Viking Women: Aprondress
By Hilde Thunem
(Last updated January 10th 2011)
By Hilde Thunem
(Last updated January 10th 2011)
This article focuses on the garment that was worn by Viking women together with the characteristic oval brooches. The garment has often been referred to as an aprondress (hängerock) by the archaeologists, but Thor Ewing points out that the term "smokkr" used in the Viking poem Rígsþula may be the contemporary name (Viking clothing p. 37).
Just as for other Viking garments the archaeological evidence is fragmentary, and the scholars do not agree on the interpretation of what little evidence exists. My intention with gathering different archaeological facts and interpretations is to make my own best guess, which of course may differ from yours :-)
The excavation of Birka was mainly conducted in the 1870s by Hjalmar Stolpe. Although Stolpe made fairly accurate drawings of the different graves, textiles was not considered to be important at the time, and was omitted from the drawings. The textile fragments were later analysed by Agnes Geijer (in 1938) and reanalysed by Inga Hägg (in 1974 and 1986). I have only had access to the analysis written by Inga Hägg in 1974 and a few of her later summaries.
The material found in Birka is from the 9th and 10th century. Of the 128 graves with "tortoise" brooches over a hundred contained fragments from the smokkr. Unfortunately the "hard facts" of the archaeological evidence is nowhere near as hard as we would like it to be when it comes to the smokkr. The main difficulty lies in identifying which fragments definitively belong to the smokkr and not to a mantle, or a dress worn between the serk and the smokkr, or some other garment worn by the buried women. Thus there is a certain amount of interpretation even when sorting out the "facts".
The majority of the clearly identifiable smokkr fragments are remains of small fabric loops that once were used to fasten the smokkr to the brooches. Attached to a few of these are fragments that must be from the body of the dress itself. Most of the loops are unattached however, and in these graves identification of smokkr fragments (aside from the loop) must be made based on where the fragment is found in relation to the different layers in the grave. Geijer and Hägg differ in their willingness to do this.
There is some evidence indicating that the smokkr could have been lined.
One of the graves containing such evidence is grave 464 (fig. 464:2b). Attached to the remains of a linen loop (1-2) was a fragment of fine dark blue wool (6). The wool had a linen fragment (4) lying against its inside and a silk band (3) had been folded over the top of both fragments (like a bias tape).
The woman in this grave was probably wearing a blue woollen smokkr, lined with linen and decorated with a silk band along the top of the dress. A small fragment of linen from the serk (5) was lying on top of the loop, indicating that at least in this case the smokkr had been worn directly over the serk (fig. 464:6). The top of the silk band, and thus the top of the smokkr, reached about 2 cm up into the brooch. This means that the front loops of the smokkr was fairly short and would have been completely covered by the brooches.
464. På flera ställen i spännet fanns slätt linne från särken. Vid nålfästet fanns en linneögla (mittdelen saknas) från kjolens framstycke. Under öglans fästepunkter skymtade ett sidenband (3). Öglans ena fästepunkt (2) var delvis täckt av ett löst, lätt hoprynkat särklinnefragment (5). Fragmentet, som var hårt av rost, mjukades upp i svag EDTA-lösning och destillerat vatten, varefter det kunde lyftas så att hela det bevarade sidenbandet blev synligt, 464:2 b. Detta visade sig kanta ytterligare linnefragment (4) upptill. Under hele 4 låg ett ansenligt stycke (6) av fin, blåsvart yllekypert, W21, med avigsidan in mot linnefragmentet och rätan ut mot dräktens and framsida. Yllekyperten fortsatte ensam en bit ut över brättekanten. Den avslutades uppåt av en mot avigan vikt, ca 4 mm bred kant.
Sidenkantbandet tycktes, så långt det var bevarad, ligga vikt också kring kypertstycktes övre kant så att kanterna till linnefragmentet (4) och kypertfragmentet var samlade under ett och samma kantband av siden. I och genam detta band var hängselkjolens ögla (1-2) fäst. Det hophållna stycket av sidenband, linne(-foder) och yllekypert har nått ca. 2 cm upp bakom spännbucklan.
Det större av de fragment (utenfor spännbucklan), som Geijer beskriver, har två vikkanter, som bildar ett hörn, medan övriga sidorna är avnötta eller avslitna snett mot vävens riktning. Den övre av dessa oavslutade kanter passar ganska exakt mot den kant, som yllekyperten under höger spännbuckla vänder utåt, 464:5. Hörnstycket har tydligan legat uppvikt ett par, tre centimeter runt högra brättkanten mot spännbucklans skal.
Hängselkjolens linneögla kring nålfästet i ena spännbucklan var alltså fäst i ett linnefodrat, sidenbandskantat stycke av fin, treskaftad yllekypert (W21). Detta stycke bör då rimligen vara en rest av själva kjolen, eller, rättare sagt av ett av de ögleförsedda stycken, som bars utanpå särken. Ytterligare fragment från denna kjol finns bevarade, några tilsammans med ock närmest inntil rester av den bronskedja, i hvilken kniven var upphängd. Kedjan bör ha legat direkt mot (särkens och) kjolens bröststycke (464:6).
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p.39-40, illustrations p. 121Av de fragment från framstyckets övre kant, som har bevarats, finns troligen ett enda hörnstycke, nämligen det från grav 464. Ca 4 cm utanför spännbucklans kant har detta stycke slutat med en vertikal kant. Om den enbart varit nedfållad mot avigan eller om den anslutit till ett annat stycke (bakstycket), framgår inte av fragmentet.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p.54
The grave contains several other fragments of the dark blue wool. One
that seems to have been torn off from the brooch fragment is folded
along two sides, creating a corner about 4 cm outside of the edge of the
brooch (464:5). It is unclear whether the vertical edge of this corner
was hemmed or if it was fastened to another piece of the smokkr.
There are loose stitches on this and other fragments that probably used to fasten a lining, strengthening the indication that this smokkr was lined. Fragments of the dark blue wool were also found attached to a bronze chain and knife hanging from the brooches, indicating that the smokkr at least was long enough to reach to the hip.
The evidence for lined smokkrs is very limited. This could indicate that few smokkrs were lined, but the scarcity of evidence could just as well be explained by the difficulty in deciding whether the fragments belong to a lining, an inner smokkr or a serk. Also, a lining is closer to the body and thus more likely to deteriorate.
Of the more than 100 graves with smokkr fragments, Inga Hägg describes 36 in detail in "Kvinnodräkten i Birka". Several of these graves contain fragments that probably stem from an inner dress or lining in addition to remains of a woollen smokkr. Almost all of the inner dresses or linings were made from linen (grave 464 is an example), but one grave (973) had a broken lozenge twill smokkr with a lining of repped wool. Here the twill and the repped wool lay parallel until they met at the edge of the smokkr and the seam was covered by a string. There is also one grave (954) that contained a woollen smokkr fragment with loose stitches which both Agnes Geijer and Inga Hägg interpreted to mean that the smokkr originally was lined, but there are no traces left of the lining itself.
