Bibliography of Sources for the Construction of Viking Garments

Bibliography of Sources for the Construction of Viking Garments

© 1993, 1997, 2000 Carolyn Priest-Dorman

Bender Jørgensen, Lise. 1986. Forhistoriske Textiler i Skandinavien. Købnhavn: Det Kongelike Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.

 Although this book considers mainly north European culture outside Scandinavia, there is also some supplemental information on Scandinavian finds, including first publication of some of the Valsgärde textiles.

Over 3000 images of Viking Age artifacts, including some that have never been published in English. A surviving mitten, many details of the Mammen accessories, and a section on the Viborg shirt are just some of the useful images.

The longer section includes a write-up on a pile cloak.

An in-depth analysis and reconstruction of the most complete surviving linen smock from the Viking Age. 

Fjellström, Phebe. 1985. "The Hlað. A Viking Hair Ornament." In Honorem Evert Baudou, ed. Margareta Backe et al., pp. 119-124. Archaeology and Environment 4. Umeå, Sweden: Department of Archaeology, University of Umeå.

 Written before the publication of Hägg's 1986 work on the Birka ornaments. Briefly reports on one set of metal mounts dated to North Sweden, circa 1000 CE, which are believed by the author to have belonged to a woman's hlað. Extensive parallels drawn to Saami culture and to practices from the 16th to 19th centuries.

Excellent brief summary extracted from a larger work in progress, an updated catalogue of Viking Age graves in Scotland.

Much of this work has been superseded, but still an excellent source. The plates are stunning.

Notable for the black and white plate of a samite from Oseberg, a rarity.

 Largely the same as Geijer, 1983.

The best English version of Geijer's work on Birka, with some nice photos and tablet-woven motifs.

Mainly about the Livonians after the Viking Age, but draws some parallels with Birka based on the relationship of jewelry to garments.

Includes photos of some obscure finds like the Valsgärde embroidery.

A good color photo of the Lund "embroidery," which is actually appliqué work and not embroidery at all. Still, it's a good example of a Viking-style trimming technique.

 Viking Age information included in a wide historic survey of pile (shaggy) cloaks, still the seminal work on the subject. Includes information on appearance and historic dimensions of Icelandic pile cloaks, taken from Grágás. Very good English summary.

Hägg's first book on Birka, since superseded by her 1986 work (see below), has some interesting conclusions, not all of which are followed up in the 1986 work. Brief German summary.

Informal working paper which is similar to her 1983 work (see below) but more chatty. Good brief chronological summary of the ninth- and tenth-century "looks."

A little heavy for non-archaeologists, but not incomprehensible. Extremely valuable information on the order of garment layering.

Excellent diagrams, photos, and background information. Many garment fragments, both men's and women's, discussed and catalogued thoroughly.

Most in-depth piece on the garments from Birka, with fascinating charts as well as explicit discussion of such topics as smock construction. Useful for determining chronological trends and appropriate accessorizing.

 Textiles from the burial grounds at Hedeby, with a few surprises. Also distinguished by her usual careful analysis, suggested reconstructions, and related useful information.

Organizational scheme a little confusing if you're looking for information on a specific find, but full of riches if you're patient. Fantastic contextual information on several forms of textiles, some since outdated by individual, more focused works.

Photos and line drawings of some of the finds of everyday objects from various levels of the York dig, including a woman wearing an original, nearly-complete silk cap.

Discusses finds as late as the tenth-century ones from Birka. He advances a theory about mixed-thread (e.g.,linen/wool) weaving that is elaborated in his Tablet Weaving (see below).

Explains how to reproduce some Viking Age tablet weaving techniques including 3/1 broken twill double-face and various types of brocading. Nice color plates of reproductions. However, his drafting technique is very

idiosyncratic, the translation is sometimes fuzzy, a few mistakes were made in the printing of some drafts, and the book is badly organized. Takes a lot of patience to work with, but ultimately very rewarding.
*** Heckett, Elizabeth. 1987. "Some Hiberno-Norse Headcoverings from Fishamble Street and St. John's Lane, Dublin." Textile History 18, no. 2, pp. 159-174. 

Brief, but thorough, this article contains the only hint I've seen of evidence (very conjectural) for the possible wearing of a "Viking kerchief." It's colored silk, with a fringe!

Archaeological examination of the little coifs worn in Dublin in the tenth and eleventh centuries, from a sartorial and cultural perspective.

An interim report on a find of Hiberno-Norse textiles, mixed with some later ones. The Viking Age seems to have ended later in Ireland than in some other parts of northern Europe.

 A collection of Anglo-Scandinavian textiles from Jorvík, differing somewhat from the Coppergate ones. Many 2/1 twills.

Brief information on several Viking Age textiles including a drawing of the Isle of Eigg pile weave.

Historical information on textiles woven on the warp-weighted loom. For best information, mine the footnotes!

