right uses anextremely simple pattern,

in which all the pieces offabric are rectangles. Adrawstring helped closethe hood around the face.Other hoods are morecarefully fitted to keep outweather.

The sagas also tell of prestigious hats, such as Russian hats (gerzkr hattr). In Laxdla saga (ch. 12), the slavemerchant Gilli inn gerzki (the Russian) was wearing such a hat and other fine clothes. It is possible that silk-trimmedhats found in some Birka graves represent this kind of hat.

Socks apparently

were optional,depending on thewealth of theindividual (althoughmore on that in amoment). Thosewithout the meansfor socks probablyused moss orgrasses or evenhay to line theirshoes. When sockswere available, theywere made ofundyed wool. Asock found in Yorkhas a band of redtrim at the top,which is how thereproduction shownto the right isconstructed.


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However, Norse socks were not knitted (whichapparently was unknown to the Norse). Instead, theywere made using an ancient technique callednlbinding(needle-binding). Using a single large,thick needle, it was a method of knotting the yarn.Although time consuming, this approach resulted in anearly indestructible garment. If the thread were tobreak or wear out, the garment would still be intact,since the thread was everywhere knotted to

neighboring threads. Mittens and caps were alsomade using this technique. The sketch to the leftshows the steps involved in making an article ofclothing using the nlbinding technique. Note that thefabric grows in a spiral pattern. Once the spiral islarge enough, it is knotted back on itself to create theshape of the finished article.

(I recently met two Icelandic women who showed me that myunderstanding of the nlbinding technique was faulty. It may beconceptually complicated, but they demonstrated to me that

knotting together garments was not only simple, but extremely fast.The cap shown to the right was the work of a single afternoon.)

Mittens were also made using nlbinding techniques. In addition, there are examples of mittens made by sewingtogether pieces of woven woolen fabric.

Shoes typically were simple affairs madeusing the turnsole technique. The upperswere sewn to the sole (upper sketch to theright) with the finished side in (blue), and the

rough side out (red). Then the shoes wereturned inside out. This put the seam insidethe shoe (lower sketch to the right), where itwas less susceptible to wear. It also put theholes that resulted from the stitching insidethe shoe, so the shoe was less likely to leakon wet ground. One might think that having the seam on the insidewould be uncomfortable, but it's not. The seam is out of the way, and itdoesn't touch the foot.

Norse shoes probably didn't last long - perhaps a few months to half ayear before they wore out and were replaced. As a result, worn-outshoes are common finds in Norse era trash pits. In some regions,

leather survives well, and complete examples of a number of differentshoe styles have been found.

The shoes shown above left are a copy of a pair found in York inEngland. They are a bit more elaborate than some, and use toggles,rather than laces, for closing the shoe. Two toggles are shown to theright, the top one fastened, and the bottom one loose. The shoe togglesare easily adjustable, so that one can adjust the snugness of the shoeas the leather stretches.

The top of the shoe is "whipped" with a contrasting color


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thread, both as decoration and to reinforce the edge(right). The sole extends well up the back of the heel,perhaps to provide some additional life to the shoes bykeeping the heel seam up off the ground where it can't bescuffed.

The shoe shown to the left is a copy of one found inHedeby. The seam that joins the upper is in the center,rather than on the side, as with the York shoe, above. This

pattern is much simpler to construct.

Most shoes were ankle height, although there are a few examples ofhigher boots. A pair of calf-high reproduction boots are shown to theright, which use the same kind of toggle closure as the shoe shownabove.

In addition, the saga literature mentions high shoes. In chapter 9 ofHvarar saga sfiring, Valbrand's sons took off their high shoes whilethey raked hay.

However, the use of this kind of boot among the Norse people has beencontested. The surviving examples typically are from market towns,where Norse traders met people from around the world. Theseexamples may have been brought to these towns by traders from otherregions.

A find from Coppergate in York suggests that, in at least somecases, the shoe toggles were to the inside of the feet, rather thanto the outside as in all the reproduction shoes shown above. Thereproduction shoes shown to the left were made using thisalternate pattern. I can certainly see how they'd be a lot easier tofasten in that location.