The fragments of lining are too small to ascertain whether the smokkr
was fully or just partially lined, although Geijer leans towards a
partial lining.
The smokkr was fastened to the brooches with loops made from folding a strip of cloth and stitching over the edges. Unfortunately the loops at both top and bottom of the brooches tend to be torn at the edge of the brooch or at the top of the loop. Thus the archaeological material doesn't tell us how long they were. Nor does the report from Inga Hägg give any details on their width.
The stitching could run along the side or the middle
of the loops. The loops from grave 835 were stitched along the side (fig
835:3b), while grave 465 (illustration below) contains at least one loop
with stitching along the middle. Hägg points out that side
stitching might result in a stronger loop, because the fabric is folded
in four layers instead of the three layers of a middle stitched loop.
Sometimes the loops contained an inner core of a stronger fabric. This
is the case for several of the silk loops where the silk is covering a
linen core.
The loops that have been found attached to smokkr fragments are open from the part that lie around needle until the base at the edge of the smokkr. The one exception is the front loops (at the bottom of the brooches) in grave 835 which were sewn closed, except for a couple of cm at the end (fig. 835:2 and 3a). The back loops were torn, and so we don't know whether the same treatment was given to the loops that once ran over the shoulder.
835. Långa sidsömmade öglor av yllerips, W22, upptill och nedtill i båda spännbucklorna. De från kjolens framstycke är sammansydde mitt fram till verkliga hängslen och enbart ett par centimeter har lämnats som öppna öglor.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p.45, illustration p.130I de bevarade exempeln är kjolens öglor öppna från den del, som ligger kring nålen, ned til basen, där kjolen tar vid. Ett undantag från denna regel är ylleripsöglarna i grav 835.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p.54
Loop fragments are found in 105 graves in Birka. The majority of the loops were made from linen. Only 14 graves contain one or more woollen loops and 22 contain one or more silk loops.
Unlike grave 464 with its single linen loop at the bottom of one brooch, the large majority (70 of 105) of the graves have at least one brooch with several loops at either the top or bottom of the brooch, or both. One example of such a grave is 465. Each brooch in this grave has 2 loops at the top. One of the brooches has 3 linen loops at the bottom; the other has 2 or possibly 3 linen loops plus 1 silk loop (S4) at the bottom. The longest of the linen loops at the bottom of brooch I (465:6 b) continued down to the edge of the brooch. Inga Hägg believes that this and the silk loop at the bottom of brooch II was used to hang tools like scissors or other decorative items from the brooches, and thus was not part of the smokkr. This still leaves two loops at the top and two at the bottom of each brooch.
465. Spännbuckla I, 465:6 b: innerst kring nålhållaren sitter en ögla av relativt grovt linne och utanför den en annan av finare linne. Kring nålfästet finns minst tre linneöglor, varav en med tydlig mittsöm. Spännbuckla II, 465:6 a, har 2 linneöglor kring nålhållaren, den ena av (numera) blått linne. Vid nålfästet finns 2-3 (?) linneöglor hårt inkapslat i korrosion samt ett sidenband.
Från graven kommer ett par lösa fragment av yllekypert, W 12. Ett stort stycke av samma W 12-kypert finns bevarat i utsprungligt läge, pressat mot förmultnade trärester från gravens botten, 465:1. Trästyckets form visar tydligt, att det med vidhäftande textilier ursprungligen legat under ena spännbucklan. Detta stycke yllekypert, avslutat med en rak vikkant, är på mitten täckt av en kraftig rostutfällning av samma slag, som den över och runt nålfästet i spännbuckla II. Om man passar in yllekypertfragmentet under spännbucklan efter formen på trästycket, kommer rostutfällningarna att täcka varandra, 465:1. Kypertfragmentet hamnar med vikkanten ca 3 cm upp i spännbucklan i samma läge, som kypertfragmentet från förangående grav. I själva verket måste ylletyget även i detta fall härröra från kjolens framstycke, 465:5.
En linneögla kan, liksom i grav 464, antingen ha varit fäst i ett foder eller eventuellt direkt i kypertstycket. Den längsta av öglorna kring nålfästet i spännbuckla I, 465:6 b, bör ha fortsatt över brättekanten på kjolens framsida, där det förmodligen burit upp sax, kniv och/eller kam. Sidenbandet vid nålfästet i den andra spännbucklan är antagligen också bärband för ett redskap, eventuellt för den pryl som fanns i graven.
De övriga två öglorna nedtill i varje spännbuckla korresponderar mot nålhållarsidans två öglor och torde därmed ganska säkert kunna antas komma från kjolen. Den ena av desse öglepar hör då rimligen till den yttre kjolen av yllekypert (W 12), medan det andre paret möjligen kan sättas i samband med det linnefragment, FH, som skymtar under yllematerialet på 465:1. Det är givetvis också tänkbart, att linnet i detta fall härrör från serken.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p.42-43, illustrations p. 121
The woollen fragments from the graves are currently fairly darkish in colour and discoloured by rust or by the decomposition of the body in the grave. Inga Hägg doesn't mention which tests (if any) has been used, but states that it is very difficult to identify what the original colours of the woollen fragments were. The two colours that can be identified is dark blue and dark brown (Inga Hägg 1974 p 52). In addition, one of the graves (1090) contains fragments of what might have been a woollen smokkr made from a striped fabric, with blue and reddish brown 5 mm wide stripes, and possibly decorated with a tablet-woven woollen band.
1090. Öglor kring nålhållare och nålfäste i båda spännbucklorna. Materialet i öglorna är tuskaftat ylle. Fragment av vad som kan vara en linneögla finns dessutom i den ena spännbucklan.
Från samma grav kommer lösa stycken av ylleväv. Båda yllesorterna är tuskaftada, den ena, W 28, är en mörkblå ripsväv. Den andra, W 33, beskrivs av Geijer som randig i två färger, blått och rödbrunt, ränder ca 5 mm breda. Till detta fragment hör enligt Geijer vad möjligen kan vara ett brickvävt prydnadsband av ylle. Spännbucklornas öglor ser snarast ut att vara av det senare slaget, W 33, och det är därför kanske rimligt att tänka sig, att det av Geijer beskrivna kulörta fragmentet med ränder och prydnadsband skulle vara en del av kjolen.