Briefly discusses the garments of the queen and her servant buried in the ship at Oseberg, circa 834. Tantalizing, rare information.

 Bits and pieces of information from various Norwegian sites, mainly for comparison purposes.

Although it's in Norwegian, this chapter is useful to anyone because it has some interesting textile photos plus line drawings of some of the Oseberg embroideries.

A book of chapters by various experts on aspects of the Viking Age man's grave at Bjerringhøj, Mammen, Denmark. Summaries in English of the non-English chapters. Information on weaves, dyes, and a variety of textile and ornamentation techniques. The clothing was too fragmentary to reveal construction details, however.

Written by a museum professional, documenting not only the actual garments but the history of their misinterpretation. Good stuff.

Textiles from 11th century Lund, including a large number of three-end twills.

Report on some Viking Age and later textiles from Wolin, a Polish port at the mouth of the Oder River on the Baltic Sea.

 Several linen tabbies of varying thread counts.

Discusses finds of brocaded bands, sprang, cords, tabbies, and patterned silks from Dublin.

Summarizes types of extant wool textiles from tenth- to twelfth-century Dublin. Good photos.

A tenth-century apron-dress with a pleated insert; also, a tablet-woven brocaded band decorating the top front edge.

Reproductions of the drawings made of the Mammen embroideries when they were excavated in the nineteenth century.

A number of tabby linen textiles from a tenth-century Viking cemetery in Schleswig-Holstein. Tidow includes the diameters of the yarns in his analyses.

Analysis of over 50 textile samples for fleece type and dyestuff content. Includes several samples from the Viking Age, many of them from lesser-known sites.

 In addition to the coverage of the famous Jorvík silk cap and nålebinding sock, there are pages of work on sewing stitches and seam finishes.

Surviving 8th and 9th century Alan caftans (from the area around the Sea of Azov) thought to resemble the Birka caftans.

 Argues that parts of Denmark abandoned the tortoise brooch before the rest of Scandinavia.

Most are pre-Viking Age, but some depictions seem to be related to actual costumes of the Viking Age.

Pages 45-49 has the best short clothing summary of any I've seen, including nice line drawings of several shoe styles.

Page 67 has some very good line drawings. Ignore the implied ubiquity of "finely pleated linen" and the depiction of the man's laced-neck shirt and you've got the best one-page summary I've seen in English.

 Has a good comparative line drawing of the apron-dress and its Baltic and Finnish relatives. However, other parts of this chapter (like the "scarf knotted like a kerchief" and the cloak and embroidery of the "reconstruction" photo) are less firmly grounded in historical fact. The construction elements of the Canute reconstruction on page 193 (see below), although elegant, are actually a hybrid of influences from several centuries.

One is the"Viking King Canute," an attempt at an eleventh-century king's outfit on display at the National Museum, Copenhagen. This outfit was constructed utilizing iconographic evidence from the eleventh century and the textile information from the tenth-century Mammen burial. Many recent works including From Viking to Crusader (page 193) show a color photo of the outfit on a live model. The reconstructed outfit has been discussed in depth, although unfortunately not in English, in Mammen:

Grav, kunst og samfund i vikengetid (Høbjerg 1991). In NESAT V, Lise Bender Jørgensen makes some interesting side comments on the subject of documenting and reconstructing historical clothing.
Another is the reconstruction of a "Viking magnate" outfit at Lejre, reported while in progress by Anne Hedeager Krag. This reconstruction is based mostly on the Hedeby textiles.
Another is the clothing for the Viking exhibit at the museum at Lindholm Høje, reported by Mytte Fentz.
Another museum reconstruction, this one of a Viking woman's clothing, about which I have seen no publications is that of the Vitenskapmuseum in Trondheim, Norway. It toured with the "From Viking to Crusader" exhibition but is not listed in the catalogue.
Information on Modern Reconstructions
Bender Jørgensen, Lise. 1994. "Ancient costumes reconstructed: A New Field of Research." Archäologische Textilfunde--Archaeological Textiles: Textilsymposium Neumünster, 4.-7.5.1993, ed. Gisela Jaacks and Klaus Tidow, pp. 109-113. NESAT V. Neumünster: Textilmuseum Neumünster.
Interesting short article on reconstructions of the 20th century and their research and philosophical implications.
-----. LBJ, "I Knud den Store's klær" 1992. Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark, pp. 32-42. Kobenhavn: Nationalmuseet. 

(I haven't seen this; it's listed here for the purpose of completeness.)

Reports on the reconstruction of the Viborg smock. Also some information on the clothing reconstructions at the Lindholm Høje museum. Provocative section on the philosophical ramifications of reconstructive work.

Interim report on the reconstruction of a "Viking magnate" outfit at Lejre, based on textiles from Hedeby. No photos.

 The title of this is a little misleading, as Munksgaard says in the article that the National Museum's reconstructed costume is based on an illumination of King Canute, not on the Mammen clothing.