ÁSATRÚ BARBARIANSIron Age Germanic, Celtic and Scythian Re-enactment Group

STARTER’S KIT GUIDE

Asatru Kit Guide

INDEXBasic Principles..........................................................................................................................3

Authenticity Policy.................................................................................................................3Who Are We?.........................................................................................................................3Fabrics....................................................................................................................................3Colours...................................................................................................................................3Seams and Stitches.................................................................................................................4Leftovers................................................................................................................................5

Male/Warrior Clothing...............................................................................................................6Trousers..................................................................................................................................6Leg Wraps..............................................................................................................................7Socks (Udones)......................................................................................................................7Tunics.....................................................................................................................................7Weapons.................................................................................................................................9

Female Clothing.......................................................................................................................11Dresses.................................................................................................................................11

For Both Sexes.........................................................................................................................12Shoes....................................................................................................................................12Underwear............................................................................................................................12Hats......................................................................................................................................12Jewellery and Decoration.....................................................................................................12Cloaks...................................................................................................................................13Finishing Touches................................................................................................................14Pouch....................................................................................................................................14Knife.....................................................................................................................................14Children................................................................................................................................14

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Asatru Kit Guide

Basic Principles

Authenticity PolicyThe policy of the Asatru Barbarians is to present as high a standard of historical accuracy asis possible. When on a camp any non-period equipment should be hidden from view ordisguised. It is ok to have comforts (eg comfortable bedding) as long as it is not obvious to acasual scrutiny by members of the public.

Who Are We?The Asatru Barbarians depict the enemies of Rome This in the main will be Celts andGermans, though Scythian is also a possibility. As stated in the Asatru Historical Guide,Europe during our time period was a melting pot of different tribal groups. There was a lot ofintermingling of cultures. Our kit is therefore in many ways similar for these differentpeoples. This guide concentrates on Celtic and Germanic kit.

FabricsThe materials available for barbarian clothing in the Iron Age consisted of wool and linen,although for extremely wealthy individuals silk would have been available through trade,though not the smooth silk we know today. For our purposes we will confine it to wool andlinen. If you wish to use silk (e.g. for trim on a dress tunic) consult the Authenticity Officerfirst. NO flower patterns or any fancy designs embossed into the fabric!

The Celts loved colour and patterns, so checked and striped fabric is ok and can be mingledtogether. However, please avoid tartans, which the public recognise as from at least the 14 th

century. If unsure consult the Authenticity Officer. The Germanics also loved colour but inorder to distinguish between these two cultures those portraying Germanic people shouldavoid striped fabric, which is more identifiable as Celtic. For either cultures a variety ofembellishments can be used to finish clothing off (see “For Both Sexes”).

Weaves would have been tabby weave (basic over-under weaving), herringbone weave(creates a zigzagging pattern), and diamond twill (creates diamond shapes in the material).

ColoursGenerally speaking it is preferable to use muted colours. The colours available in the IronAge were not quite the same as in modern times. The big disadvantage with dying techniqueswas the fastness of colour. Deep colours would fade quickly and be difficult and expensive toachieve, so unless you are representing a powerful and wealthy noble it is best to avoid these.Colours you can use are blue (not sky blue), yellow, red (but not a sharp red), orange, pink(very common and easy to achieve), grey, brown, mauve and softer greens. Black would havebeen difficult to achieve, so better to avoid it unless in small amounts (consult theAuthenticity Officer if unsure). Wealthy people could have access to better reds through tradewith Roman Gaul. Please avoid deep greens and any vivid or sharp colours.

Unlike modern fashion-conscious people, the Celts and Germanics were not particularlyworried about colour matching in their clothing, so it doesn’t matter if the colours clash!

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Asatru Kit Guide

Seams and StitchesIdeally clothing should be handmade but, failing this, hidden stitches can be machine sewn aslong as any exposed stitches are hand stitched. This may seem daunting at first, but withpractice hand sewing can come easily, although it is time consuming!

Please hem any exposed edges that aren’t selvedges, as clothing making would have been anexpensive use of time and effort, so allowing a garment to fray and fall apart would havebeen wasteful. Linen in particular frays a LOT. An alternative to hemming is to use strips offabric to create a contrasting hemline. You can also turn the fabric under and finish withheddle or tablet woven strips. It is preferable, however, to hem and then add the woven orfabric strips to create bands of colour.

