Norse Women's Clothing: A New View

by Cateline de la Mor

Norse women's clothing has been largely a matter of conjecture. There are few representations of Norse women in contemporary art: all are more or less stylized. However, modern archaeology has developed techniques to preserve and study fragments of cloth from excavations. Thus, a new major source has become available, particularly with archaeologists' increasing ability to separate layers of cloth remains. The Swedish town of Birka was destroyed around 1000 A.D., and its cemeteries contain a wealth of ninth and tenth century finds. It was originally excavated in the late 19th century by Hjalmar Stolpe, who had the sense to preserve 4000 textile fragments. Since then, they have been examined in detail by Agnes Geijer and Igna Hägg.

Textiles from Birka have been preserved primarily by metal objects in the graves: brooches, metallic trim, knives, needlecases, scissors, jewelry. (Ed. note: the oxidation of the metals causes the preservation where the metal touches the fabric.) Three types of fabric were found: wool, linen and silk. Woolen fabrics ranged from coarse twills to fine worsted "lozenge" twills. In "lozenge" twills, the twill pattern forms diamonds. Linens were generally of the tabby weave. Silk appeared in various forms. One was "samitum" --a"multi-colored, weft-faced, compound twill" (Geijer, 86). Taffeta, a tabby weave silk, was also found, and one piece of damask, believed to have originated in China. Gold and silver threads were also found: most of these were "aurum tractitum" or solid wire.

Metallic items preserved layers of cloth together so that it is now possible to separate and study the layers. This type of study has revealed that women wore more than the two layers of "aprons" and undertunic; in fact, four layers.

The first layer closest to the skin is the familiar linen "shirt". (Note: I shall use throughout the terms used by Geijer and Hägg.) In the ninth century, this garment was generally unpleated, but it was pleated in most tenth century graves. The pleated shirt was fastened at the neck in the center front with a brooch approximately an inch in diameter. There is no evidence on the length of the sleeves, but Hägg illustrates it with long sleeves.

The second layer is a tunic of wool or linen. Often a piece of trim extends in a straight line in the front from shoulder to shoulder (but rarely in the back). This leads me to believe the neckline was boat-shaped. The sleeves were probably long with an edging of trim at the wrist. This layer probably reached the floor.

The third layer was designated by Geijer as a "Hängerock" or "suspended skirt". This garment is a rectangle of wool or linen wrapped around the body at breast level and possibly fastened under one arm. (Some sources suggest two rectangles of cloth -one wrapped from right to left, the other wrapped from left to right.) It was suspended from the shoulders by loops of linen fastened by "tortoise" brooches above the breasts. This layer corresponds to the narrow "aprons" of other Viking reconstructions. There is no evidence of belts in the women's graves at Birka : "aprons" made of two strips of cloth would be highly unmanageable without a belt.

Over the hängerock, women wore a type of caftan or open robe. This layer was wool and lined with silk or wool and edged with trim or an appliqué of silk or fur. It was open down the front and fastened by a brooch at the breast. This brooch was pinned through loops sewn onto the robe rather than stuck directly through the edges of the garment. The robe was often pieced. Hägg suggests that this was to make it fitted, but considering the bulky layers beneath, it may instead have been pieced for fullness. Silver figurines from Sweden suggest that this robe may have been trained, through there is no archeological evidence as to the length of this robe. Certainly, it was long-sleeved. At Birka there is little evidence of mantles and shawls.

Very little is available in English about the headdresses found at Birka. A dig at York (which was Norse in the tenth century) revealed a silk cap. It was shaped like a simplified sixteenth century coif.

Decorations on the garments were various. Trim was found in a straight line across the shoulders, under the brooches, around the wrists and down the spine. This does not exclude the possibility of decoration in places other than those mentioned, as these are the placements of metallic trims.

Existent trim from the garments at Birka was made by tablet weaving. This technique utilizes a set of square cards with holes in each corner. Each hole holds a separate warp thread. The set of cards are twisted to forma warp-faced pattern. (The weft is not visible.) Norse tablet woven bands often had a second weft of gold or which they wove into the surface of the band to form a brocaded pattern. These bands were primarily silk, though linen was used where it would not show. (A band from a possibly twelfth century grave was made of wool; it is quite likely that earlier bands sometimes made of wool.) These silk and metallic bands were applied to strips of silk, which were then attached to garments.

Embroidery was also found at Birka including stem stitch and "reverse chain stitch". The latter was used for decoration, but also to join two fabrics. Stem stitch and appliqué have been found in burials of the ninth and tenth century.

This reconstruction is based mainly upon archeological finds. As such, it tends to be both locale and time specific (although Birka was a trading town). It provides definite evidence of a four-layer dress (which makes sense in the Scandinavian climate). Further research will add to our knowledge and no provide more details and variations.

Sources: Sources (in the order that I found them useful):

Next Article | Back to Early Period #10 index
Back to Early Period Index | Back to PastTimes