Rebecca Wendelken, Retired Professor of History, Methodist University, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Volga to Vinland: Early medieval dress & textiles 9 November, 2024
When I began doing reenacting some 40+ years ago and wanted to do Norse, there was one (1) costume for women. It consisted of a t-tunic and two rectangular pieces of fabric pinned together with a variety of brooches, i.e. whatever we had. The first time I wore it and tried cooking over an open fire demonstrated the flaws of that recreation.
We tend to see early historical peoples as homogenous groups that all look and dress alike. Viking women have been no exception until recent times. While some basic garments like the shift and overdress were similar, decoration, ornamentation, and ways of wearing them were often quite different. This paper will examine the Scandinavia, the island of Gotland, and possibly Finland to look at the major differences in women’s dress in these regions both in terms of clothing and jewelry.
In the Viking period, 7th to the 10th centuries, it is important to remember that while some women traveled to foreign realms along with the Viking ships or emigrated for new lands, most remained at home to run farms and businesses. This helps explain the conservative nature of some women’s dress but also the use of foreign materials. Materials used for dress included wool, linen, and hemp and increasingly throughout the period silks from China, Central Asia, Spain and Byzantium.
Determining what garments were worn and in what order is difficult. Burials in this region are badly degraded and even partial garments are rare. Jewelry and decoration often shifted as the body decayed. New discoveries are adding to our knowledge daily, but the picture is still a bit cloudy. There is also a wide difference in the interpretations of various finds. This paper will attempt to bring a little light into the picture through comparison of various regions and by examining some of the major interpretations.
