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Hands-on Viking Costume – April 2007 of 6

Hands-On Viking Costume Class April 28, 2007 - THL Lêofsige Õ Caoimh known as Lyssa - [email protected]

This class is focused on the Viking cultures of the 10th century in the archeological finds from the communities of Birka, Hedeby, Dubin, and Coppergate. These western Viking groups interacted heavily with western European cultures such as the Angles, Saxons and Normans. I’ve used references to more central Viking groups in Thorsbjerg, Damendorf and Skjoldeham because those are the only extrapolations of trousers I can find that offer enough information to give you a start on your garments. Clothing styles varied in other communities and at other times. Groups that interacted more with the Rus Vikings as well as the Persian and Turkish cultures often wore clothing that varied a lot from these simple patterns. Most Viking cultures interacted with and were influenced by the neighboring cultures. They drew from their neighbors and shared with those cultures. For hand construction and embellishment of your garments, I recommend Sewing Stitches Used in Medieval Clothing by Jennifer L. Carlson located on the web at http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/stitches.htm. This is the time when embroidery as we think of it today began to become popular so the world of embellishment suddenly opens up beyond woven designs though woven texture continues to be important. Fiber selections for fabric and embellishment can include wool, linen, silk, metals and even cotton from Egypt. One note on fitting: be certain to allow sufficient ease in your calculations. Start by adding 5 or 6 inches to your widest measurement in addition to seam allowances for tunics to be certain you get the look you want and then increase or decrease your layout as needed after you make your test garment. Remember you are making tunics, not body stockings. Be certain to measure for your apron over the layers you will wear. Tunic and Coat – Men and Women This pattern works for men and women as the basic tunic, over and under tunic and even the coat or kaftan with some minor modifications. At its heart the pattern can be used for most western cultures through the 17th century with minor modifications. My favorite variation of this tunic is known as the “St. Louis” tunic from the 12th century. The biggest change in the design from this to the “St. Louis” tunic is a potential narrowing of the shoulders so the body is larger but the fit is better at the shoulders. The narrowing is conjectural based upon the visual analysis of the surviving garment though it could have skewed during wear under armor. To date I have not encountered a fiber analysis to determine if the threads are cut or merely skewed. I look better with the shoulders narrowed so that’s how I cut all my tunics. There are other patterns and other tunics but this is a simple version encompassing a lot of area.

Birka tunic and coat1 This tunic cut is simple, conservative with fabric and comfortable to wear. Adjusting the width of the gores and their length can adjust the entire fit of the garment. The coat adds a

1 Viking Tunic Construction


gore at the back and splits the front open. Men should button their coat. Women’s coats are conjectured to use a single broach to close the garment but no actual evidence of the coat on a woman’s corpse has been found so wear what is comfortable and will keep you warm. Here is a suggested composite Hedeby-style tunic.2 Notice that the Birka tunic features shaped shoulders and shaping at the armscye as well as the addition of two gores, front and back, to add additional fullness to the tunic. Because this shaping can offer additional freedom of movement there are no gussets under the arms. Measurements needed:

• Shoulder point to shoulder point • Arm length from shoulder • Widest portion of torso • Garment length from base of neck • Length of gores • Wrists

Apron Dress - Women There are lots of conjectural aprons for Viking women. After trying just about all of them I’ve become very fond of the apron dress for its convenience, comfort and fashionable look. Based upon a scrap of fabric found in the ship’s caulking at Hedeby, this recreation of the apron dress produces a fitted garment that is comfortable and attractive. The skirt can be incredibly full depending upon the width of the gores. One extrapolation of this scrap of fabric is Trägerrock3 but that version twists on the seams and doesn’t offer the ability to contour to a woman’s figure as easily as this version. The pattern as drafted by Ellisif4 is very fabric conservative and very attractive. It eliminates that seam twist as well. After cutting out the pieces and doing a basic fit, you can achieve a very nice accent on your figure by adjusting the “bodice” seams to conform to your curves. Be certain to make your modifications while wearing the layers you intend to wear underneath or you will never get the garment to fit over your layers! The length is most attractive when set between the knees and mid calf. Shorter produces a cheerleader affect on lighter fabrics and longer hides all your pretty under-layers. This garment can be worn with a belt. Belts should be narrow and can be of leather, fabric or even woven trim. They can incorporate a buckle or not.