Utom dessa textilier finns även bevarade en del lösa linnefragment tilsammans med rester av revben. Det är dels kantstycken med fållvirkning och söm, dels delar av öglor. Dessa fragment skulle möjligen kunna härröra från ännu en kjol (öglor med rester av framstyckets övre fållkant under någon av spännbucklorna), nämligen den inre omlottkjolen, som då skulle ha varit av linne.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p.48
Most of the linen fragments appears to be undyed, but there is at least one exception. Grave 563 contains a blue linen fragment that has been folded and decorated with a red twined string. The appearance of blue and red on the same fragment, which thus has been exposed to the same discoloration, shows that the colours must be original instead of a result of metal corrosion.
563. I ena spännbucklan fanns linnefragment i flera lager (fig 1-2a). Sedda från dräktens framsida består dessa av blått linne i 3-4 skikt (troligen et avsnitt av kantfällen), det yttersta prytt med en röd snodd (563:4 1-2b). Fragmentet tväras av 3 á 4 efterstygn. Det blå linnet låg utanpå en ursprungligen vit (?), nu rostfärgad linneögla (563:4 1-2c), vars övre del fattas. I öglans nedre del fanns ett par nära nog upplösta stygn, som troligen anknutit öglan till kjoldelen, 563:1-2c. Innerst låg et lite stycke rostfärgat, ursprungligen vitt (?) särklinne uten annen förbindelse med de övriga textilierna än själva korrosionen (563:4 1-2d).
Den andra spännbucklan har rester av samma blå linne, som lager 1 i foregående, här i en ögla. Över den, dvs innanför denna ögla i drakten, fanns rester av ljust, rostfärgat linne, av samme kvalité som (den rostfärgate öglan i den andre spännbucklan). Troligen rör det sig även här om resterna av en ögla.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p.44, illustrations p. 125
The top of the smokkr seems to have been finished by having 4-5 mm of its edge folded towards the inside of the dress and stitched in place. In addition 11 graves show traces of decorative bands of one type or another. The bands of the 9 woollen smokkrs are folded over or lie along the top of the smokkr. The decorative band on the linen smokkr (563) is placed a bit beneath the top, where it covers both the stitches that keep the hemmed edge in place and the fastening stitches for the loops. Inga Hägg comments that the hemming stitches would usually be invisible on wool, but would show up clearly on linen. She believes that the reason that the band has been placed lower on the linen smokkr could be to cover the stitches.
There were no smokkr fragments attached to the loops in grave 834, and it is unknown whether the smokkr in this grave was made from wool or linen. Fragments of rough linen cloth were found around a scissor, but it is uncertain whether these stem from the smokkr. A decorative band lay unattached across the bottom of the needle in one of the brooches. It may have run along the edge of the smokkr as shown in the illustration below, but could also have been fastened further down.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, illustration p.53
Unusually large fragments of woollen cloth had been preserved in grave 597.
There were woollen fibres on the lower of the linen loops found inside one of the brooches. One of the fragments of woollen cloth found in the grave had press marks and traces of wear from the edge of a "tortoise" brooch, indicating that it had been worn on the inside of the brooch and thus was a part of the front of the smokkr. The upper edge had been folded, and a piece was missing at the position where the loops would have been fastened (597: 2).
The fragment had been torn at both sides, but one of the tears fitted closely to another large fragment of the same cloth, together creating the largest preserved piece of a smokkr in the Birka material (597: 3). Its 22 cm long preserved edge would have run along the front of the smokkr, from one brooch to the other.
The grave also contained a piece of the same woollen cloth underneath remains of the body, probably from the back of the smokkr, if the layering of the grave has been interpreted correctly.
597. Öglor av linne kring nålhållaren i båda spännbucklorna och kring nålfästet i den ena. Vid änden på den undre av nålfästesidans öglor syns trådar och fibrer av ylle (W) från den vävnad, vid vilken öglan varit fäst, 597:2. I graven fanns för övrigt ovanlig store stycken av yllekypert. De har alla lossats från spännena ved tidligare tilfällen och i görligsta mån slätats ut, dock inte så att karaktäristiska veck, missfärgningar och nötingsmärken gått förlorade.
Ett stycke diamantkypert (W10) är fargat av rost och har tryck och nötningsspår efter kanten på ena spännbucklan. Nära mitten på stycket fattas en del av fållkanten. När dette stycke passas in under spännbucklan, 597:2, kommer spännets undre linneögla att hamna mitt för det ställe, där en del av fållkanten fattas. Antagligen är det just från detta ställe, som yllefragmenten nedentill på öglan härrör. Styckets läge under spännbucklan antyder, att det bör vara en del av kjolen framsida, 597:4.
Troligen i närheten av spännbucklorna låg, enligt Geijer, en klump med textilier och annat organisk material. Den innehöll förmultnade rester av kroppen och et stycke W 10 av samme kvalité som det i ena spännbucklan. Därnäst földje lämningar av ett ytterplagg m.m. Lagerföljden visar - om den er rätt uppfattat - att det måste röra sig om ett avsnitt från dräktens ryggsida. Detta W 10-fragment bör alltså komma från kjolens bakstycke.
Det stora stycket diamantkypert, 597:3, t.v., torde vara identisk med det ena av de två fragment, som enligt Geijer täckte ovansidean på den ena spännbucklan. En noggrann jämnförelse mellan detta stycke och de andre W 10-fragmenten från graven visar, att det och kantstycket, 597:2, måste härröra från ett och samma plagg, alltså kjolen.
Material från kjolens framstycke har med andra ord kommit att hamna på skalet till den ena spännbucklan, och det bör ha skett på så sätt, at spännan under förmultningen sjunkit djupare ned än omkringliggande tyglager, i vilka de bäddades in. Särskilt om kvinnan legat något på sidan i graven, vilket läget på spännbucklar och pärlor eventuellt antydar, kan det känn ha innträffat, att en del av kjolens framstycke vikts in över skalet på ena spännbucklan.
En detaljgranskning av väven och dess söndertrasade kantar visar, att de båda styckena har passning som 597:3 visar. De utgör tillsammans det största bevarade avsnittet av kjolen i hela birkamaterialet med sammenlagt 22 cm.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p.44, illustrations p. 126
The other major excavation of Viking clothing was in Haithabu in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The textile material is from the 10th century and was analysed by Inga Hägg, who writes her reports in German, (my third language). I have used Shelagh Lewins summary to check my translation of the information given on the smokkr, but any mistakes are my fault.
Most of the finds come from the harbour at Haithabu, and consists of used clothing which has been coated with tar and used as ship's caulking. This means that we can't use the layer in the grave or the position on the body to identify what garment a given fragment belong to. On the bright side, we may finally get an impression of how much everyday wear diverged from the clothes people were buried in.
The harbour yielded two large smokkr fragments of fine repped wool (not unlike the repped wool found at Birka). The fabric had been dyed brown.
Fragment A is 30cm high, 16-23 cm wide and 0.1 cm thick. It is
roughly wedge-shaped with one straight side and one slightly curved
side, both with stitch holes where the fragment once was attached to
other pieces of the smokkr.