Running Stitch: A running stitch is done through one or more layersof fabric (but normally two or more), with the needle going downand up, down and up, in an essentially straight line. It is pretty muchthe only stitch where several stitches can be taken at a time on theneedle before drawing the thread through. The thread forms a dashedline. The running stitch has very little elasticity and may break ifused on stretchy fabrics or on the bias.

Overcast Stitch: The standard overcast stitch is done through theedge of one or more layers of fabric. The needle goes through thefabric from one side and then is brought around the edge to gothrough the fabric again from the same side. The thread forms aspiral, going around the cut edge.

Hem Stitch: The hem stitch is used to tack an edge (either folded or not)down to a flat fabric the name comes from its use in finishing foldedhems. The edge is held down flat against the main fabric and the needle ispassed down through the main fabric alone, then up through all the layers,then this is repeated. The thread forms a series of diagonals crossing theline of the edge. This stitch is somewhat elastic, due to the zigzag path ofthe thread. The overcast and hem stitches are very similar in structure.

Back Stitch: The back stitch tends to be used forseams when a significant amount of elasticity is needed, such as withseams on the bias. The stitch is done similarly to a running stitch, buteach stitch backtracks when it comes back up through the fabric,resulting in a looping thread track. On the working side of the fabric,the thread appears in a series of overlapping lines; on the back side, itappears to be a running stitch.

Blanket Stitch: The primary use of the blanket stitch is to finish edges,especially cut edges. It is produced similarly to the overcast stitch, butafter the needle goes through the fabric, it catches the loop of thread,resulting in a series of L-shaped stitches along the edge of the fabric. Thisstitch is also somewhat decorative. In one case, two selvedges have beenjoined by using a blanket stitch that alternates which side of the seam thestitch goes through.

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Asatru Kit Guide

Flat-felled Seam with Hem stitch: This is great to use on internalseams, where you have two cut edges coming together, An alternative isto stitch the two edges together by a running or back stitch and then foldthe two edges over to form a seam. If the fabric is thick (e.g. wool) thencut half the inner layer away and fold the top layover the bottom one.

Iron Age clothing was sewn using wool or linen thread, but using cotton is perfectly ok.

Note: Refer to the Heather Rose Jones Archaeological Sewing internet site for other stitchesyou can use.

LeftoversIt is recommended that you keep any scraps of fabric left over after making clothes, exceptfor small pieces that can’t conceivably be used for anything. In our time period everythingwas handmade. Given the time taken in weaving cloth and then making your clothes,leftovers were valuable. They can be used for appliqué trim or patches or smaller items ofclothing.

Even leftover bits of heddle or tablet weaving can be used. It didn’t matter, for example, if asmall piece of trim didn’t go all the way round the sleeve. Leftover lucet cord can be used fortying things.

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Asatru Kit Guide

Male/Warrior Clothing

TrousersTrousers (braccae) may be the first bit of kit you need. There are accounts of Celtic warriorswearing only trousers and cloaks in battle, such as Polybius’ account of the Battle ofTelamon, where: “The Insubres and Boii wore their trousers and light cloaks.”

Following is a comparison between two trouser patters, the Thorsbjorg pattern and a simplerpattern. Either can be used. This is for both male and female warriors.

Figure 1 Thorsbjorg trousers if you wish to be adventurous. The pattern is quite complex.

Figure 2 A simpler trouser pattern, which is perfectly fine for our purposes, and much less work.

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Asatru Kit Guide

For the simple trouser pattern allow 2” at the top to create a waistband through which you canthread leather thronging or lucet cord. Trousers should be long as worn by people in northernGaul and Germania, not the shorter versions (also called femenalia) worn by Romans andpeople in southern Gaul.

Leg WrapsIt is possible that short trousers would have been combinedwith leg wraps to cover the calves and lower legs, and perhapslong trousers may have been gathered at the calf by wraps aswell.