(1) Bust + seam allowance (around the biggest part of you between your waist and underarms)

(2) Chest to Waist + 1in (from where you want the top of the apron to where you want the flare to start)

2 IBID 3 http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/image/apdress.jpg 4 The Viking Apron-Dress: A New Reconstruction


(3) Waist to Hem (from where your flare starts to however long you want) Definitions of Garb - Women5

• "Smock"-- The undermost layer of garb; a long-sleeved, full-length tunic that can be made either T-tunic style (although separate sleeves are basic to the Viking repertoire) or in several pieces sewn together (e.g., shoulder seams, separate sleeves, and gores for fullness), depending on the time and place.

• "Gown"-- The layer we would most frequently refer to as a "tunic," it goes on top of the smock; long-sleeved and full-length, it was usually brightly-colored and ornamented with trimming or embroidery.

• "Apron-Dress"-- A more descriptive term than simply "apron," this is the traditional overgarment of a Viking woman; it's a complete overdress descended from the peplos garment of antiquity, not a pair of discrete strips of cloth held together by straps as so many artists would have us think. It was also apparently not very heavily ornamented, certainly not with metal-based trimmings.

• "Caftan"-- The outermost layer of garb, it's a long-sleeved long coat which was pinned together at about the solar plexus with a large brooch; it too was heavily ornamented.

• "Fillet"-- A fabric band worn around the head like a diadem or coronet, often of metal-brocaded tablet-woven silk. In nearby cultures, it was often worn either over a veil or as a foundation onto which the veil was pinned.

• "Coif" -- Best generic name for the Jorvík style headwear, which is a sort of square hood with a rounded upper back. It tied under the chin and extended for some way down the neck all the way around the head. Extant examples in undyed, probably locally woven silk with linen ties.

• "Cap"-- Blanket term for a variety of headwear whose details are frequently obscure. In Dublin the caps were wool, basically rectangular, less-elegant cousins of the Jorvík coif, with points at the back of the head.

• "Scarf"-- Some (fairly small) purple-fringed fabrics found at Dublin are thought to have been worn scarf-wise, possibly like the Anglo-Saxon headwrap.

Trousers - Men Many depictions of trousers appear but no surviving garment fragments that can be definitely identified as trousers or at least not enough to conjecture their exact cut. Here are several conjectured patterns. I haven’t tried any of them but there are a few pictures in the articles and on the web for each pattern. I would estimate that the most critical measurements are going to be your waist, crotch depth, length and leg circumference. I know that at least one of these is outside the timeframe for this class and believe they are all later than the height of the Viking culture in western Europe.

The Thorsbjerg trousers, back and front. 6 These pants are of the long and narrow variety. It appears the waist has a loop for a drawstring or belt and additional width to accommodate the backside to make

5 Quick and Dirty Look at Viking Women’s Garb in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries


them durable and comfortable when sitting. Note that most people sat on the ground rather than in chairs and so more fabric is needed to ensure the wearer isn’t bound by tight fabric when sitting cross-legged upon the ground or even upon stools and benches rather than chairs. The Damendorf trousers, pattern of construction.7 These conjectural layout offers a better rendition of the pattern pieces than the Thorsbjerg trousers. These appear to the of the long and narrow variety but could also be created as the loose and short variety. The loose and short variety remains constant in their width to the knees rather than tapering to the ankles. These offer a simpler construction and a pocket at the front for easier access to relieve one’s self. Such access would have been more convenient aboard a ship than the “drop trou” notion of the Thorsbjerg variety but it is not clear if the pocket would have opened or merely offered more room for manly packages. The waistband on this layout is likely also for a drawstring or belt. Skjoldeham trousers – Mid 14th Century. Pattern drawing based on an original in Gjessing. 8 This pattern is simple and clear based upon finds in Norway. They are an extrapolation based on the textile available from the bog-find. The bog preserved the sections in white. The gray is the extrapolation of the original garment. Marc Carlson offers a more complete display of surviving fragments of trousers and braies from the Viking era at http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/trousers/breechesindex.htm. Hat - Men “The pattern can be altered to fit any head; depending on hair thickness and what kind of cloth you use, the proportions used in this one work well for a head about 22" around. If you place the pieces in an alternating fashion as illustrated above, you can get a hat like this from a strip of cloth slightly less than a yard long, as long as the cloth is at least seven inches wide and has a presentable selvedge. If you want a hemmed edge, or a slightly taller hat, I recommend an eight -inch wide cloth to be on the safe side. The hat can also be made taller by sewing a

