Luxury in dress—Material used—Popular colours—Everyday dress—Various garments—Belts of silver and gold—Cloaks—Trailing gowns—Shoes—Plaids—Gloves—Hats—Moustaches and beards—Hair worn long—Fashions—Splendour of chiefs’ accoutrements.

The finds as well as the Sagas, which are confirmed by the Bayeux tapestry, show that from a very early period the people of the North dressed with great luxury; but, with the exception of the complete garments of the bog finds, only fragments of wearing apparel belonging to the iron age have been discovered, which in most instances are thoroughly discoloured.

In the Sagas we have only partial descriptions of the dress worn by men and women, and though many names of pieces of clothing are mentioned, very little light is otherwise thrown upon the subject.

The material used for clothing seems to have been the same for both sexes—linen, wool, silk, skins, and furs. Among the costly materials mentioned is “pell” which is supposed to be like velvet. The materials were sometimes seamed with gold and silver thread, or embroidered. It was the custom to have a border on many of the clothes called hlad, which was either a band, ribbon, or a kind of lace.

Blue, red, green, scarlet, and purple, were the colours most in favour; grey was the colour for everyday use, and white vadmal, a coarse or thick woollen stuff, was the distinctive clothing for slaves.

The trousers were worn at a very early time, as we have seen from the Bog finds, and were kept in their proper place by a belt round the waist, and had the socks knitted on to them, over which were shoes. Over the linen and woollen shirts was the coat of mail. Over the shoulders a cloak was worn, resembling that of the Romans or Greeks, with a fringe or border at the sides. These cloaks were fastened by fibulÆ. The costumes of the Bayeux tapestry agree with the descriptions of the Sagas.

The everyday dress of Geirmund is thus described:—

“He usually dressed thus. He wore a red scarlet kirtle, and over it a grey cloak (feld), and on his head a bearskin cap (hÚfa). He wore in his hand a large sword. It was not adorned with silver, and its blade was keen and broad and no rust on it. He called the sword FÓtbÍt (foot-cutter), and never let it go out of his hand” (LaxdÆla, c. 29).

VigaskÚta saw “that a large man in a green cloak rode from ThverÁ (a farm), and knew that it was GlÚm. He alighted from his horse. He had on a cloak of two colours, black and white” (Viga Glum’s Saga, c. 16).

“HrÚt started up in a shirt and linen breeches, and threw over himself a grey cloak, and had in his hand a halberd adorned with gold, which King Harald had given him” (LaxdÆla, c. 37).

“The king had on a red cloak (mÖttul)^[205] with bands, and a spear in his hand. He twisted the cloak-pin off, and leaned upon the blade of his spear. When Heming came down he took hold of the king’s cloak, but the king bowed down his head, and let go the cloak, so that Heming flew down off the rock” (Flateyjarbok, iii. 409).

Helgi, a Norwegian trader, was invited to stay with Gudmund the powerful, on MÖdruvellir, a whole winter. When he left he said to him:—

“‘Now, herra, look at this payment for quarters, though it is less than you deserve.’ It was a cloak, the fur of which was lined with pell, with a golden band on the neck-strap, a most costly thing. Gudmund said: ‘I thank thee for it, I have never received a better gift.’ They parted good friends” (Ljosvetninga Saga, c. 13).

“Ögmund put on a cloak (feld) of two colours, ornamented with bands beneath the shoulder; it was very costly” (Fornmanna SÖgur, ii.).

“He (ThormÓd) had covered himself with a double-furred cloak which he owned. It was black on one side, and white on the other” (FÓstbrÆdra Saga, c. 32).

The different garments were:—

Skyrta, or serk, the name given to the shirt worn next the body, which was put on by means of a small opening^[206] for the head called hofudsmÁtt.

The kyrtil shaped like a shirt with sleeves, and put over it. Blue, red, and brown seem to have been the favourite colours for this garment.^[207] Sometimes the kirtle is called skyrta, or shirt; so both must have been alike in shape. A sleeveless kirtle is mentioned as uncommon.^[208]

The hjÚp which seems to have been a short kirtle without sleeves, sometimes lined with furs, worn sometimes over the coat of mail.^[209]

“Sigurd went up on the island. He wore a red kirtle, and a blue cloak with straps on his shoulders; he was girt with a sword, and had a helmet on his head” (Foereyinga Saga, c. 57).