The upper edge (16 cm) has been created by turning over 1 cm of the selvedge towards the inside and stitching it in place with "Ösenstich". There is a hole close to the top with a felted area around it. The bottom edge (23 cm) is torn.
A dart runs parallel to the straight side of the fragment, from 7 cm below the upper edge down to the tear at the bottom. Unlike modern garments, the ridge of the dart seems to be on the outside of the smokkr. The width of the dart varies (2-5 mm), and the widest point is about 15 cm below the top edge. Here the garment shows traces of wear; the cloth is felted in a band across the garment and a hole has been worn through at the dart.
A thin piece of braid has been stitched in place on top of the ridge
formed by the dart. The braid extends beyond the dart up to the top of
the smokkr. It has deteriorated considerately but seems to be 1-2 mm
wide, made of six threads, three red and three yellow.
Fragment B, (12 by 25 cm) has stitch holes down one side (1) and traces
of the dart (2), although not of the braid. This fragment is
wider than fragment A, leading Hägg to postulate that it would have
been positioned a bit lower on the body than fragment A.
Since the fragments are found as part of a ship's caulking and not
in a grave, identification of exactly what garment they stem from is
more difficult (there are no "tortoise" brooches here to confirm the
presence of a smokkr).
Inga Hägg believe that the hem, combined with the shape of the
dart, deeper in the middle than at the edges, is evidence that this is
part of a smokkr, not a sleeve or some other garment. The surviving
fragments are only wide enough to have covered part of the body.
Probably it covered part of the back, as the dart is shallow enough to
make it unlikely to be from the front of a smokkr.
Inga Hägg: Die Textilfunde aus dem Hafen von Haithabu, p.38-42, 168-170 illustrations p. 39 and 41(red line added for emphasis)
In addition to the finds in the harbour, Inga Hägg also analysed and reported on the textile remains from the settlement and graveyard of Haithabu. This provides additional information about what the Viking inhabitants of the town were wearing.
Only 1% (16) of the examined graves at Haithabu graveyard contain "tortoise" brooches, so while the smokkr was still worn by the Haithabu women it was obviously not the only type of garment worn. The only fragments of the smokkr preserved in the graves were the loops inside the brooches. These were usually made from fine linen cloth (Hägg does not say how many loops were found inside each brooch in her Swedish summary and I have not been able to find more detailed information in the German part of the report, but that could be due to my lack of German.)
Hägg was not able to clearly identify what fragments in the graves belonged to the body of the smokkr, so it is uncertain what material was used (although we know from the harbor find that at least one smokkr was made from wool). One grave (159/1960) have fragments of a two-shaft woollen cloth that may have come from the smokkr, if the layering of the grave has been interpreted correctly.
Av hängselkjolen finns bare bandöglorna från hängslene bevarade (t.ex. Abb. 66,4a-c; 67,6; 68,4) och små fragment, om vilka man inte med säkerhet kan säga att de verkligen härrör från kjolen. Bandöglorna är mycket fina (Abb. 114), i regel av linne. Av vilket material övriga deler av kjolen bestod är oklart. En ripsartad tuskaftsväv av ylle från grav 159/1960 (Abb. 67,3; 115,5) kan, av mikrolagerföljden att döma, möjligen härröra från hängselkjolen.
Inga Hägg: Textilfunde aus der Siedlung und aus den Gräbern von Haithabu, p.277
A small graveyard in Køstrup, Fyn in Denmark was excavated in 1980-1981. With the exception of one woman's grave, dated to the 10th century by the accompanying brooches, few grave goods were found. The woman's grave holds interest for the textile enthusiasts though, since it contained a fairly large (compared to the fragments that usually survive) piece of the smokkr.
This smokkr was made from blue tabby-woven wool. The fragment seems to have run from the middle of the chest, under the brooch at the left side and down under the arm. The report states that "the upper edge was finished by a 0.5 cm wide seam" - this probably means that 0.5 cm of the cloth was folded over and stitched in place. The fabric that would have sat in the middle of the chest between the brooches was pleated, probably to increase the width of the smokkr. There are traces of a vertical seam between the brooch and the armpit, stitching two cloth edges together.
Af selekjolen er så meget bevaret, at man kan se, at kjolen har været lukket fortil og har været afsluttet opadtil af en ca. fem mm. bred søm, der er syet med forsting. I selekjolefragmentets ene ende ses resterne af et gauffreret stykke, der har siddet midt mellem fiblerne, velsagtens for at give kjolen vidde. Gauffreringen ser ut til at være fremkommet gennem en simpel rynkning med en hørtråd. Endvidere ses på den anden side af [venstre fibel], mellem fiblen og armhulen, en lodret sammensyning av to ægkanter.
Liisa Rasmussen and Bjarne Lønborg: Dragtrester i grav ACQ, Køstrup, p 176-177, photo from Thor Ewing, Viking clothing
In total four straps were found (two front loops and two back loops).
Unfortunately, the report does not mention how long they were. Two of
the straps was made from the same fabric as the smokkr, folded and
whipstitched along the side, just like illustrated above in the drawings
from grave 835, Birka. One strap had a linen core, made by folding linen
cloth. The smokkr fabric was placed around the core and stitched
together with casting stitches (they probably didn't have enough smokkr
fabric left to do it the usual way). The last strap was folded and
whipstitched along the side, but was made from a less finely woven
woollen tabby.
Illustration: Liisa Rasmussen and Bjarne
Lønborg: Dragtrester i grav ACQ, Køstrup, p 177
In addition to the woollen loops, there was a ca 5 mm wide blue linen band in the left brooch. It was made from four layers of linen, folded and stitched along one side.
Traces of a ca 14 mm wide, patterned tablet-woven band were found. The band would originally have been ca 20 cm long and sat between the brooches, stitched to the front loops. There are two woollen strings running along each side of the band. The strings are stitched to the loops, but it is uncertain if they have been fastened to the tablet-woven band. The two lower strings have traces of stitches that indicate that they were stitched both to each other and to the smokkr in at least one place.
Mellem fibrene, langs selekjolens vandrette søm, har et mørkeblåt, ca 14 mm bredt mønstret brikbånd af uld været anbragt, oprindeligt ca 20 cm langt. Brikvævningen er udført som tohulsbrikvævning med totrådet ultråd i trenden, mens islætten, der i dag ikke kan iakttages, har sannsynligvis vært av hør. <...>
Båndet har været hæftet med kastninger til selekjolens forreste stropper. Langs begge sider af brikbåndet er anbragt to uldsnore, fastsyet med kastesting til stropperne, men hvis eventuelle fastgjørelse til brikbåndet er usikker. Sting i de nederste snore og i selekjolen indikerer dog, at disse snore et enkelt sted har været hæftet sammen, både indbyrdes og med selekjolen.