Shoe fastenings occasionally broke in use. Skarpheinn Njlsson's shoe lace (skvengr) broke as he ran towardsan ambush, forcing him to stop and retie it, as described in chapter 92 ofBrennu-Njls saga. It didn't slow him downany. He leapt onto the ice and slid across the frozen river to kill rinn.

However they were fastened, shoes occasionally came off, according to the sagas. Chapter 19 ofSvarfdla sagatells of a battle in which gmund's shoes had come off in the deep snow. Karl offered to stand in front of him forprotection while gmundr put them back on.


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Now that we at Hurstwic have done someextended outdoor winter events, myopinion of Norse era footwear haschanged considerably. The shoes soak

through pretty easily in wet snow, resultingin wet feet. People without socks quicklyget uncomfortably cold feet, evendangerously cold feet. Those people areeasy to spot at our winter events; they canbe found with their feet in the fire (right) atevery opportunity.

Woolen socks make a big difference. Though the feet may be wet, they staywarm. Even fabric foot wrappings don't do as good a job of keeping wet feetwarm as the woolen socks made using the nlbinding technique.

After having experienced the difference, I have to conclude that socks may nothave been as optional as I first thought in Norse lands.

Norse era belts were leather, and considerably narrower than beltslater came to be. Surviving buckles and strap ends tell us that 2cm(3/4 inch) was about the widest belt commonly used. There were nobelt loops in a tunic, so any excess length was knotted around thebelt and allowed to hang freely. The free end was weighted with a

decorative strap end. Not only was the strap end decorated, so werethe buckle and the belt itself. Modern replicas of a belt buckle,decorative plates, and a strap end are shown to the right.

Two essential items worn on the belt were a utility knife and a pouchof soft leather or fabric. Since garments had no pockets, peopleneeded some place to store the items they routinely carried withthem, such as coins, a scrap of clean cloth (to wipe one's hands andface), a fire starting kit, etc. Keys, however, were routinely carriedaround the neck. Smaller weapons, such as a sax, might also beworn on the belt.

The sagas suggest that other forms of clothing were worn in the Viking age, some of which are poorly understood.Kjalnesinga saga describes Kolfi's clothing in chapter 7 as being baggy trousers, a hooded cloak fastenedbetween his legs, and furry calfskin shoes. People thought his appearance was ludicrous.

The working clothes of a farmhand are described in chapter 16 ofFljtsdla saga. The man


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wore a gray tunic, with the flaps fastened up on his shoulders and the loops hanging down athis sides. Over that, he wore a white work shirt. The details of these garments are obscure (inboth the Icelandic original and in English translation), but it is possible the man's tunic was ablaakyrtill, with a skirt made of two flaps slit at the sides. Perhaps it resembled the tunicshown to the right.

Women's Clothing

In general, women's clothing was made from the samematerials as men's clothing. Typically, a woman wore an

ankle length linen under-dress or shift, with the neckclosed by a brooch. Over it, she wore a shorter lengthwoolen dress suspended by shoulder straps fastenedby brooches. This kind of suspended dress issometimes called a hangerockor an apron-skirt.

Some interpret the outer dress as two separate panels,others as a slightly flaring tube-shaped dress, longer atthe back than the front. The details of how thesegarments were constructed is highly speculative.

There is also evidence for an overdress similar to theone worn by the woman on the right, completelycovering the shoulders and requiring no brooches tohold it in place.

The rear straps of the suspendeddress were long enough to passover the shoulder to the brooches,while the front straps were muchshorter (right). Several differentstyles of brooches are shown tothe left.

Some grave finds suggest multiplelayers of fabric inside surviving


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brooches. It has been suggestedthat decorative fabric panels hungfrom the brooches over thesuspended dress.

In modern times, these broochesare sometimes called turtlebrooches, since their shape issimilar to the shell of a turtle. Amodern replica is shown to the left.