LinbrÆkr (linen drawers) which seem to have been often worn, and were kept on at night.

Breeches seems to have been of two kinds:—

BrÆkr (the more common) were held up round the waist by a belt, fastened with a buckle, which was usually wide, but considered more showy when it was narrow.

“He had strange clothes made—hairy breeches (brÆkr) and cloak, and he had them put into boiling pitch and hardened” (Ragnar LodbrÓk, c. 2).

Hosur^[210] were a showier kind of breeches; they seem also to have covered the feet, and to have been tight, like high stockings. They were of cloth or skin, and resembled high boots: spurs were often attached to them. Sometimes the breeches were worn outside the kirtle, and a man was then said to be “girt in breeches,” the waistband serving as a belt.

“A crowd of men had come to the boer. Some of these had walked up to Gaulardal. It happened that a broad-shouldered man walked past them; he wore a cloak and white hose, and was alone” (Fornmanna SÖgur, v.).

LeistabrÆkr were breeches and stockings in one, and seem to have been tight-fitting, somewhat similar to those found in the Thorsberg bog, which were of great antiquity. On the relief ornamentation on a superb silver vase of Greek workmanship found at Kertch, representing the capture of wild horses, and the different phases of taming them, the men are represented as wearing such breeches.

HÖkulbrÆkr. Of these there is no description.

Sokkar (socks) were also used.

ThÓrodd had been wounded in a fight, and his breeches were all wet from the blood.

“The servant of Snorri was to pull off the breeches, and when he pulled he could not get them off. Then he said: ‘It is not a lie about you, the sons of Thorbrand, that you are very showy, as you wear such tight clothes that they cannot be pulled off.’ ThÓrodd answered: ‘You do not pull hard enough.’ Then the man put his feet against the bedside and pulled with all his strength, and the breeches did not come down. Then Snorri godi came and touched the leg all over, and found that a spear was standing through the foot between the tendon and the leg, and had pierced the foot and the breeches” (Eyrbyggja, c. 45).

The belts worn round the waist were often very costly, and of silver and gold.

“ThjÓf (= FridthjÓf) threw off his cloak; he had on a dark blue kirtle under it, and wore the good ring on his hand (or arm). He wore a broad silver belt round his waist, and a large bag with pure silver money in it, and a sword at his side. He had on his head a large hood made of skin, for he had weak eyes and was hairy all over his face” (FridthjÓf’s Saga, c. 11).

These cloaks were the most costly part of their dress; they were made of materials called gudvef, pell, and baldakin.^[211] Among the many kinds of cloaks mentioned were—

The Kapa, or hood-cloak, the usual colour of which for everyday use was grey; for feasts, scarlet; sometimes lined with fur.

The Feld, identical with the Kapa, both sides of which were sometimes of different colours.

There were also rain or dust cloaks, and cloaks made of reindeer-skin.

The finest were the skikkja^[212] and mÖttul, which were only worn by the high-born chiefs, being a characteristic of birth, just like the paludamentum or military cloak of the Romans, or the chlamys of the Greeks, which were of scarlet bordered with purple. The cloaks and mantles (mÖttul) were fastened round the neck or held up by bands or straps, which were so long that they could be put on the head.

The cloak seems to have been long enough for a sword to be carried under it without being seen.

“Then ThorÓlf put off his strap-mantle (seilamÖttul), which was of scarlet, lined with grey fur. He laid it over Thorstein, but it did not reach lower down than his waist when he rose. He then took it off and told him to wear it himself, and give him another garment, though it might not be as fine. ThorÓlf then fetched a hairy cloak (lod-kÁpa), and told him to put it on. He threw it over him, and it was neither too long nor too short” (SvarfdÆla Saga).

“He (Sigurd) wore blue breeches, a shirt, and a mantle (mÖttul) with straps (tygil) for over-garment. He looked down and kept the mantle-straps in his hands, and by turns put them on and off his head. When they had passed the cape they had got merry and drunk, rowed hard and kept little guard. Sigurd rose and went to the gunwale, and his two guards did the same, and both took his mantle and held it up as was the custom to do with highborn men” (Magnus Blind, c. 16).

