All the Germanic peoples in northern Europe wore similar clothing. While variations did exist, throughout the Norse era and across the Norse lands, clothing styles were remarkably consistent. The photo on the left shows clothing similar to that worn throughout the Norse regions, while the photo on the right shows a distinctly eastern Norse style.

Up top, men wore a tunic that was tight fitting across the chest with a broad skirt. Down below were trousers which could be either loose fitting or tight. A long cloak provided warmth and protection in inclement weather.

Most of our knowledge of Norse era clothing and textiles comes from archaeological finds, while some comes from literary sources and written law. Most finds of Norse era fabric are from grave goods. As one might expect, fabric doesn't survive very well buried underground. The survival of large quantities of fabric is quite rare and requires unusual soil conditions. Sometimes the traces of textiles are found on the underside of jewelry, as the corrosion products of the fabric in contact with the jewelry in the grave etch the jewelry. From these ghost images, the weave and thread count may be determined.

The outer garment for the man's upper body was the kyrtill, the overtunic. It was constructed from wool and was constructed using surprisingly complicated patterns, with many pieces that needed to be cut out of the fabric and sewn back together. However, when it was all laid out, very little fabric went to waste.

The complexity results in a garment that doesn't bind or restrict movement. The upper part of the garment is relatively tight-fitting, but the sleeves are fitted to provide freedom of motion. The skirt ranged from thigh length to knee length. As with most articles of clothing, the length was determined by the wealth of the owner. A poorer man would not waste material that wasn't needed, while a more wealthy man would show off his wealth by using more material than was needed. On hot days, the skirt was lifted up and tucked into the belt for better cooling.

Sleeves were probably longer than is typical in modern garments, reaching well past the wrists.

The tunic was pulled on over the head. There were usually no fasteners, although some tunics had a simple button (left) to fasten the neck opening. A keyhole neckline was the most common. The neckline was high, since a garment that revealed the chest was considered effeminate.

Tunics of all but the poorest people were decorated with braid, at least on the neckline and cuffs. The tunics of the more wealthy were also decorated with braid on the hem of the skirt. The braid was woven from brightly colored wool using the tablet weaving technique, described later in the article.

Under the tunic, it's likely that most men also wore an undertunic (left). This was made from wool, or where available, linen. (Linen was more expensive, but more comfortable against the skin.) The construction was similar to that of the overtunic, except that the sleeves and skirt were made longer. It has been suggested that the undertunic was visible under the overtunic, so that people could see that one was wealthy enough to be able to afford an undertunic.

It appears that a wide range of styles of trousers were used in the Norse lands. Some were tight. Some were baggy. Some trousers were of simple construction. Some were complicated, using elaborate gores around the crotch area for freedom of motion, and built-in socks (like modern sleepwear for toddlers). In chapter 16 of Fljótsdæla saga, the trousers of Ketill Þriðrandason are described as having no feet, but straps under the heels, like stirrups. Trousers had no pockets and no fly. They were held up with a drawstring in the waist or a belt.

Some of the Germanic people (such as the Saxons and the Franks) are known to have worn puttee-like leg wrappings from knee to foot (shown in many of the photos on this page, and to the left) to gather the excess fabric of their baggy trousers. The evidence for their use in western Norse lands is scant, but better evidence exists from eastern Norse regions. (The left photo also shows linen tunic and trousers, which were used in the warmer Norse lands.)

The wraps consistent of two long, narrow strips of cloth, typically wool, which were wound around the leg and foot. By starting at the knee and wrapping downwards, no clips or fasteners are needed. The wraps stay firmly in place, even during vigorous activity.

During the Viking age, the fabric would have been woven to the correct dimensions for the intended purpose, rather than cut from larger piece of cloth, as was done for the replica shown to the right. As a result, a leg wrap from the Viking age would have selvages along each edge which resist fraying, rather than a stitch used on the modern replica.

An episode in the sagas suggests that leg wrappings were uncommon enough in Iceland to be worthy of note. Chapter 9 of Gull-Þoris saga describes Grímr, who wore a white cloak, white trousers, and his legs were wrapped in swathing bands (spjarrar), and so he was called Vafspjarra-Grímr (swathing band Grímr).

On the other hand, these leg wrappings provide significant protection to the lower leg when crashing through dense brush, such as exists in Icelandic birch forests. In addition, they help keep legs and trousers warm and dry when walking in snow (left).