Frequently, glass or amber beads,or other jewelry was strungbetween the brooches. A historicalstring of beads is shown to theright. Women also carried neededitems (e.g., keys, scissors, a knife,

and a whetstone) suspended bythongs or chains from theirbrooches, or from their belts.

The woman shown above is wearingan ankle length coat-like outer garmentover her suspended dress, but cloaksor shawls were also used and wereprobably more common. One suchcoat was found in Birka with a necklinecut so full that the oval broochesunderneath were visible when the coatwas closed and fastened. A modernreplica is shown to the left.

Women often used tri-lobed brooches


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(right) to fasten the neck opening oftheir clothing.

Belt buckles or other fastenings arerarely found in women's graves, asthey are in men's graves, suggestingthat women's belts were woven fabric,rather than leather.

Head coverings were typically worn by women, perhaps as simple as a knottedkerchief over the head (left), which was suggested by finds at the Oseberg ship burial.Rgsula (verse 2) says that even women of the lowest class wore a headdress.

A number of different kinds of head-coverings for women are mentioned in the sagas,some of which are elaborate headdresses, which may have been worn like jewelry onspecial occasions. Laxdla saga (chapter 45) tells of a headdress given by Kjartan to

his bride Hrefna as a wedding gift. It had eight ounces of gold woven into the fabric.It has been suggested that the type of headdress worn served to distinguish marriedfrom unmarried women.

Women's shoes were similar to men's shoes in virtually every particular.

Some evidence suggests that women's clothing was worn long. Images of women inpicture stones and jewelry (right) show long, trailing skirts on female figures.

Saga evidence also suggests long clothing for women. InBrennu-Njls saga (chapter 123), Njll gave Flosi a large


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payment of si lver, in compensation for the death of Flosi's nephew, Hskuldr. Njll, desiring peace between the twoopposing sides, added a silk cloak and a pair of boots to the pile of silver, as an additional gift to seal theirfriendship.

When Flosi saw the cloak, he asked who had given it. No one answered. The cloak was a sldur, a word which hasthe sense of a garment that is so long that it trails on the ground. Flosi, thinking he had been given a woman'sgarment, took the gift as an insult. After a vicious exchange of taunts and abuse, with each side questioning themanliness of the other, Flosi kicked over the pile of si lver and stormed out, refusing the compensation and rejectingthe legal settlement.

A moment's reflection suggests that long, flowing clothing was impractical in the agricultural society of the Viking ageTrailing garments would get soiled while working around animals and would be awkward around the fire burning onthe floor of every longhouse. Perhaps high status women wore such long clothing on special occasions. As is oftenthe case with Viking material culture, we are reminded of the limits of the available evidence.

Children's Clothing

There is little surviving evidence to help us determinewhat sort of clothing children wore, but there is little tosuggest that children's clothing was anything otherthan adult clothing cut to fit the child's smaller frame.

Tunic and trousers were probably typical for boys,and a dress for girls.

Fljtsdla saga (chapter 11) describes theeveryday clothing worn by Helgi and Grmr, boystwelve and ten years old. Their tunics were plainstriped rough homespun wool, with trousersbelow. They both wore cloaks over their tunics.

Slaves' Clothing

We know little about the clothing worn by slaves, or how it differed from the clothing worn by free people. Most likely, itwas similar to but simpler in design and execution than clothing worn by free men and women. Coarser, undyed fabricwas probably used to reduce costs, with little or no ornamentation.

One of the few descriptions of slaves' clothing in the sagas appears in chapter 12 ofLaxdla saga. Hskuldr entered


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the booth of a merchant looking to purchase a concubine (ambatt) and his eye was drawn to Melkorka, who waspoorly dressed (illa kldd). After purchasing her, Hskuldr dressed her in fine clothes which suited her better.

Cloth Making

All of the steps of making a set of clothing, from processing the fibers, to spinning, weaving, cutting, and sewing, weredone by the women of the family. Since the process was so labor intensive, a set of clothing was highly prized andcarefully maintained.

