CHAPTER XVIII.
DRESS OF WOMEN.
The gown—Festive dress—Outer garments—Under garments—Head-dress—Mode of wearing the hair—Ornaments—Buckles and fibulæ—Numerous jewels of gold.
The most important piece of clothing worn by women was the _kyrtil_ (gown). It was made very wide, with a train, and was usually provided with long sleeves reaching to the wrists. It was fastened round the waist by a belt, often made of gold or silver, from which a bag was suspended for rings, ornaments, housewife’s keys, &c. Sometimes this dress was narrow at the waist, and had a close-fitting jacket. Over the kirtle was wore a kind of apron (_blœja_), which sometimes had fringe at the bottom.
The _slœdur_, mentioned in Rigsmál, was a festive dress for women as well as for men; it did not reach so high as to entirely cover the neck and bust; therefore a separate piece of clothing, called _smokk_ (collar), was worn with it, and a _dúk_ (neckerchief) was also wrapped round the neck. The neck and bust were frequently left bare, and ornamented with a necklace and other ornaments. A kind of shoulder ornament is also mentioned, under the name of _dvergar_.
And the housewife Looked at her sleeves, She smoothed the linen, And plaited them, She put up the head-dress; A brooch was on her breast, The dress-train was trailing, The shirt had a blue tint; Her brow was brighter, Her breast was more shining, Her neck was whiter Than pure new fallen snow.
(Rigsmál, 28, 29.)
“Gisli could not sleep, and said he wanted to go from the house to his hiding place, south of the cliffs, and try if he could not sleep there. They all went there (Gisli, his wife Aud, and her foster-daughter Gudrid); they (the women) had on kirtles, which left a track in the dew” (Gisli Sursson’s Saga, p. 67).
From the four representations here given, we get an idea of the dress of women, and the peculiar manner in which they arranged their hair. The long trailing dress reminds us of the descriptions in the Sagas. Three of the figures are presenting drinking-horns to some persons unseen. On the Hallingbrö stone[220] a woman, dressed in a somewhat similar way, is presenting a drinking-horn to a warrior on horseback.
Hanging ornament. Real size.—Sweden.
The women’s outer garments were more or less similar to those of men. The principal were the _skikkja_ and _möttul_, a kind of cloak worn by high-born women, without sleeves, usually fastened on the breast with a fibula, and the _tygla möttul_ (strap-cloak), used by men and women, sometimes with costly borders (_hladbuinn_), and lined with fur; but the term _kvennskikkja_ (woman’s cloak) implies some difference between theirs and those of the men. When travelling they wore overcoats, like men; the _ólpa_, with hood of felt, and _hekla_.
“A beggar-woman who died left a hekla, which was embroidered with much gold. The men of King Magnus (Erlingsson) took the cloak and burnt it, and divided the money among themselves. When the Birkibeinar (Sverris men) heard this they called them _heklungs_” (Sverri’s Saga, c. 41; Fms. viii.).
Women wore the _skyrta_ or _serk_ (chemise), either of linen or silk, next to the body. It was so made that the breast was partly uncovered. They slept in night-shirts, as we find from the frequent occurrence of the word _nattserk_, which in earlier times had long sleeves.
When the house of the chief Gissur at Flugumýri was burnt by enemies, Ingibjörg, daughter of Sturla, escaped out of the fire.
“She was dressed only in a night-shirt (_natt-serk_), and was barefooted; she was then fourteen winters old, tall and fine. A silver belt was round her legs when she jumped out of her bed; a bag containing many of her precious things was hanging on it” (Sturlunga, ix., c. 3).
King Hakon went to tell his queen the news that her father, Skúli, had assumed the title of king.
“He went to the bed, and the queen stood in a silk shirt, and threw over herself a red _möttul_; she received him well, and he was kind to her. She took a silk cushion and asked the king to sit down; he said he would not. She asked for news. ‘There is little news,’ the king answered; ‘there are two kings in Norway now.’”
Women’s socks or hose were called _skoklædi_ (shoe clothes); they are still worn in Sœtersdal in Norway, and are often richly embroidered.
Married women generally had their head covered with a _höfudduk_ (head-cloth). High-born women wore a gold band, or diadem of gold, round the head, a fashion occasionally adopted by men.
“One day Án met Drifa, Karl’s daughter, and with her three women. She was handsome, and well dressed in a red kirtle with long sleeves, narrow below, and long and tight at the waist. She wore a band (_hlad_)[222] round her forehead, and her hair was very fine” (An Bogsveigi’s Saga, c. 5).
One kind of head-dress was called _fald_ (fold); others were _sveig_, _motr_, and _krókfald_. The last word probably means a crooked head-dress, perhaps somewhat similar to those now worn in Normandy and Iceland. It must be concluded that the so-called _fald_ was often made of linen, and it was considered stately to wear this head-dress high.
_Skupla_ was another head-dress, which fell down over the face.
“Once when the famous chief and Saga-writer Snorri Sturluson was travelling, he met a woman who wore a blue jacket (_ólpa_) with a felt hood, which was fastened round her head; she wore it instead of a hat” (Sturlunga, iv., c. 36).
Girls wore the hair, when long, wrapped round their belt; widows also wore their hair hanging down. Long yellow hair, and a delicate complexion, were considered essentials of beauty.
Bui once went to Dofrafjöll (Dovrefjeld) on an errand for King Harald Fairhair, and there met a woman of large stature.