One episode in the sagas suggests that tight-fitting clothing was considered showy or ostentatious. In chapter 45 of Eyrbyggja saga, Þóroddur Þorbrandsson had been wounded in a fight. His trousers (which had feet in them) were soaked with blood. A servant tried to remove the trousers, tugging with all his might, but the trousers would not come off. The servant said that the Þorbrandssons must be stylish dressers, since their clothes were so tight fitting that they couldn't be taken off. Subsequently, Snorri goði looked more closely and discovered that the pants were pinned in place by a spear in Þórodd's leg.

One wonders if Þórodd's trousers were similar to the Thorsbjerg trousers, a tight fitting style. The original is a well-preserved artifact from 4^th century Germany, but poorly preserved trousers with a similar cut were found in Viking era Hedeby. A sketch of the pattern is shown to the right, and a linen reproduction is shown to the left. The original had belt loops on the waistband, and feet attached to the legs, which were not reproduced here. Detailed information, sewing instructions, and patterns for this reproduction may be downloaded from the Hurstwic library.

We know little about underpants used during the Norse era. No surviving examples are known to exist. It is believed that they followed the same patterns as trousers but were typically knee length. Like trousers, some may have been simple, and some may have been complicated in the crotch area, again for freedom of motion. Like trousers, they had no fly. A drawstring at the waist or belt held the underpants up, and some had drawstrings at the knees. When available, they were made of linen for comfort, but wool was used as well.

In chapter 16 of Fljótsdæla saga, the saga author mentions that at the time of the events in the saga (10^th century), men did not wear underpants. Yet, just two chapters later, Gunnar Þiðrandabani is described leaving his tent at night to relieve himself wearing nothing but tunic and underpants. (At that moment, his pursuers spotted him, and Gunnar spent the rest of the night and the following day dressed so while eluding his pursuers across the cold Icelandic landscape.)

In chapter 16 of Gísla saga Súrssonar, Gísli dressed in tunic, cloak, and linen underpants on the night he killed his brother-in-law, Þorgrímr, in his bed at Sæból. Although not explicitly stated, the lack of trousers would make it difficult for the people of Sæból to recognize the intruder by touch in the dark longhouse.

These two episodes (and many others) suggest that linen underwear was worn to bed.

The cloak was simply a large rectangular piece of wool, sometimes lined with contrasting color wool. Cloaks provided protection from the cold, from the wind, and to a limited degree, from the rain. Some cloaks were made with very dense, very thick wool, which would have provided extra protection. Cloaks were typically worn offset, with the right arm (the weapon arm) unencumbered by the cloak. Cloaks could be embroidered, or trimmed with tablet woven braid. Typically they hung to somewhere between the knee and the ankle depending on the wealth of the owner.

During the Norse era, Iceland exported wool in the form of homespun cloth (vaðmál) or ready-made cloaks (vararfeldur), also called a shaggy cloak (röggvarafeldur). There were strict regulations on homespun, and it was used as a standard exchange product, in the same manner as silver.

Homespun cloaks had a shaggy exterior, like sheepskin. One explanation is that the shaggy appearance was created by tying additional threads to the warp threads while the fabric was being woven (left).

An explanation that better fits the descriptions of the fabric in the stories is that tufts from the fleece of the sheep were looped around warp threads but not pulled tight, leaving a large loop. The resulting garment resembled a patchy lamb fleece. A modern reconstruction of a shaggy coat displayed on a mannequin is shown to the right, but it's worth noting that this reproduction differs in appearance from surviving fragments of historical shaggy fabrics. Perhaps the technique used in making the reproduction is in error, or perhaps the surviving fragments have changed their appearance over the intervening centuries.

Cloaks were held in place by a pin at the right shoulder. The pins ranged from simple bone pins to elaborate gold jewelry. A common style was the penannular brooch (right top). The pin is held captive on a ring that has a break in it to allow the pin to pass through the ring after it has been passed through the fabric. Like all Norse jewelry, the brooch typically would have been highly decorated. A simple pin fastener is also shown to the right.

Caps were made of wool, or sheepskin, or leather and fur. Some had ear flaps for warmth. Typically, they were made in the Phrygian style, with four or five triangular pieces sewn together.