Clothing was commonly made from wool or linen. Other fabrics (such as silk) were known, but were costly and rare. Ithas been thought that outer garments were typically wool, while under garments were linen. More recent researchsuggests that linen was commonly used for outer garments as well.

Both fabrics beginwith natural fibers.Wool is made fromthe fibers from thecoats of sheep.Sheep were raisedthroughout all of theNorse lands, not only

for wool, but for foodas well.

Fleece that had been shorn from sheep was cleaned (left) toeliminate dirt and debris and combed with iron toothed combs(right) to smooth and disentangle the fibers, making them easier tospin.

Linen is made from fibers in the stem of the flax plant, a slender, erect plantthat grows about 100cm (40in) tall. Earlier references suggest that flax grewonly in the most southerly of the Norse lands during the Viking age.However, more recent evidence suggests that flax was cultivated in themore northerly lands, including northern districts of Norway and Sweden.Both pollen samples and placename evidence in Iceland suggests flax

cultivation there, as well, although it seems unlikely that flax would flourishthere. Linakradalur(flax field valley) is shown to the right as it appearstoday

Flax was harvested before the seeds ripened. The seedpodswere removed, and the stems were "retted" in shallow water, aprocess that caused the plant to decompose and loosen thefibers without causing the fibers to rot. The process creates verydisagreeable odors.


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Linen fiber was mechanically separated from flax stems by beating the stems, using a wooden beating toolsuch as the one shown to the right. The fibers were then combed to separate out any woody particles fromthe linen fibers and to align the fibers to make the spinning process easier.

The bundle of wool (or linen) fibers was attached to asimple distaff, which the spinster could secure to her beltor under her arm. The spindle (in the upper left in thephoto to the right) was weighted by a spindle whorl, asmall stone with a hole cut in the center (right). Thespindle was set spinning and allowed to sink towardsthe floor. Fibers were teased out of the mass of rawmaterial on the distaff and spun together between thefingers to create thread.

Spindle whorls are common archaeological finds. Theexamples in the photo on the right are from the collectionof the Icelandic National Museum. The finding of aspindle whorl and a bone needle at the L'Anse auxMeadows site is convincing evidence that women werepresent at the site during the Norse era.

Different sized spindle whorls were used for makingdifferent weight threads. Some spindle whorl finds areso small that they were originally classified as beads forjewelry. Only recently have they been reclassified aswhorls for making extremely fine thread.

Making the thread was probably the most time-

consuming aspect of clothing manufacturing. It isestimated that about 35 hours of labor was required tomake the thread required for one day of weaving.

Finished thread was wound onto a thread reel, shown to the left.Alternatively, thread was wound onto animal bones.

A skein of dyed thread, ready for the loom, is shown to the right.

The dyeing process could beapplied to the fleece, to thethread, or to the finished fabric.The dyes available to Norseweavers were limited, but many ofthem were bright. A variety ofvegetable dyes were commonlyused, resulting in a range ofcolors: browns, from off-white tobeige through russet to darkbrown; reds, from a pale red to a


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deep red; yellows, from pale to abrilliant gold; and blue. The resultsof some modern dyeingexperiments are shown in thephotos. The yarns shown to theright were dyed with naturaldyestuffs found in Iceland, as wasthe tunic and tablet-woven trimshown to the left.

The sagas mention that dyestuffs were collected. Svarfdlasaga (ch.18) says that rhildr sent her sons, orleifr and lfrup on Klaufabrekka (right, as it appears today) to bring backsome herbs for dyeing (litgrs, literally color-grasses).

The Icelandic sagas often mentions clothing color. Brightly colored clothing was a symbol of wealth and power, nodoubt due to the additional expense of the dye stuffs and the multiple dyeing operations required to make brightcolors. The wearing of black (blr) clothing is a frequent literary convention in the sagas, indicating that the wearer isabout to kill someone.