Examples have been found of these in the ancient world,including a find from a Dutch bog dated to the late Bronze Ageand Gaulish and Gallo-Roman statues showing them. Ratherthan the ‘puttee’ style worn by Anglo-Saxon and Vikinggroups, Iron Age leg wraps appear to have been rectangles ofmaterial bound at knee and ankle by straps.

Socks (Udones)Socks are known from several written sources and are shown in the Cancellaria relief. Achild's sock was found at Vindolanda. Civilian socks could apparently be brightly coloured toshow off one's fancy openwork shoes, but those worn by soldiers were probably morepractical. Two patterns follow. A simple square or rectangular wool foot-wrap is also anoption.

Socks can also be constructed using nålbinding.

NOTE: In the absence of period shoes, the individual should go barefoot.

TunicsStrabo in his Geographies describes Celtic tunics thus:

“They wear slit tunics that have sleeves and reach as far as their private parts and thebuttocks.”

From this and other sources, written and archaeological, we know that Celtic (and Germanic)tunics varied from the sleeveless tunic of the Roman Empire.

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Figure 3 Dutch Late BronzeAge leg wraps from SøgårdsMose.

Asatru Kit Guide

The length of tunic should be down to the thighs. The length can be shortened by blousing.The sleeves can be to the wrist or elbow. The main body is a tube of cloth sewn up the sides,leaving the top of the sides open for the arms. The bottom is left unsewn to allow formovement. The top of the tube is sewn together to make the shoulders, leaving a hole in thetop for the neck. Most Iron Age tunics at the time had a simple slit for the head, like theRoman tunic. However, round necklines were also known. An alternative to sewing a tube ofcloth is to sew two panels together.

Here are two ways to make a tunic:

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Asatru Kit Guide

A leather belt is worn over the tunic. The length of the belt can be longer for female warriorsthan male ones.

WeaponsFor the Germanic warrior in our time period the spear was still the most common weapon,but the sword and axe were starting to make more and more appearances on the battlefield aswell. Axes can be one or two handed, but no battle axes with double blades areallowed. Swords should only be one handed. Any Roman or Celtic sword from this timeperiod will do but a Germanic seax is even better. It is also permissible to use a sword andhave a shorter seax hanging from your belt at the back as a secondary weapon.

Figure 4 Blade of a heavy broadseax of the early 7th century of Weingarten (Württemberg), Germanyand a hypothetic reconstruction. It has a wooden handle, but horn can be used too. Note there is noguard.

The qualities of a seax are: a tang in the centreline of the blade, inserted into an organic hilt(wood, horn); a large single-edged blade; the blade is worn horizontally inside a scabbardattached to the belt, with the edge of the blade upwards. The use of the seax extended into theViking Age.

For the Celtic warrior the common weapons used were swords and spears.

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Asatru Kit Guide

Figure 5 Celtic Arms and Equipment.

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Asatru Kit Guide

Female Clothing

DressesIron Age dresses, both Celtic and Germanic, were similar in style to the Roman peplos, ortube dress, simply a tube of material pinned at each shoulder and belted at the waist. It maywell have gone over a long sleeved underdress, much the same in style as the man’s tunic,only longer and possibly wider in the body to allow for movement. This underdress couldalso be made with simply a long slit up the side of the skirt (one side or both). As we don’thave any evidence for such underdresses, the design can be left to the individual. Goreshowever would not have been used during the Iron Age so should be avoided.

There is also an argument for a combination of a tunic with a skirt, as has been discovered inDenmark, but the peplos is the preferred option. Make the underdress from linen for comfortand make the overdress (peplos) out of wool or a heavy linen. The overdress can be checkedor plain.

For summer wear a sleeveless dress can be worn, and can be bloused up to shorten it.

A belt of leather, tablet weaving or heddle work is worn round the waist, and should hangdown below the knee.

Figure 6 Peoplos pattern using a single piece of fabric. The fabric is turned over at the top edge andpinned on either side of the shoulder. An alternative to pinning is to sew fabric strips in your peplos tocreate the same effect.

Figure 7 Examples of annular broaches for attaching the two sides of the peplos.

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Asatru Kit Guide

For Both Sexes

ShoesShoes are made from one piece of leather gathered up around the foot by a lace. Examplesvary from simple sheets of leather that would have created ‘bag’ shoes to more elaborate cutout patterns that fit the foot more comfortably.