6 Reconstructing the Costume of the Viking Age – Trousers 7 IBID 8 http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/skjolha2.html - Skjoldeham, Norway


plain strip all around the bottom edge; the Tollund Man's hat was made that way.”9 This simple design should use about 4 pattern pieces. This is basically a men’s pattern but women might have worn similar hats as well. Men also wore nalbinded caps, hoods with and without lirepipes, and skullcaps among the many options available. Viking men likely never wore horns until after they watched early Hollywood movies. If they did wear horns said horns would likely not have been “honking big western cow horns” but rather more common animals with more likely sized horns if they were ever foolish enough to wear something that could only get them hurt in battle. Besides, why wear something that could hold mead or other alcoholic beverages? Headdress – Women

Women wore a variety of caps, scarves, filets, hoods and coifs. This is one pattern10 based on findings at Coppergate and Dublin. I like it because it is comfortable, easy to construct and can be used for both men and women through many periods of western history. It is similar to the arming coifs still worn in the 15th century as well as the various coifs worn by men and women in 12th, 13th and 14th century western countries. If you do not shape the curve over the back of the head you achieve the Jorvik style coif. That style will have a little point at the back of your head. Both are correct and both offer various levels of comfort. Add ties to this basic pattern or fringe the bottom edge. Embellish with lush embroidery or wear plain. Please note that prior to the adoption of Christianity by some Norse regions, there was no requirement for women to cover their hair. Covering one’s head seems to have been more a function of practicality and fashion than any sort of defining status. After the adoption of Christianity many women began to cover their hair as part of their regular clothing to show their piety and affiliation with the new religion as opposed to the old but there was no

requirement to do so beyond fashion. Women also wore scarves wrapped into wimples, simple scarves, elaborate braided hairstyles, broaches and loose hair. Let your imagination go wild based on the surviving artifacts and what feels right. Being more fashion minded than their male counterparts women never wore horns even after seeing movies. Socks, Accessories and All That Other Stuff This short handout hits the high points of costume. Jewelry and rich ornamentation are also important for the look to feel right. Vikings loved embellishment and ornamentation. They wore accessories, socks, shoes, and many other items. Try your hand at card weaving, warp weighted weaving, lucet cording, whip cording, drop spinning, wire weaving, sprang, nalbinding, netting, lampworking, glass making, dyeing, brass and iron working, and many other fabulous skills known to these creative people. The Bibliography will get you started in your research. Many of these sites contain additional bibliographies to further your research. Have fun! Bibliography

• Agnes Geijer, "The Textile Finds from Birka", in Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe. • Ballard, Kathryn (Kathryn of Iveragh), A Viking A-Frame Style Pavilion,

http://www.currentmiddleages.org/tents/norseaframe.htm • Beatson, Peter, 'Wickelbander' (Leg Wraps), 1995,

http://users.bigpond.net.au/quarfwa/miklagard/Articles/legwraps1.htm • Carlson, I. Marc, Footwear of the Middle Ages - Shoe Design List/Dark Ages, Northern European (c.700-

1000), 1996, http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/SLIST2.HTM • Carlson, I. Marc, Some Clothing of the Middle Ages, http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-

carlson/cloth/bockhome.html

9 Þóra's Basic Viking Hat 10 10th Century Viking Silk Cap


• Cellio, Monica (Ellisif Flakkari), The Viking Apron-Dress: A New Reconstruction, 1995, http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/mjc/sca/aprond.html

• Christina Krupp and Carolyn A. Priest-Dorman, Women's Garb in Northern Europe, 450-1000 C.E.: Frisians, Angles, Franks, Balts, Vikings, and Finns, Compleat Anachronist #59, January 1992.