“HalldÓr had on a cloak on which were long brooches^[213] as was then customary” (LaxdÆla, ch. 75).^[214]

The Sloedur was a trailing gown of costly stuff embroidered with gold and ornamented with bands.

In the time of Olaf Kyrri (the Quiet, 1066–93) the men’s gowns had trains, laced on the side, with sleeves 10 feet long, so tight that they had to be pulled on with a leather thong, and jerked up to the shoulder. These gowns were soon considered old-fashioned: it was also customary to wear gold rings round the legs.

“In the days of King Olaf Kyrri, drinking at the inns and parting-bouts began in the trading-towns, and the people became fond of show; they wore costly breeches laced tight to the leg, and some fastened gold rings round their legs; the men wore trailing gowns (drag-kyrtil), laced on the sides, with sleeves ten feet in length, and so narrow that they had to be put on with a running-string and laced tight up to the shoulder; the shoes were high, sewed with silk, and some of them ornamented with gold. There was much other display at this time” (Olaf Kyrri, c. 2).

This sort of sleeve belonged to the old-fashioned kind of clothing.

“He (ArinbjÖrn) gave Egil as Yule-gift a gown (sloedur) of silk, largely embroidered with gold, and set with gold-buttons all the way down the front; he had this made so as to fit Egil. ArinbjÖrn also gave him a new cut suit of clothes, of many-coloured English cloth” (Egil’s Saga, 70).

Erling jarl was tall and brawny, somewhat high-shouldered, with a long and thin face and light complexion; he was very grey-haired, and carried his head on one side. He was amiable and high-minded, and wore old-fashioned clothes, high-necked and long-sleeved, kirtles and shirts, and foreign cloaks (valaskikkja)^[215] and high shoes. Thus also he dressed King Magnus while he was young, but as soon as he had his own way he dressed very showily (Magnus Erlingsson’s Saga, c. 37).

Shoes made of leather or skins were used, and made fast by strings, sometimes adorned with fringes: silk strings were wrapped round the leg to the knees, and sometimes very high shoes were worn, often seamed with silk and partly covered with gold, but they were old-fashioned.

“It is told about his (Sigurd’s) dress, that he wore a blue kirtle and blue hose, high shoes laced round his legs, a grey cloak (kÁpa) and a grey broad-brimmed hat and a hood over his face, a staff in his hand with a gilt silver-mounting at the upper end, from which a silver ring hung” (St. Olaf’s Saga,^[216] c. 31).

“Sigurd jarl had a brown kirtle and a red cloak, the skirts of which were folded up; he wore shoes made of the skin of sheep’s legs; he had a shield and the sword called Bastard” (Magnus Erlingsson’s Saga, c. 13).

“The king (St. Olaf) and his men went into the bath and laid their clothes on the ground, and a tent was pitched over it. At that time it was common to wear silk strings like garters, which were wound round the leg from the shoe to the knee; the first and high-born men always wore them, and the king and BjÖrn had the same.... BjÖrn always had these thongs around his legs while he lived, and was buried with them” (Bjarnar Saga HitdÆlakappa).

Magnus Barefoot (1093–1103) adopted the Scotch custom (then also used in Ireland) of having bare legs and plaids, but this fashion was antiquated a hundred years later.

“It is told that when Magnus came from Vestrviking (warfare in the west), he and many of his men adopted the customs in dress that were common in the western lands (Scotland and Ireland). They walked bare-legged in the streets, and wore short kirtles and over-garments” (Magnus Barefoot, c. 18).

On the hands gloves (glÓfar) of skin, especially hart’s-skin, sometimes stitched with gold, were worn; occasionally they were lined with down. In the hand a staff was generally carried, with or without an axe.

“Bard sat in a high-seat; he was bald and dressed in scarlet clothes, and wore gloves of hart-skin” (Fornmanna SÖgur, ii. 148).

On the head a hÖtt (hat) was worn. SkÁlhatt (a hat formed like a bowl) is mentioned, also black, grey, and white hats. Another head-covering mentioned is a silken cap ornamented with lace; those from Gardariki seem to have been most appreciated.