Grágás, the medieval Icelandic lawbook, has further evidence on the nature of caps worn. The law [St 362] prohibited a person from pulling the hat off of someone else's head. If there was no chinstrap, the penalty was a fine. If there was a chinstrap and the hat was pulled forward, the penalty was lesser outlawry (banishment). But if there was a chinstrap and the hat was pulled backwards, the hat wearer had the right to kill in retaliation, since it was considered throttling.

Socks apparently were optional, depending on the wealth of the individual (although more on that in a moment). Those without the means for socks probably used moss or grasses or even hay to line their shoes. When socks were available, they were made of undyed wool. A sock found in York has a band of red trim at the top, which is how the reproduction shown to the right is constructed.

However, Norse socks were not knitted (which apparently was unknown to the Norse). Instead, they were made using the nálbinding technique. This uniquely Norse method was not knitting, but rather an insanely complicated method of knotting the yarn. Although time consuming, this approach resulted in a nearly indestructible garment. If the thread were to break or wear out, the garment would still be intact, since the thread was everywhere knotted to neighboring threads. Mittens and caps were also made using this technique. The sketch to the left shows the steps involved in making an article of clothing using the nálbinding technique. Note that the fabric grows in a spiral pattern. Once the spiral is large enough, it is knotted back on itself to create the shape of the finished article.

(I recently met two Icelandic women who showed me that my understanding of the nálbinding technique is faulty. It may be conceptually complicated, but they demonstrated to me that knotting together garments was not only simple, but extremely fast. The cap shown to the right was the work of a single afternoon.)

Shoes typically were simple affairs but were always made using the turnsole technique. The uppers were sewn to the sole (upper sketch to the right) with the finished side in (blue), and the rough side out (red). Then the shoes were turned inside out. This put the seam inside the shoe (lower sketch to the right), where it was less susceptible to wear. It also put the holes that resulted from the stitching inside the shoe, so the shoe was less likely to leak on wet ground. One might think that having the seam on the inside would be uncomfortable, but it's not. The seam is out of the way, and it doesn't touch the foot.

The shoes shown above left are a copy of a pair found in York in England. They are a bit more elaborate than some, and use toggles, rather than laces, for closing the shoe. The toggles are easily adjustable, so that one can adjust the snugness of the shoe as the leather stretches. The top of the shoe is "whipped" with a contrasting color thread, both as decoration and to reinforce the edge (right). The sole extends well up the back of the heel, perhaps to provide some additional life to the shoes by keeping the heel seam up off the ground where it can't be scuffed.

The shoe shown to the left is a copy of one found in Hedeby. The seam that joins the upper is in the center, rather than on the side, as with the York shoe, above. This pattern is much simpler to construct.

Most shoes were ankle height, although there are a few examples of higher boots. A pair of calf-high reproduction boots are shown to the right, which use the same kind of toggle closure as the shoe shown above.

In addition, the saga literature mentions high shoes. In chapter 9 of Hávarðar saga Ísfirðing, Valbrand's sons took off their high shoes while they raked hay.

However, the use of this kind of boot among the Norse people has been contested. The surviving examples typically are from market towns, where Norse traders met people from around the world. These examples may have been brought to these towns by traders from other regions.

A find from Coppergate in York suggests that, in at least some cases, the shoe toggles were to the inside of the feet, rather than to the outside as in all the reproduction shoes shown above. The reproduction shoes shown to the left were made using this alternate pattern. I can certainly see how they'd be a lot easier to fasten in that location.

Now that we at Hurstwic have done some extended outdoor winter events, my opinion of Norse era footwear has changed considerably. The shoes soak through pretty easily in wet snow, resulting in wet feet. People without socks quickly get uncomfortably cold feet, even dangerously cold feet. Those people are easy to spot at our winter events; they can be found with their feet in the fire (right) at every opportunity.

Woolen socks make a big difference. Though the feet may be wet, they stay warm. Even fabric foot wrappings don't do as good a job of keeping wet feet warm as the woolen socks made using the nálbinding technique.

After having experienced the difference, I have to conclude that socks may not have been as optional as I first thought in Norse lands.

Norse era belts were leather, and considerably narrower than belts later came to be; 2cm (3/4 inch) was about the widest commonly used. There were typically no belt loops in garments, so any excess length was knotted around the belt and allowed to fall freely. The free end was weighted with a decorative strap end (right). Not only was the strap end decorated, so were the buckle and the belt itself.