Liisa Rasmussen and Bjarne Lønborg: Dragtrester i grav ACQ, Køstrup, p 177-178
A woman's grave from the mid-10th or early 11th century was excavated in 2006 in Pskov by Elena A. Yakoleva. A report on the finds by Elena S. Zubkova, Olga V. Orfinskaya and Kirill A. Mikhailov was published in 2010. As English is not the first language of the authors or me, some of the details in the report are hard to interpret. Any errors in the summary are (as usual) my fault only.
The grave had been plundered and there was no remains of a body. A decomposed birch box was found containing fragments from at least two garments, along with two "tortoise" brooches. Just like at Hedeby harbour, the garments being found separate from the body give us less information about their positions when they were worn. On the other hand, the fact that they had been folded up probably allowed for more of the garments to come in contact with the brooches (and thus be preserved) than if they had been worn on a body.
Elena S. Zubkova, Olga V. Orfinskaya and Kirill A. Mikhailov: Studies of the Textiles from the 2006 Excavation in Pskov, photographs from p 292 and 297, drawing from p 294
The largest fragment in the grave was was 1,5 m long and more than 30 cm wide at the widest (photograph). The widest part (roughly 1 m long) was made from three broad bands of silk that had been fastened to each other using backstitch. Each of these bands consisted of two pieces, sewn together with a vertical seam.
The archaeologists believe that originally there had been a large piece
of blue samite with a golden-pink (and sometimes green) pattern of a
hunting scene with Bahram Gur (ruler of Persia in the 5th century), a
well known motive that has been found elsewhere. This piece had been cut
into strips in order to create the upper (I) and lower (III) band of the
widest part of the smokkr fragment, and the side bands (IV and V). The
cutting was done with no apparent concern for the integrity and
direction of the original fabric design. The middle (II) band was made
from a reddish-violet samite. A similar cloth was used for trimming the
edge of the fragment, except in area Ib where the trim was made from an
unidentified silk samite.
In addition 4,5 cm wide strips of reddish-violet samite was found lying loose. Both the large fragment and the loose silk strips were covered on the reverse side by a thin layer of degraded linen tabby. This, as well as traces of sewing threads indicate that they had originally been sewn on to linen. The archaeologists state that the linen was blue, possibly based on the preserved linen loop that was found in one of the brooches.
There were evidence that loops had once been sewn on to the large
fragment. The top band of the central piece (I) had a base of a blue
linen strap at one side and traces of needle holes and sewing threads
(where the distance between the sewing holes was equal to the width of
the preserved strap fragment) at equal distence from the centre on the
oposite side.
On one of the side bands (V) they found remains of sewing threads and
traces of sewn on straps at 20 and 25 cm from where the band was
attached to the central piece. The general symmetry of the large
fragment led the archaeologists to assume that a loop would have been
found at the same distance on the other side band if it had been
preserved.
This arrangement would have resulted in at least one loop at the top and bottom of each brooch. One such loop of blue linen has been preserved (photograph). It is unclear from the report whether other loops were found.
One last detail worth mentioning is the small strip of silk (VII)
sewn onto one of the side bands. The colour was impossible to identify
although the archaeologists theorize that it might have been made from
the same reddish-violet samite silk as II.
Three female graves were excavated at Værnes in 1940. The finds
were sent to the Collection of national antiquities, and was later
examined by Charlotte Blindheim who wrote a
report on them in 1945.
The grave with the most remains contained two "tortoise" brooches, a third brooch, 17 pearls and several textile fragments. Two strings were found inside one of the brooches. One string was made from two woollen yarn pieces that had been twined around each other, while the material of the other could not be identified. Both of the strings lay in a loop around the bottom of the needle, and appeared to have been tied around it.
Also inside the brooch were a small piece of woollen diamond twill that had been folded over at one edge (probably the edge of a garment) and a piece of rougher tabby weave, possibly linen, laying in a short loop around the head of the needle.
Illustrations from Charlotte Blindheim:
Vernesfunnene og kvinnedrakten i Norden i Vikingtiden, p 145 and
PL X
More diamond twill was found in a lump of fabric separately from the brooches. Two of the diamond twill fragments were folded over along one edge, just like the diamond twill inside the brooch. A small piece of linen(?) possibly split into two narrow straps of some sort seems to lie attached to one of these twill fragments. The same fragment had a woven band sewn by to it by whipstitching.
This band appears to have been woven with the same technique as the tapestries from Oseberg and would have been ca 1.1 cm wide. The weft that bound the band together has disintegrated in the grave (it was probably made from linen) and so the warp lies uncovered in places. The pattern of the band was created by using a decorative weft in red wool which still remains, enabling us to see that the band once had some kind of geometric pattern. A similar band with a similar motive is sewn to one of the Oseberg tapestries.
The lump of fabric also contained diagonal twill that lay in folds with the traces of a very rough weave inside some of the folds.
Lastly a lump of fabric lay on top of one of the brooches. This contained some diagonal twill, probably the same cloth as the diagonal twill from the other lump, and several fragments of the fine diamond twill. There was also a tiny piece of a very rough woollen fabric woven in a two colour plaid pattern.
Innerst mot spennens skall ligger en tvunnet snor, - nå delvis løs, men den har vært festet i en løkke om nålehodet og knyttet om dette. Snoren er tvunnet av to ullgarnstråder som begge består av fire totrådete, s-tvunnete tråder. Tvinningen er jevn og fin. Litt lenger ute og nå helt fastrustet til nålehodet ligger det nok en snor. Om også den er av ull, kan en ikke si med sikkerhet. Den ligger som den første tråden, i en løkke om nålehodet, og endene er knyttet på oversiden av dette rett overfor nålekjeden.
Utenfor disse snorene kommer det så en liten bite av et stoff som har vært brettet om og fallet, så det er tydelig at vi her har kanten av et eller annet plagg. Det er nok igjen til at en kan se at det har vært et fint ullstoff vevet i gåsøyemønster, men tetthetsgraden kan ikke avgjøres. Ytterst er det rester av et annet, noe grovere, toskaftet stoff, muligens et linstoff. Det ligger, etter det en nå kan se, i en kort løkke om nålehodet.
Den løse klumpen (som lå inni en av spennene) inneholdt i alt fire lag tøy, men to av lagene viste seg å inneholde ett og samme stoff - en diagonalbinding. Den lå dels i folder og inni disse lå det biter av et meget grovt stoff. Tett inntil det diagonalmønstrete stoffet lå rester av et fint ullstoff i gåsøyemønster. Tettheten er ca 32 tråder pr cm. På to av bitene er det i den ene kanten en smal fall, som den på det fine ullstoffet inne i spennen.