After a battle at sea between King Ingi and Sigurd SlembidjÁkn, a pretender to the crown of Norway, in which Ingi got the victory, Sigurd jumped overboard and took off his coat-of-mail while swimming under his shield. The king’s men nevertheless found him.

“ThjÓstÓlf Alason went to him (Sigurd) where he sat and struck off his head a silk cap ornamented with lace bands.”^[217]

“Thorkel Sursson had on his head a hat from Gardariki, a grey fur cloak, with a gold buckle on the shoulder, and a sword in his hand” (Gisli SÚrsson, p. 55).

Karl and Leif saw a man approaching, “who had in his hand a cudgel (refdi), wore a broad-brimmed hat, and a green woollen cloak; he was barefooted, but had linen breeches tied (with a band) round his legs” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 153).

“The everyday dress of Án was a white fur-coat, so long that it touched his heels; a grey short fur-coat over it reached down to the middle of the calf of his leg; over it was a red kirtle, which reached below the knee. Over this was a common trading cloth blouse (stakk), which reached to the middle of his thigh. He had a hat on his head, and a chopping-axe in his hand” (An Bogsveigi’s Saga, c. 5).

The wearing of moustaches by warriors seems to have been very common from the earliest time; this is seen from the bracteates and antiquities belonging to the earlier and later iron age. The custom, which continued to the end of the Pagan era, and which is also well illustrated in the Bayeux tapestry, was so common that it is but seldom mentioned in the Sagas.

After the burning of Njal, Skarphedin, his son, was found dead.

“He had been standing at the gable, and the greater part of his legs were burnt up to his knees, but the rest of his body was not burnt; his eyes were open and not swollen; he had bitten his moustache, and had struck with the axe so fast into the gable that its blade went in as far as its middle, and therefore it was not softened” (Njala, c. 132).

A peculiar story is related of Ögmund EythjÓfsbani, a famous Viking, full of witchcraft and devilry, who often fought against Örvarodd.

“When Ögmund left Odd he went into Austrveg (eastern lands) and married the daughter of GeirrÖd the JÖtun, and made all the kings in Austrveg pay tax to him; every twelve months they were to send him their lower and upper moustache. From these Ögmund had a fur cloak made” (Orvar Odd’s Saga, c. 23).

The men wore their hair long, hanging over their neck; their foreheads were ornamented with a gold band like a diadem, and from the finds we learn that they parted their hair in the middle.

“Kjartan, Olaf’s son, grew up at Hjardarholt; he was the handsomest of men born in Iceland. He had fine and marked features in his face, with most beautiful eyes and fair complexion; he had much hair as fine as silk, which fell down in locks. He was large and strong as his mother’s father Egil (Skallagrimsson), or Thorolf had been. He was better shaped than any man, so that all wondered who saw him; he also fought better than most other men; he was a good smith, and swam better than any other man; he surpassed others greatly in all idrottir; he was better liked and more humble than any other man, so that every child loved him; he was merry and open-handed. Olaf (the Irish) loved him most of all his children” (LaxdÆla Saga, ch. 38).

“He (Hakon jarl) was the most handsome man that men had seen, with long hair, fine as silk, and a gold band on his head” (Fornmanna SÖgur, iv.).

“Odd was dressed every day in a scarlet kirtle, and had a gullhlad (gold band) tied round his head” (Orvar Odd, c. 1).

“He (Gunnar of HlÍdarendi) looked handsome, and had a light complexion, a straight nose, slightly turned up, blue and keen eyes, and red cheeks. His hair was long, thick, and yellow, and sat well” (Njala, c. 19).

Chiefs seem to have often set the fashions.