“She was fair to look at, and dressed in a red kirtle, ornamented all over with lace; she wore a broad silver belt; she wore her long and fine hair loose, as is the custom of maidens; she had beautiful hands, and many gold rings on them” (Kjalnesinga Saga, c. 13).
Ermingerd, a queen in Valland, at a feast which she gave to Rögnvald jarl,
“came into the hall with many women. She had in her hand a drinking-vessel of gold, and was dressed in the finest clothes; her hair was loose, as is the custom of maidens, and on her forehead she had placed a golden band” (Orkneyinga Saga, p. 280).
“Helga was so beautiful, that wise men say she was the most beautiful woman in Iceland. Her hair was so long that it could cover her whole body, and was as fine as gold; no match was then thought equal to her in the whole of Borgarfjord and many other places” (Gunnlaug Ormstunga, c. 4).
“Then Hallgerd was sent for, and came with two women. She wore a blue woven mantle (_vefjarmöttul_), and under it a scarlet kirtle with a silver belt; her hair reached down to her waist, on both sides, and she tucked it under her belt” (Njala, c. 13).
When Gunnar went to the Althing he met the widow Hallgerd, daughter of Höskuld, who
“was dressed in a red ornamented kirtle, and over it a scarlet cloak ornamented with lace down to the skirt. Her long and fair hair reached down to her bosom” (Njala, c. 33).
Beads of bronze, real size, found in a stone cist, Sojvide, Götland. There were 500 of these used to be fastened on a garment. Found with buckle.
Gold ring, real size, found in a tumulus with fragments of a two-edged sword with its bronze mountings, &c.—Norway.
Gold ring, real size, found in a round mound with four other gold rings, &c. The stone in the middle is a flat cornelian, the one above a piece of convex glass; the lower one is missing.—Verdalen, Norway.
These types of diadems in spiral bracelets have been found in bog finds of the Thorsberg, and also with Valoby graves.
Button of gold, front and reverse, with garnets _enchassés_.—Götland.
Figures of animals, real size, in amber, found in a tumulus.—Indersöen, Norway.
Charm of gold, three different views.—Vestmanland.
Bracteates of gold found with other bracteates. ⅔ real size.—Norway.
Men and women loved to adorn themselves with jewels and objects of gold;[223] the ornaments for both sexes seem to have been somewhat similar; rings, bracelets, fibulæ (used to fasten together on to the right shoulder the ends of cloaks), brooches, clasps and buckles, pins, hooks, pendants round the neck, bracteates, diadems, necklaces, beads of silver, gold, and glass, &c., and gold rings worn round the legs, were most common.
The numerous illustrations of jewels and ornaments seen throughout the pages of this work show the taste of the people, and the different forms worn by them, even in very early times.
To gold the poets gave many figurative names which are derived from either the myths or history of the people, and which often show in their metaphors the different uses to which gold was applied:—The fire of the hand, or arm; the beacon of the hawk-seat (the wrist); the fire of the top of the masthead, &c.
Some of the rings and necklaces were of such remarkable workmanship that they had special names, and their fame was known far and wide. Among the more celebrated rings were the _Sviagris_,[224] _Draupnir_, and _Hnitud_; and among the necklaces that of Freyja made by the Dvergar.
“Ulf the Red was always accustomed to be with King Olaf during midwinter. Ulf brought the king many precious things which he had acquired during the summer. And one gold ring he had got called _Hnitud_ (the welded). It was welded together in seven places. It was of much better gold than other rings. This ring had been given to Ulf by a bondi named Lodmund” (Thatt of Norna Gest).
Beads are often mentioned.
Bardi, a good champion, was going to a fight, and when his foster-mother took leave of him
“she took out of her shirt a large necklace of beads, and put it round his neck over his shirt.[225]
“Thorbjörn ran at Bardi and struck his neck; a very loud crash was heard; the blow hit the bead in the necklace, which had moved when Bardi gave his knife to Njal’s son. The bead burst asunder, and blood gushed out on both sides of the necklace, but Bardi was not wounded. Thorbjörn said: ‘Thou art a tröll, as irons bite thee not’” (Viga-Styr and Heidarviga, c. 23).
Towards the later centuries of the Viking period the brooches, fibulæ, &c., become coarse and heavy.
Footnote 220:
See p. 154.
Footnote 221:
The name of Ælgyva, mentioned on the tapestry, is evidently the same as the Northern Alfifa.
“Svein, son of King Knut and Alfifa, daughter of Alfrun jarl, had been put in Jomsborg to rule Vindland” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 252).
Footnote 222:
_Hlad_ seems to mean band rather than lace, as it is sometimes translated; the finds show that gold bands or diadems were worn.
Footnote 223:
Among the objects made of gold were spurs, see Völsunga Saga, c. 27; gold chairs, Hrolf Kraki’s Saga, c. 18; gold chests, Fornmanna Sögur, vii.; gold horse-shoes, Fornmanna Sögur, vii.; gold dog-collars, Gautrek’s Saga, c. 9; gold ring-coats of mail, Sigurdarkvida, iii.; gold tablets, Orvar Odd’s Saga, c. 26; cows’ horns occasionally seem to have been covered with gold, as we see from Thrymskvida, st. 23, Helgakvida Hjörvardssonar.
Footnote 224:
Cf. Hrolf Kraki’s Saga, c. 10–12.
Footnote 225:
This was probably given him as an amulet to protect him in the fight.