Two essential items worn on the belt were a utility knife and a pouch of soft leather or fabric. Since garments had no pockets, people needed some place to store the items they routinely carried with them, such as coins, a scrap of clean cloth (to wipe one's hands and face), a fire starting kit, etc. Keys, however, were routinely carried around the neck. Smaller weapons, such as a sax, might also be worn on the belt.

In general, women's clothing was made from the same materials as men's clothing. Typically, a woman wore an ankle length linen under-dress, with the neck closed by a brooch. Over it, she wore a shorter length woolen hangerock (apron-skirt). (The woman shown to the right is not wearing an hangerock.)

The straps connecting the front and rear panels of the hangerock were fastened at the shoulders by two oval brooches (right). Several different styles of brooches are shown to the left.

Frequently, glass or amber beads, or other jewelry was strung between the brooches. Women carried needed items (e.g., keys, scissors, a knife, and a whetstone) suspended by thongs or chains from their brooches, or from their belts.

The woman shown to the right is wearing an ankle length coat-like outer garment over her hangerock, but cloaks or shawls were probably more common.

Belt buckles or other fastenings are rarely found in women's graves, as they are in men's graves, suggesting that women's belts were woven fabric, rather than leather.

Head coverings were typically worn, perhaps as simple as a knotted kerchief over the head (left), which was suggested by finds at the Oseberg ship burial. Rígsþula (verse 2) says that even women of the lowest class wore a headdress.

Elaborate head-dresses are mentioned in the sagas, which may have been worn like jewelry on special occasions. Laxdæla saga (chapter 45) tells of a headdress given by Kjartan to his bride Hrefna as a wedding gift. It had eight ounces of gold woven into the fabric.

It has been suggested that the type of headdress worn served to distinguish married from unmarried women.

There is little surviving evidence to help us determine what sort of clothing children wore, but there is little to suggest that children's clothing was anything other than adult clothing cut to fit the child's smaller frame.

Tunic and trousers were probably typical for boys, and a dress for girls.

Fljótsdæla saga (chapter 11) describes the everyday clothing worn by Helgi and Grímr, boys twelve and ten years old. Their tunics were plain striped rough homespun wool, with trousers below. They both wore cloaks over their tunics.

Both fabrics begin with natural fibers.  Wool is made from the fibers from the coats of sheep.  Sheep were raised throughout all of the Norse lands, not only for wool, but for food as well.

Fleece that had been shorn from sheep was cleaned (left) to eliminate dirt and debris and combed with iron toothed combs (right) to smooth and disentangle the fibers, making them easier to spin.

Linen is made from fibers in the stem of the flax plant, a slender, erect plant that grows about 100cm (40in) tall. Earlier references suggest that flax grew only in the most southerly of the Norse lands during the Viking age. However, more recent evidence suggests that flax was cultivated in the more northerly lands, including northern districts of Norway and Sweden. Both pollen samples and placename evidence in Iceland suggests flax cultivation there, as well, although it seems unlikely that flax would flourish there. Linakradalur (flax field valley) is shown to the right as it appears today

Flax was harvested before the seeds ripened. The seedpods were removed, and the stems, were "retted" in shallow water, a process that caused the plant to decompose and loosen the fibers without causing the fibers to rot. The process creates very disagreeable odors.

Linen fiber was mechanically separated from flax stems by beating the stems, using a wooden beating tool such as the one shown to the right. The fibers were then combed to separate out any woody particles from the linen fibers and to align the fibers to make the spinning process easier.

The bundle of wool (or linen) fibers was attached to a simple distaff, which the spinster could secure to her belt or under her arm. The spindle (in the upper left in the photo to the right) was weighted by a spindle whorl, a small stone with a hole cut in the center (right). The spindle was set spinning and allowed to sink towards the floor. Fibers were teased out of the mass of raw material on the distaff and spun together between the fingers to create thread.

Spindle whorls are common archaeological finds. The examples in the photo on the right are from the collection of the Icelandic National Museum. The finding of a spindle whorl and a bone needle at the L'Anse aux Meadows site is convincing evidence that women (and thus, entire families) were present at the site during the Norse era.

Different sized spindle whorls were used for making different weight threads. Some spindle whorl finds are so small that they were originally classified as beads for jewelry. Only recently have they been reclassified as whorls for making extremely fine thread.