“One summer a seagoing ship owned by Icelanders came from Iceland. It was loaded with trade-cloaks (varar-feld), and they went with it to Hardangr, for they heard that many people were there. When they began to sell none wanted to buy the cloaks. The steersman went to King Harald, for he had spoken to him before, and told him this difficulty. Harald said he would come down, and did so. He was a condescending and very merry man. He came on a fully-manned skÚta. He looked at the goods, and said to the steersman: ‘Wilt thou give me one of the grey cloaks?’ ‘Willingly,’ answered the steersman: ‘more than one.’ Harald took one cloak and put it on, and then went down into the skÚta. Before they rowed away every one of his men had bought a cloak. A few days after there came so many who all wanted to buy cloaks that not half of them got any. Thereafter the king was called Harald grÁfeld (grey cloak)” (Harald GrÁfeld’s Saga, c. 7).

The fashion in the time of King Sverri is thus described:—

“Thou shalt always choose brown cloth for hose; it is not wrong to use black skin for hose or other kinds of cloth except scarlet. Thou shalt also have a brown or green or red kirtle of good and beseeming cloth. Thy linen clothes thou shalt have made of good linen, but not much of it; have thy shirt short and all thy linen-clothes light. Always have thy shirt a good deal shorter than thy kirtle, for no good-mannered man can make himself look well with flax or hemp. Thy beard and hair thou shalt have well prepared before thou comest before the king, after the customs prevailing at the time in the hird.^[218] When I was in the hird it was customary to cut the hair shorter than the lobes of the ears, and comb it so that each hair would lie flat, and a short lock of hair be over the eyebrows. It was customary to cut the beard and the moustaches short and have whiskers like the German custom; it is not likely that there will be any better or more becoming fashion for warriors” (Konungs SkuggsjÁ, p. 66).

From the earlier Edda and the Sagas we find that kings or warriors were easily recognised by the splendour of their accoutrements. They wore gilt spurs.

“When the king (St. Olaf) had said this, he sat down and let his shoes and stockings be pulled off, put cordovan hose on his feet and put on gilt spurs. Then he took off his cloak and kirtle and dressed himself in clothes of pell, and over these a scarlet cloak. He girded himself with an ornamented sword, put a gilt helmet on his head, and mounted his horse” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 32).

“King Hakon was easily recognized before all others; his helmet glittered when the sun shone upon it” (Hakon the Good’s Saga, c. 31).

“Kjartan Olafsson took up the scarlet clothes which King Olaf (Tryggvason) gave him at their parting and dressed himself magnificently; he girt himself with the sword which was the king’s gift; he wore on his head a gilt helmet, and had a red shield at his side with the holy cross marked thereon in gold, and in his hand a spear with a gilt handle. All his men were in coloured clothes; they were more than twenty” (LaxdÆla, c. 44).

“The king (Hakon) put on his dress of war; he wore a coat of ring-mail, and was girt with the sword Kvernbit; he had on a gilt helmet, a spear in his hand, and a shield at his side. Then he arrayed in ranks his hird and the boendr, and raised his standard” (Fornmanna SÖgur, vol. i., pp. 42, 43).

“One day Gilli and Leif (kinsmen) went from their booths to a hill, which was on the island, and there talked together; they saw many men on the headland on the eastern side of the island ... there glittered in the sunshine fine shields and magnificent helmets, axes and spears, and the men looked very valiant; they saw that a man, tall and bold-looking, went in front of the rest in a red kirtle, with a shield half blue and half yellow, a helmet on his head, and a long cutting spear in his hand; they thought they recognized in him Sigurd Thorlaksson. Next to him walked a stout man in a red kirtle, who had a red shield; they thought they recognized him with certainty as ThÓrd LÁgi (the low); the third man had a red shield, with a man’s face painted on it, and a large axe in his hand; this was Gaut the red” (FÆreyinga Saga, c. 48).

While King Olaf was at Stiklastadir a man came to him who was not like other men.

“He was so tall that no other man reached higher than to his shoulders; he was very handsome, and fair-haired. He was well armed; he had a very fine helmet, a coat of mail, and a red shield; he was girt with an ornamented sword and had a large spear inlaid with gold, whose handle was so thick that it could scarcely be grasped with the hand” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 22).

It was the custom for those who attended the Thing to put on their best clothes.

“The champion Gunnar came to the Althing, so finely dressed that none were dressed as well, and the people came out of every booth to admire him. He had on the scarlet state^[219] clothes which King Harald Gormsson (Denmark) gave him, and a gold ring on his hand from Hakon jarl” (Njala, c. 33).