Figure 8 Ütersen bog shoe, 0-4th Century AD.

UnderwearThere is no evidence for underwear for Iron Age Celts and Germans, but this does not mean itwas not worn. Loin cloths were in use by the Romans, as was a kind of bikini (see How toMake a Subligaculum).

They of course did not wear modern bras! However, the Romans wore a band of cloth orleather (strophium or mamillare), a kind of boob tube, to support the breasts.

HatsThe only tribe that has been depicted as wearing hats are the Dacians (Germans). However,given that Iron Age Europe of the time was such a mix of cultures, it is perfectly ok to wear ahat, and for our weather the wearing of something to cover the head is a health and safetyissue. The hat can be straw, cloth, hessian or even leather, as long as it doesn’t look toomodern.

For women an alternative to the hat is a wool or linen scarf draped over the head Roman-style. It can be tied on with a bit of lucet cord.

Jewellery and DecorationJewellery appears to be rather rare in the Iron Age, suggesting that it was worn mainly byhigh status individuals. Broaches were used to hold cloaks and dresses together, and theyseem to have been mostly plain, although a few were enamelled or decorated with red corraland white glass. Bead necklaces were worn but would have been very uncommon. Mostwomen would have had one or two beads if that and they would likely have been worn as

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Figure 9 Iron Age shoes preserved in abog.

Asatru Kit Guide

earrings or in the hair. Bangles of bronze could have been worn on wrist or ankle, and spiralrings were also known, although rare, and could also have been worn on fingers or toes.

Metallic jewellery was expensive just as it is today, so common people or basic warriorscould not afford jewellery. However, jewellery can be made in other ways, such as bits ofhorn or bone on thonging or lucet cord.

Another option for a higher ranking warrior is a chainmail necklace or a Celtic torc, a neckring made of gold, silver, bronze, or iron. Torcs were also worn by landowners and the richand powerful. Men in the Iron Age also wore armlets of bronze inset with enamels.

Figure 10 A collection of decorative torcs found buried in the ground. Most were not as ornamental asthese.

Women wore a variety of decorations - necklaces, bangles, bracelets, rings, belt chains, hairornaments and makeup. Hair was pinned, braided or knotted in a number of styles, sometimesdecorated with combs and small ornaments. A number of bronze belt chains have been found,some with bells on the ends.

CloaksFor cold weather and sitting outside at night round the campfire, a cloak is a great addition toyour wardrobe. It needs to be rectangular, preferably hanging to the ankles and full enough tomeet down the front. It can be pinned at the shoulder by apenannula cloakpin. The cloakpin works by pushing the pinthrough the material, then rotating the ring to lock thebrooch so that it can not be pulled out. These brooches arebetween 3–10 centimetres in diameter, and are in bronze oriron. As an alternative to pinning, the cloak can be held byhand.

You can have a lighter cloak for summer wear.

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Figure 11 An example of an Irishpenannular cloakpin, late 6th -early 7th century AD.

Asatru Kit Guide

Warriors can fight in just pants and a cloak.

Finishing TouchesHeddle or tablet woven wool can be used to embellish tunics and dresses. Leftover scraps offabric can be used to had appliqué strips to hemline, neckline and the end of sleeves.Embroidery can also be used, but this was probably not as common as woven or fabric strips.Edges of dresses can be decorated with braid.

Figure 12 Example of aplique work and heddle woven strips to finish a tunic.

PouchMost people also had a pouch hung from their belt. This pouch contained a number ofpersonal items, such as amulets to ward off bad spirits. They were also used to carrygrooming tools, such as combs (made from bone), scissors and tweezers. Ladies had bronzemirrors for helping in their toiletries. At events a pouch is useful for keeping money if youneed to buy something.

You can use antler toggles for fastening your pouch.

Figure 13 Examples of pouches and bags.

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Asatru Kit Guide

KnifeIron-bladed knives were carried in scabbards made of leather or iron, and hung from the belt.These were personal tools for eating meat, The handle of the knife should preferably be ofantler or bone.

ChildrenThe children’s garments are the same as the adult garment but the size is different. The neckornament consisting of a very few beads or a single bead. Children were not provided withmore than one knife and it was smaller then those of adults.

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