Finished thread was wound onto a thread reel, shown to the left. Alternatively, thread was wound onto animal bones.

A skein of dyed thread, ready for the loom, is shown to the right.

The dyeing process could be applied to the fleece, to the thread, or to the finished fabric. The dyes available to Norse weavers were limited, but many of them were bright. A variety of vegetable dyes were commonly used, resulting in a range of colors: browns, from off-white to beige through russet to dark brown; reds, from a pale red to a deep red; yellows, from pale to a brilliant gold; and blue. The results of some modern dyeing experiments are shown in the photos. The yarns shown to the right were dyed with natural dyestuffs found in Iceland, as was the tunic and tablet-woven trim shown to the left.

Fabric was woven on a vertical loom (left). A vertical loom is little more than a wooden framework that leans against the wall. It stands about head-high, which puts the working area at a convenient height for someone standing in front of the loom. The modern reproduction shown to the left is a bit more narrow than would have been typical. Typical looms from the period were about 2m (80in) wide, capable of weaving material as wide as 165cm (65in).

The warp threads were tensioned by means of the stones tied to the threads at the bottom (right). The warp threads were moved relative to one another using the heddle rods (the horizontal rods located halfway down the loom).

Each warp thread had a loop of thread around it tied to one of several heddle rods. Thus, by moving the heddle rods forwards and backwards relative to the warp, a shed was created through which the weft thread was passed on a shuttle.

After each pass of the weft thread, a wooden beater (shown at the top of the photo to the left, along with thread and shuttles) was used to push the new weft against the fabric above. Finished material was wound up on the top beam, using the handle on the right side of the beam (barely visible in the loom photo to the right).

Weaving using a vertical loom is described as being both tedious and physically demanding, requiring that the weaver walk back and forth from one end of the loom to the other with each pass of the shuttle. However, vertical looms allowed a woman to weave cloth of any required width, from wide to narrow. Thus, it was not necessary to waste cloth by weaving material wider than needed.

It is estimated that in one day, a weaver could produce one ell (50cm, about 20 inches) of two ell wide fabric (1m, about 40in).

Decorative trims and braids (such as used around the neck opening of a tunic) were made using a process called tablet weaving. In tablet weaving, a large number of various colored warp threads were threaded between tablets made of bone or heavy leather. As the tablets were rotated relative to one another, different colored threads were brought to the top of the shed through which the weft thread was passed. By rotating the tablets in a systematic way, a decorative colored pattern was created in the material.

The photo to the left shows how typical tablet woven braid used dozens of tablets to create very elaborate patterns. The warp threads were tensioned between the weaver's belt and some heavy, immovable object such as a wall or pillar.

Another method of weaving braid is inkle weaving. A modern re-creation of an inkle loom is shown to the left. While the use of inkle looms is known over a broad period in history, their use in the Norse era is debatable. Archaeological evidence is very sparse.

On an inkle loom, alternate warp threads are tied to a post, while the others are not restricted. By raising and lowering the free warp threads, the shed is opened and closed. The inkle loom can not produce as many pattern variations as tablet weaving, but it is much faster.

Embroidery was also used to decorate clothing. The modern reproductions of a cap (left) and a hood (right) are decorated with embroidery around the edge.

Furs and animal skins were used for warmth on winter garments. Chapter 22 of Fóstbræðra saga states that the Greenlander Loðinn wore a sealskin coat and trousers, while chapter 8 of Bárðar saga Snæfellsás says that Ingjaldr was accustomed to having a great fur cloak over him when on board his ship.

During the Viking age, there was extensive trade in furs. Traces of marten, beaver, bear, fox, and squirrel pelts have been found at the trading town of Birka. The sketch to the left shows marten and sable hunting and was taken from Olaus Magnus' History of the Northern People published in 1555.

Some furs were worn as status symbols. A bear skin might be worn by someone courageous enough to have attacked and killed a bear.

Clothing was a sign of hospitality. Any family which could afford spare clothing would certainly keep warm, dry clothing on hand for travelers. In the wet, cold Northern climates, few things would be more welcome to an arriving traveler than a set of dry clothing.

Clothing from the Norse era appears to have been utilitarian, comfortable, and practical. It's surprisingly warm, but adjusts for varying temperature ranges. Actual clothing from the period was, like other Norse craft items, both finely made and highly decorated.