Til det ene hefter det en liten stump av et vevet bånd som vevteknisk er ganske interessant. Det er på et sted bevart i full bredde, så denne kan fastslås, den er 1,1 cm. Som en kan se ligger renningen åpen på visse partier. Den har bestått av 14 tråder. Det er ikke bevart store biten av båndet, men nok til at en kan se at de åpne partiene kommer igjen så regelmessig at det må være gjort med hensikt. <...>
Mønstret har tydeligvis vært rent geometrisk, men teknisk sett er det en vevnad av samme type som Osebergrevlene med to islettsystemer: et bindeislett som vel har vært av lin som nå er borte, men som ser ut til å ha gått gjennom hele båndet, og et mønsterislett av ull.
Charlotte Blindheim: Vernesfunnene og kvinnedrakten i Norden i Vikingtiden, p 144-145Den tredje tøyklumpen, som skal ha ligget oppå den innerste av spennene, inneholdt flere stykker av det samme fine ulltøyet som den andre klumpen. Det største stykket lå fast presset oppå et stykke av en vanlig firskaftet diagonalkypert. Det er visstnok rester av det samme stoffet som lå i den løse klumpen. Tetthetsgraden er i hvert fall så vidt det nå lar seg avgjøre, den samme (ca. 13 tråder pr cm). Oppå disse to stoffene lå det så opprinnelig biter av en skinnfell med lange hår. Endelig lå det innerst mot spennens skall et ganske lite stykke av et meget grovt løst ullstoff - vevet i to farger i rutemønster.
Charlotte Blindheim: Vernesfunnene og kvinnedrakten i Norden i Vikingtiden, p 146-147
The two other graves each contained a pair of "tortoise" brooches. One of the brooches contained some textile fragments around the head of the needle. Around the bottom of the needle there appears to be one or two strings partly covered by a piece of fabric that might be a loop, but it is very hard to make out the details because of the rust.
According to Blindheim the woman in the richest of the graves probably wore two smokkrs. Due to the linen loop in one of the brooches, and the small pieces of linen found in the grave she believes the inner smokkr to be made from linen. The outer was in all likelihood made of the fine woollen diamond twill, and was held up by the twined strings and decorated with the band woven in Oseberg tapestry style.
Værnes isn't the only finds where twined strings are used as loops for the smokkr. Blindheim has examined evidence from Tråstad in Norway, where one of the brooches contained possible fragments of two straps looped around the needle in a figure of eight. One of the straps is made from fabric (linen?). On the outside of this strap are small fragments of a twined string. There is also a finer string that has been tied to the bottom of the needle.
En kan skjelne to stropper som ligger i en 8-tallsløkke rundt nålehode og stilk. En er av stoff (lin?), og utenfor denne er det små rester av en tvunnet snor. I enden av nålehodet er det dessuten knyttet fast en meget finere snor.
Charlotte Blindheim: Vernesfunnene og kvinnedrakten i Norden i Vikingtiden, p 158
In addition Blindheim refers to the museum in Bergen, where according to the catalogue of finds there are two other finds with traces of strings that have been used to fasten the smokkr.
In the same report she describes another minor find from Lammøya in Norway with a more "traditional" set of fabric loops similar to what was found in Birka. One of the two brooches found here has several linen fabric loops inside it. One is well preserved and lay around the bottom of the needle. Fragments of one or two others lay around the needle itself, and there are also traces of linen at the point of the needle. The other brooch lacks the needle, but has traces of fabric at both ends of the brooch.
På den best bevarte spennen ligger det ved partiet omkring nålehodet rester av flere stropper av lin. En er meget godt bevart og knyttet fast til selve nålehodet. Rundt stilken ligger det rester av iallfall en, muligens to seler til. Her fins det dessuten linrester ved nåleskjeden. På den andre spennen mangler stilken, men inni nålehodet ligger det rester av noe som tydeligvis har vært en stropp (av lin?). Også ved nåleskjeden er det noen ubetydelige tekstilrester, men disse er for forrustet til at en kan si om det er lin eller ull.
Charlotte Blindheim: Vernesfunnene og kvinnedrakten i Norden i Vikingtiden, p 158
Finally Blindheim mentions that there are several finds not available to her at the moment because the museum's collections are closed. She intends to study them later, but refers to the catalogue of finds. According to the summaries found there, at least two of the finds show evidence that the brooch has been attached directly to the fabric of the smokkr at one end and by a loop at the other end.
Det sees tydelig at Spænderne have været anbragte paa den Maade af en af Klædningsstykkets Fliger har været indstukket paa Naalen (gjennomstukket af den) og en anden fæstet ved Hjælp af en om Naalen indenfor Naleskjeden lagt Strop av andet Slags Tøi.
Charlotte Blindheim: Vernesfunnene og kvinnedrakten i Norden i Vikingtiden, p 159, find from 1896Det kan ogsaa her, ligesom paa enkelte andre i senere Tid indkomne Exemplarer iakttages at Naalen foruden at gaa igjennem et Stykke Tøi har baaret en Strop.
Charlotte Blindheim: Vernesfunnene og kvinnedrakten i Norden i Vikingtiden, p 159, find from 1898
In 1976 Inger Marie Holm-Olsen reported on the finds from 9 women's graves in western Norway.
Eight of the graves yielded in total 16 woollen fragments with traces of hemming. Holm-Olsen doesn't give any more details in regards to which garments the fragments might come from, but at least some of them are likely to be from a smokkr. The hemming technique is the same in all the cases; the cloth has been folded over twice, so that the hem consists of three layers of fabric.
One of the graves also yielded pleated fragments, and one grave had several preserved fabric loops, evidence of the presence of at least one smokkr.
This grave have yielded several intact fabric loops of the kind used to fasten "tortoise" brooches. Three loops of woollen diagonal twill were found, all of them created by folding a strip of cloth several times and stitching it together.
One of the loops was fastened to a fragment of woollen diamond twill,
and one was fastened to a fragment of the same diagonal twill that had
been used to create the loop. The last of these loops had loosened from
whatever fabric it had been stitched to and was laying alone.
Tre av hempene er av diagonalkypert, de består av flere lag sammenbrettet og sammensydd stoff. Den ene hempen er nå løs, de to andre er sydd fast til hvert sitt stoffstykke. Av de to siste er den ene sydd fast til et stykke av samme sort stoff, den andre er sydd fast til et ringvendstoff.
Inger Marie Holm-Olsen: Noen gravfunn fra vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt, p 199, illustration p 200Hempene må skrive seg fra to forskjellige seleskjørt, den ene av diagonalkypert, det andre av ringvend. Skjørtet av diagonalkypert har hatt hempe og skjørt av samme stoff, skjørtet av ringvend har hatt en hempe av diagonalkypert. Sammen med den tredje hempen er ikke stoff av selve skjørtet bevart. Hempen er av diagonalkypert, av samme kvalitet som hempen på ringvendskjørtet.