• Clarke, Jeff (Hafgrim Gunnarson), A Basic Guide to Footwear in the Viking Age, 1996, http://www.visi.com/~norseman/viking_shoe.html

• Depictions of Women in Viking Art, http://www.gelfling.dds .nl/viking%20women.html • Fjellborg Vikings, http://www.fjellborg.org/ • Griggs, Maggie (Lêofsige Õ Caoimh known as Lyssa), http://leofsige.googlepages.com , Articles, notes and

information • Gudrun’s Viking Links, http://www.dilettante.info/vikinglinks.htm • Halvorsen, Ingrid, Runes, Alphabet of Mystery, 2004, http://sunnyway.com/runes/ • Historical Needlework Resources, Scandinavian Embroidery,

http://medieval.webcon.net.au/loc_scandinavia_viking.html • Hurstwic, http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/clothing.htm • Inga Hagg, "Viking Women's Dress at Birka: A Reconstruction by Archeological Methods", in Cloth and

Clothing in Medieval Europe, ed. N. B. Harte and K. G. Ponting, Heinemann Educational Books, the Pasold Research Fund Ltd, 1983.

• Morwenstow, Morwenna of, Depictions of Women in Viking Art, http://www.gelfling.dds.nl/viking%20women.html

• Persdotter, Viktoria, Reconstructing Female Costume of the Viking Age, http://www.frojel.com/Documents/Document05.html

• Persdotter, Viktoria, Reconstructing the Costume of the Viking Age – Trousers, http://www.frojel.com/Documents/Document04.html

• Priest-Dorman, Carolyn (Thora Sharptooth), "Archeological Perspectives on Viking Women's Garb", December 1990.

• Priest-Dorman, Carolyn (Thora Sharptooth), An Archaeological Guide to Viking Men's Clothing, 1993, http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/mensgarb.html

• Priest-Dorman, Carolyn (Thora Sharptooth), Quick and Dirty Look at Viking Women’s Garb in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries, 1999, http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/qdirtyvk.html

• Priest-Dorman, Carolyn (Thora Sharptooth), Þóra's Basic Viking Hat, 2004, http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/manshat.html

• Priest-Dorman, Carolyn (Thora Sharptooth), Viking Embroidery Stitches and Motifs, 1997, http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikembroid.html

• Priest-Dorman, Carolyn (Thora Sharptooth), Viking Tunic Construction, 1993, http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/viktunic.html

• Regia Anglorum, Basic Clothing Guide , 2004, http://www.regia.org/members/basclot.htm • Regia Anglorum, Glass and Amber, http://www.regia.org/glass.htm • Regia Anglorum, List of Articles, http://www.regia.org/listings.htm • Regia Anglorum, Naalbinding, 1992, http://www.regia.org/naalbind.htm • Thies, Jennifer, 10th Century Viking Silk Cap , 2006, http://genvieve.net/sca/vikingcap.html • Thies, Jennifer, Interlocking or Making a Viking Whip-cord, 2006, http://genvieve.net/sca/whipcording-

howto.html • Vestfirzka, Vigdís, Vigdís' Viking Apron Dress, http://www.silverdor.org/viking/vikingad.html • Viking Girl’s Workshop, http://www.vikinggirlsworkshop.com/ • Walker, Gary, Viking Games, 2007, http://www.ravensgard.org/prdunham/ngames.html • Ward, Christie (Gunnvôr silfrahárr), The Viking Answer,. http://www.vikinganswerlady.com • Willadsen, Don (Danr Bjornson), Viking Tent Frame, http://willadsenfamily.org/sca/danr_as/viking-

tent/viking-tent.htm • Willadsen, Lisa, Embroidered Linen Headdress, 2000, http://willadsenfamily.org/sca/isabel_as/head-

dress/head-dress.htm • Willadsen, Lisa, Isabel Ulfsdottir’s Research, Projects, Classes,

http://www.willadsenfamily.org/sca/isabel_as/isabel_as.htm Accessed 4/22/07 • Winingas (Leg Wraps), http://www.geocities.com/baldurstrand/winingas/winingas.html

All links accessed on 4/22/07 to confirm they are still active and available.