In the old language, blrprobably meant a dark blue-black, and the sagasdistinguished the colorblrfrom the colorsvartr. Blris the color of a raven, whereassvartris the color of a black horse. In modern Icelandic, blrhas taken the meaningblue. Presumably, a true black could not be obtained with dyes of the time, and adark blue-black was as close as could be obtained. The deep black of the tunic of theeastern Norseman in the photo at the top of this article would have been very difficultto obtain during the Norse era. It has been suggested that using dark-blue dyes on thewool from a "black" sheep (which were more a dark brown than true black) resulted inblr-colored clothing.

Frequently, linen undergarments were left undyed, in part because linen is difficult to dye.

Fabric was woven on a verticalloom. A vertical loom is little morethan a wooden framework thatleans against the wall. It stands


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about head-high, which puts theworking area at a convenientheight for someone standing infront of the loom. The modernreproduction shown to the left is abit more narrow than the moretypical width or the replica loomshown to the right. Typical loomsfrom the period were about 2m

(80in) wide, capable of weavingmaterial as wide as 165cm (65in).

The warp threads were tensioned by means ofthe stones tied to the threads at the bottom. Thewarp threads were moved relative to oneanother using the heddle rods (the horizontalrods located halfway down the loom).

Each warp thread had a loop of thread around it tied to one ofseveral heddle rods. Thus, by moving the heddle rods forwardsand backwards relative to the warp, a shed was created throughwhich the weft thread was passed on a shuttle.

The arrangement of thewarp threads on the heddlerod and the movement of theheddle rods between eachpass of the shuttle allowed avariety of weaves to be


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created, including plainweave (left) and twills ofvarious kinds (right).

After each pass of the weft thread, awooden beater (shown at the top of thephoto to the left, along with thread andshuttles) was used to push the new weftagainst the fabric above. Finishedmaterial was wound up on the top beam,using the handle on the right side of thebeam (barely visible in the loom photo tothe right).

Other materials were used as beaters,including broken sword components. Thehistorical beater shown in the bottomphoto to the left is a broken portion of apattern-welded sword blade, fitted with awooden hilt, having a wooden crossguardand pommel.

Weaving using a vertical loom isdescribed as being both tedious andphysically demanding, requiring that theweaver walk back and forth from one end

of the loom to the other with each pass ofthe shuttle. However, vertical loomsallowed a woman to weave cloth of anyrequired width, from wide to narrow. Thus,it was not necessary to waste cloth byweaving material wider than needed.

It is estimated that in one day, a weavercould produce one ell (50cm, about 20inches) of two ell wide fabric (1m, about40in): one half of a square yard per day ofwork.

Fabric was cut with iron shears (left) and was sewn with needles made of bonewood, or metal. Larger needles were typically bone or wood, but smallerneedles (similar in size to those used today for hand stitching) were made ofiron or copper alloy. The small size of the needles and of their eyes suggestthat fine thread was used for stitching, consistent with some of the fine weavesfound in finished fabric from the Viking age. Needles were often stored inneedle cases made of bone, iron, or copper alloy. These cases are commonfinds in the graves of women.

Decorative trims and braids(such as used around theneck opening of a tunic) weremade using a process called
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_sword.htm#pattern_weld


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tablet weaving. In tabletweaving, a large number ofvarious colored warp threadswere threaded betweentablets made of wood, boneor heavy leather (left).

As the tablets were rotated, different colored threadswere brought to the top of the shed. The weft threadwas passed through the shed on a shuttle.

With each pass of the shuttle

through the shed, a beater wasused to tightly pack the threads(left). By rotating the tablets in asystematic way, a decorativecolored pattern was created in thematerial (right).

The warp threads were

tensioned between theweaver's belt and someheavy, immovable objectsuch as a wall or pillar.

The photo to the left showshow typical tablet wovenbraid used dozens oftablets to create very


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elaborate patterns.

Some modern samples oftablet woven braid areshown to the right, above,as it is woven, and below,sewn to the sleeve of atunic.