Inger Marie Holm-Olsen: Noen gravfunn fra vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt, p 203
Holm-Olsen interprets this as evidence that the woman in the grave wore two smokkrs, one of diamond twill, the other of diagonal twill. The loops of both smokkrs were made from the diagonal twill.
Additionally there was a fourth loop in the grave. It is difficult to
ascertain how this loop was made due to it being encased in rust, but
according to Holm-Olsen it isn't made from a folded strip of cloth like
the others.
Instead she believes that it might be a cord created by
twinning a string around a central core made from several strings. It
has been fastened to a fragment of a third woollen fabric, but the
report doesn't state what type of weave.
Holm-Olsen believes that this loop is too slender to carry the weight of a smokkr. Also, if it is from a smokkr it would mean that the woman in the grave was wearing three smokkrs on top of each other, something she discounts as unlikely.
Den fjerde hempen er helt gjennomtrukket av rust og derfor vanskelig å analysere. Det er imidlertid klart at den ikke, som de andre, består av et sammenbrettet stoffstykke. Muligens er den laget på samme måte som den siste av de to snortypene [har en kjerne av flere tråder, om denne kjernen er det viklet en ny tråd]. Den synes å være svært spinkel til å skulle bære et seleskjørt.
Inger Marie Holm-Olsen: Noen gravfunn fra vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt, p 199-201, illustration p 201Den fjerde hempen som B10720 Sandanger inneholder, er som ovenfor nevnt svært spinkel. Charlotte Blindheim har immidlertid vist at seleskjørtet i enkelte tilfelle har vært holdt oppe av seler som bare bestod av tvynne ulltråder. At den ikke er laget av stoff, behøver derfor ikke å bety at den fjerde hempen ikke har tilhørt et seleskjørt. Det er likevel enda et forhold som taler mot at den har vært en sele, den er festet til et stoff av en annen kvalitet enn dem de andre hempene tilhører. Skulle også denne fjerde hempen være en del av et seleskjørt, måtte en tenke seg at kvinnen i denne graven hadde fått med seg tre slike.
Inger Marie Holm-Olsen: Noen gravfunn fra vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt, p 203
She doesn't explain what kind of garment the loop and fabric could have come from if it isn't a smokkr, and writes nothing about where the different fragments were found in relation to the brooches in the grave.
One explanation for the fourth loop that springs to my mind is that it could have been part of the closure mechanism for a caftan, or some other overgarment that closed across the chest. Such a loop wouldn't need to bear the weight of a full garment. Still, without more details from the find this is nothing more than wild speculation.
Holm-Olsen also mentions three fragments from grave B 10720 that have been decorated by different cords. She writes that two diamond twill fragments had a braided cord sewn to the edge, and one diamond twill fragment had been edged with a cord made by twining a string around a core made from several strings. This last type of decorative cord is also found edging a hemmed edge of a diamond twill fragment in another grave in Sandanger, B 10772.
Dette finnes på fire ringvendfragmenter fra funnene B 10720 Sandanger og B 10772 Sandanger. Snorene er av to typer. Den ene typen, som er representert ved to fragmenter fra B 10720, er flettet av flere tråder. <...>
Den andre typen, representert ved ett fragment fra B 10720 og ett fra B 10722, har en kjerne av flere tråder, om denne kjernen er det viklet en ny tråd. <...>
Snorene finnes fastsydd til henholdsvis sidejare, vevd begynnelseskant og fall.
Inger Marie Holm-Olsen: Noen gravfunn fra vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt, p 199, illustration of B10722, p 198
Unless there are several diamond twill fabrics in grave B 10720, it
is reasonable to assume that the fragments decorated with cords at the
edge belong to the diamond twill smokkr from the grave. Holm-Olsen
doesn't say so though, so unless further details from the find are made
available, we won't know for sure.
This find was originally interpreted to be a serk, but has recently been suggested to come from a smokkr instead. I have included a summary of the original report, so that you can make your own decision as to how the evidence should be read.
A woman's grave at Vangsnes in Norway contained several fragments of a tabby wool, where three of the fragments were pleated (2-3 mm deep pleats). The rest of the fragments are plain, but it is uncertain if this is because the pleating has disappeared in the grave, or if only part of the garment was pleated.
Tre fragmenter av et toskaftstoff, B 5625 Vangsnes, er plisserte. Plisseringen er jevn og regelmessig og tilsvarer helt den Agnes Geijer har beskrevet fra Birka. Foldene er to-tre mm dype, og de framstår i tversnitt som en sammenpresset bølgelinje (Geijer 1938, 16). <...>
De øvrige fragmentene av toskaftstoffet fra B5625 Vangsnes viser ikke spor av plissering. Om dette kommer av bevaringsforholdene, eller om bare en del av stoffet opprinnelig var plissert, er vanskelig å avgjøre.
Inger Marie Holm-Olsen: Noen gravfunn fra vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt, p 201, illustration p 202
At the time Inger Marie Holm-Olsen writes her report, there appears to be no reports on similar pleated woollen fragments, so she proposes that the fragments in grave B 5625 may possibly be from a woollen serk, mirroring the pleated serks from Birka.
Underkjolen er det i vestlandsmaterialet bare usikre spor etter. Det eneste i materialet som kanskje kan tolkes som rester etter et slikt plagg, er det plisserte stoffet fra B 5625 Vangsnes. Er dette restene av en underkjole, adskiller den seg fra underkjolene i Birka ved at den er i ull.
Inger Marie Holm-Olsen: Noen gravfunn fra vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt, p 203
Some years after Holm-Olsen's report came out, the discovery of pleated wool at grave C in Kaupang and Køstrup was reported on. The pleated fragments from both these graves are interpreted to be part of a smokkr, not a serk. Based on these finds, Thor Ewing proposes that the Vangsnes find should also be interpreted as a smokkr.
If the pleated tabby at Vangsnes was from the serk, it is reasonable to expect the grave to also yield less deteriorated fragments from the smokkr, as it is closer to the preserving metal in the brooches than the serk.
Unfortunately, because Holm-Olsen was summarizing the finds from several graves in her article, she gives no further details as to whether grave B 5625 yielded other fabrics in addition to the woollen tabby. However, if there were significant amounts of a different fabric, I would expect her to have mentioned it when interpreting the pleated fragments. Also, the Køstrup smokkr is pleated only between the brooches at the front. This supports an interpretation of the mix of pleated and plain tabby fragments from grave B 5625 Vangsnes as a partially pleated smokkr.
Thus I find myself agreeing with Ewing that these fragments are likely to have come from a pleated smokkr.
