Oval Brooch
An aspect of the Viking Age Costumes I have taken a certain interst in, is the resconstructions of the female costume, regarding both the fabrication (casting, forging, etc) of the brooches and other costume jewellery and the construction of the garments themselves. In archaeological finds, as well as in the depictions of humans from this time period, many different types of female costumes can be detected although, as I mentioned in last article, the finds and depictions are hard to interpret for many reasons.
The type that is most popularly reconstructed today is the kind of
costume where the typically Nordic "twin brooches" were worn. In English these
brooches are often refered to as "tortoise shell brooches". The term is quite
adequate, as these brooches in many cases are extremly thin and shaped like a
tortoise shell, but there were also brooches of other shapes used in the same
way as the tortoise shell brooches. The shape of the brooches varied
geographically, and the tortoise shell-shaped ones were used mainly on the
Swedish mainland, and in Norway and Denmark. On Gotland, animal head-shaped
brooches were most common, and in the north of Sweden, as in Finland, round
brooches were used in pairs, I will hence forth refer to them as twin-brooches.
The brooches are cast in bronze, and can be built up of two layers, gilded and
decorated with silver plates, patterned in niello and twisted silver threads.
It is certain that the Viking Age twin-brooches were not used only
as decotations, but served the purpose of holding a piece of clothing together.
In graves, the brooches are found on the upper part of the body, and seem to
have been worn just below the shoulders. Remains from the shoulder straps of
the garment are in many cases preserved around the pins. The weight of the
brooches, as well as their sturdy pins, indicate they were used to fasten a
fairly large heavy garment. A popular myth about the twin-brooches, seen for
example in comics and Wagner's operas, were used as a kind of metal bra. But a
closer examination of the brooches, and the textile remains around them, soon
reveals that such an arrangement is completly impossible.
Judging from bog finds, grave finds and depictions all throughout
the Iron Age a tubular skirt reaching to the armpits and held together at the
shoulders by pins or brooches, seems to have been worn. Through the centuries
the brooches grew bigger and bigger, were largest during the Viking Age and
thereafter went out of use.
Decorative chains, rows of glass beads and pendants were often worn
between the brooches. Tools like knives, keys, needle-cases, tweezers and ear
scoops could be attached by chains or band to the brooches. In the Gotlandic
costume a seperate tool-brooch was used for fastening the tools to the garment.
A complete set of brooches, tools and beads is, for ovious reasons, rather
heavy. Sometimes a costume reconstruction, seen mainly in books, suggests a
front and a back piece held together by brooches, flaring loosely without being
joined together at the waist in any way, but this is a most unlikely
construction. See picture below.
It is hard to determine exactly what the garment worn together with
the twin-brooches looked like. In my opinion, the brooches were used to fasten
together the shoulder straps of a tubular skirt closed and widened at the sides
by inserted gussets, or with open slits from the hips, and in most completly
covering the lower part of the garment worn underneath.
It is likely that a tubular garment held together at the shoulders
was worn with a belt both for warmth and comfort. A peculiar detail is that
metal, bone or antler fittings from belts are rarely, if ever, found in female
graves from this period. This probably means that a woven band or sash was
worn and, personally, I am convinced that an apron tied at the waist in many
cases was a part of the female costume. Pictures which seem to indicate the
presence of an apron, most likely tied at the waist, can be seen both on the
Gotlandic picture stones and silver jewellery from Tuna in Alsike, Grödinge in
Sörmland and Aska in Östergötland. It is not possible from these depictions to
judge whether the apron extended up above the waist or not.
Not that the narrow piece of clothing adorned with horizontal
stripes covers only the front of the costume. The pleated (?) garment seen
behind, is to my opinion the lower part of the skirt with braces. The garment
worn underneath the skirt is in this case not visible at all, except at the
shoulders and sleeves. The skirt could well, as mentioned above, have had open
slits in the sides, but the skirts seen on the picture stones and silver
jewellery all seem to have been closed at the sides.
Interpreting the female costume that was used with the twin-
brooches is complicated by the fact that the upper part of the costume is
hardly ever visible in the various depections from this time. Women, as well
as men, usually tend to wear a cloak over their shoulders, which completly
hides the upper part of the costume.
However, far from all female graves are equipped with twin-
brooches. This is often the case with otherwise richly equipped graves. The
costume worn but the strata of the society, with extensive international
contacts, most likely resembled the costume of continental Europe.
A set of twin-brooches, several rows of glass beads and pendants,
tool chains or bands with tools hanging down from the shoulders to the waist,
makes for a rather limited freedom of movement. This kind of costume was
therefore most likely not worn in the daily farm- and household work.
There are also several depictions of women wearing a two-part
costume with the skirt fastened at the waist, and on a woodcarving from the
Norwegian Oseberg ship burial, the skirt appears to be knee-length, a skirt
length not usually seen in today's reconstructions of the Viking-Age costume.
In this article, I have presented some of my thoughts about the
Viking-Age female costume. My assumptions are based upon studies of grave finds
and other finds of textiles and metal costume accessories, as well as
depictions, but I am well aware that these sources do not represent the
ordinary everyday wear of the Viking-Age women. Depictions are strongly
stylised and hard to interpret, and it is also hard to judge if the costumes
and brooches were arranged int he same way int he graves, as they were in life.
The costumes found in graves must, however, have been worn on more than one
occasion in life, as the metal brooches show signs of wear and repair.
The scenario often seen at re-enactment events, where all women
walk around wearing oval-shaped twin-brooches, does not present a true picture
of what it really looked like in the Viking Age. Instead we must allow for
many different kinds of cosutmes and ways of wearing them, according to local
customs, seasons, personal taste and social rank. Sadly, textile findings from
this period are rather scarce as are simpler every day costumes and costumes
fastened together by means other than metal brooches, so they will probably
remain unknown to us.
With this article I hope to have contributed to evoke reflections
over the Viking-Age female costume, and to inspire to further research and
creation of costume reconstructions. If you have any comments or questions, you
can contact me at the following address:
Viktoria Persdotter
Utgård, Lokrume
S-620 33 Tingstäde
Sweden.
Phone +46 498 27 43 56.