Another method of weaving braid is inkle weaving. A modern re-creation ofan inkle loom is shown to the left. While the use of inkle looms is knownover a broad period in history, their use in the Norse era is debatable.Archaeological evidence is very sparse.

On an inkle loom, alternate warp threads are tied to a post, while the others

are not restricted. By raising and lowering the free warp threads, the shedis opened and closed. The inkle loom can not produce as many patternvariations as tablet weaving, but it is much faster.

Drawstrings (for the waistbands of trousers, for example) were made by fingerbraiding, in which loops of yarn were moved from finger to finger to create braid.Modern practitioners do it at lightning speed, turning out large quantities of braid in ashort time. Presumably Viking-age women were no less speedy.

Embroiderywas also


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used todecorateclothing. Themodernreproductionsof a cap (left)and a hood(right) aredecorated

withembroideryaround theedge.

Wool and linen were the most commonly used fabrics. There are also examples of fine silk, which must have beenimported from Asia, although only the very wealthiest people could have afforded it. Leather was used whereappropriate, for shoes and occasionally for outer garments.

Furs and animal skins were used for warmth on winter garments.Chapter 22 ofFstbrra saga states that the Greenlander Loinnwore a sealskin coat and trousers, while chapter 8 ofBrar saga

Snfellss says that Ingjaldr was accustomed to having a great furcloak over him when on board his ship.

During the Viking age, there was extensive trade in furs. Traces ofmarten, beaver, bear, fox, and squirrel pelts have been found at thetrading town of Birka. The sketch to the left shows marten and sablehunting and was taken from Olaus Magnus' History of the NorthernPeople published in 1555.

Some furs were worn as status symbols. A bear skin might be worn bysomeone courageous enough to have attacked and killed a bear.

Norse era garments were probably finer, better proportioned, better designed, more brightly colored, and bettersuited to their purpose than one might ordinarily imagine. The materials that have survived (both the fabric itself, andthe stitching) are much finer than one might expect given their time in history. Samples of fabric with over 125 threadsper inch (60 threads per cm) have been found. Hand stitching finer than modern machine stitching seems to havebeen the norm. Norse people probably expected their clothing to last for years without much attention. Unlike modernwho have a different set of clothes for every day of the week, Norse people probably had a single set that wasexpected to last for years.

The value of a set of clothing can be put into perspective by considering the number of hours of labor required to raisethe sheep, shear the sheep, card the wool, spin the thread, weave the fabric, cut the fabric, and sew the garments, allof which was done by hand labor. Clothing was desirable booty in a Viking raid (along with precious metals andweapons), further emphasizing the value of clothing in the Norse era.

The production of cloth for everyday use was a home craft. Professional clothmaking probably did not occur in Norselands, although professionally made cloth was imported from other lands during the Norse era.

Besides i ts obvious utilitarian functions, clothing played other roles in Norse society. Clothing could be a love token,either premarital or extramarital. In chapter 17 ofKormks saga, orvaldur asked for and received the hand ofSteingerur, who had been romantically involved with Kormkur. When Kormkur later asked Steingerur to makehim a shirt, she refused.

Then, there are the curious episodes in the sagas in which women sew up men's sleeves. In chapter 17 ofGrettissaga, it is said that the ship captain's wife made a habit of sewing up Grettir's sleeves for him. It's been suggestedthat this was done every day, so that the wide, buttonless sleeves of the tunic could be made tight at the wrists for


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maximum warmth and freedom to work. I remain unconvinced of this interpretation, yet it suggests how importantfashionable clothing was to people of the Viking-age.

Clothing was a sign of hospitality. Any family which could afford spare clothingwould certainly keep warm, dry clothing on hand for travelers. In the wet, coldNorthern climates, few things would be more welcome to an arriving travelerthan a set of dry clothing.

Clothing from the Norse era appears to have been utilitarian, comfortable, andpractical. It's surprisingly warm, but adjusts for varying temperature ranges.Actual clothing from the period was, like other Norse craft items, both finelymade and highly decorated.

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Hurstwic_ Clothing in the Viking Age