Kaupang is a Viking market place, and thus not a minor Viking find, but until I find evidence that more clothing was found than the meager fragments described below I will classify it as minor in textile terms.
Two women's graves containing textiles were excavated in 1949 in the former Viking market centre Kaupang in Vestfold. The graves were somewhat damaged from the construction work that led to their discovery, and finds might have been moved out of their original context. Anne Stine Ingstad reported on the graves in 1979.
Grave B, from around 800 AD, contained three "tortoise" brooches and twelve textile fragments. One fragment consisted of a coarse woollen tabby (8Z/8Z threads pr sq. cm), the other eleven all derived from chevron twill (18-20Z/10Z threads pr sq. cm).
The most interesting of the chevron twill fragments is a piece that
is 4.5 cm x 5 cm. It has been turned over twice at one edge and stitched
in place, creating a hem three layers of fabric thick. A tablet woven
band (0.6-0.9 cm wide) has been stitched to the edge of the hem with
casting stitches, using a woollen thread. A wool string made from
twining several woollen threads together has been stitched along the
other edge of the tablet woven band.
Stoffet har en fall, som er bøyet inn to ganger, slik at tøyet der ligger i tre lag. Borden er sydd til kanten av fallen med jevne kastesting utført i totrådet S-ullgarn. Bordens bredde er noe ujevn - 0,6 cm - 0,9 cm, og den består av 9 dobbelte S-tvunnete ulltråder, som utgjør renningen, innslaget er Z-spunnet.
Borden er vevet i mønster, som det fremgår av fig. 2. Til den kanten som ikke er sydd fast til stoffet er der med kastesting utført i totrådet S-tvunnet ulltråd påsydd en fast og jevnt tvunnet ullsnor, som består av flere dobbelte S-tvunnete tråder.
Anne Stine Ingstad: To kvinnegraver med tekstiler fra Kaupang p 158-159
According to Ingstad this fragment is similar to the diamond twill fragment with tablet woven band found at Værnes. The Værnes fragment came from a smokkr as evidenced by traces of the same fabric being found inside the brooches, and Ingstad therefore concludes that the chevron fragments in grave B is likely to derive from a smokkr as well.
The tablet woven band would have run along either the top or the bottom of the garment. Ingstad believes that the woollen string sewn to the edge of the band indicate that the band and string was placed at the bottom of the smokkr. She cites that similar strings have been used to protect against wear in Norwegian and Danish folk costumes.
Grave C, from 850-900 AD, contained more jewellery and more textile fragments than grave B. A total of ca 41 woollen fragments were found:
Several of the fragments had a black crust on one side, indicating that a plant fibre fabric (probably linen) had been present in the grave.
According to Ingstad several loops were found inside the brooches at the time of excavation, but currently only one survives along with fragments of several others. Some of the loops were made from the diagonal twill, and Ingstad proposes that this twill was used in a smokkr.
Videre foreligger ca. 5 fragmenter av et diagonalkypertstoff med 16Z/10Z pr cm2. Noen av disse skriver seg fra hemper, som har vært brukt til å feste et seleskjørt til de ovale spennene. De heftet opprinnelig til nålefestet, og da de ble funnet, ble der observert flere hemper til hver spenne. Nå foreligger det bare en nesten fullstendig hempe og noen bruddstykker av samme.
Anne Stine Ingstad: To kvinnegraver med tekstiler fra Kaupang p 160
The lozenge twill with the most fragments (c) was of fine quality and might have been pleated. One of the fragments seemed to have 3-4 pleats that were 0.4 - 0.5 cm deep. Another fragment of the same twill lay in several layers with a small hole (like that made by a needle) passing through all the layers.
When looking at the equal armed brooch found at the chest, and the bracelets on the arm that had lain on the body Ingstad finds that the diagonal twill seems to have been worn outside the pleated lozenge twill. Based on the fact that several loops originally were found inside the brooches she theorizes that the pleated twill was from a second smokkr worn inside the smokkr made from the diagonal twill. She proposes that the inner smokkr was longer than the outer, showing of the pleats.
The rest of the fragments are identified as either from a cloak or from a headdress and are thus not relevant when trying to collect evidence of the smokkr. The linen was probably from an underdress (serk).
De fleste fragmentene - 25 - må skrive seg fra dette stoffet, til tross for noe vekslende trådtettet fra stykke til stykke. To av fragmentene er sterkt oppsplittet i smale fliker, og flere andre er bare strimler. Ett fragment synes å ligge i tre-fire 0.4-0.5 cm brede plisser. Av dette er det nærliggende å slutte at stoffet kan ha vært plissert, og at den sterke oppsplittingen muligens kan skyldes slitasje i kanten av foldene. Videre foreligger et fragment i flere lag, og tvers gjennom lagene er der et ganske lite sirkelrundt hull som etter en nål.
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Av funnopplysningene går det frem at det til de ovale spennene har vært festet ett eller to seleskjørt ved hjelp av hemper. Det ene seleskjørtet har vært av det diagonalvevete kypertstoffet.
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Det er trolig at hun under den diagonalvevete stakken har båret enda et seleskjørt, da det opprinnelig heftet flere hemper til nålefestet på hver spenne. Kan hende har dette vært av det fine c-stoffet i ringvend, som muligens har vært plissert. Dette har trolig vært sidere enn overstakken, slik at plisseene har kommet frem nedenfor den.
Anne Stine Ingstad: To kvinnegraver med tekstiler fra Kaupang p 161-162
In January 2001, a grave was found in South Yorkshire with grave goods typical of a female Scandinavian burial of the Viking Period.
The oval brooches in the grave are typologically the earliest of the four pairs to have been recovered in England from a grave and the first to be excavated under archaeological conditions. The design and condition of the brooches suggest a date for the burial at the end of the 9th century. Isotope analysis of teeth from the skeleton indicates an origin for the woman in either Norway or possibly north-eastern Scotland. Penelope Walton Rogers reported on the artifacts in the grave, including the textiles.
...on both brooches lies a complex of textile loops and cords which pass round the brooch pin. The loops are made from a fine linen tabby, 24/Z x 24/Z per cm. Each loop seems to have been constructed as a cut strip folded lengthways, with the raw edges turned in and pressed flat, to give a neatly made strap 4 mm wide. In places the straps have a blue tinge, but analysis by absorption spectrophotometry has shown this to be from corrosion rather than dye. The loops and the coarser inner garment are likely to have been a natural white.
On brooch AB one of the loops passes around the hinge and the other passes around the tip. Behind the strip at the hinge there is a bundle of four or five Z-spun yarns which seems to form a second loop, mirroring the path of the first. On brooch AC, there is again a loop at both ends of the pin, but here there is also a second layer of the same material behind the first, which may represent a second set of loops. A series of coarse threads are entangled with the hinge end of this pin and from this emerges a plied cord (Z2S), approximately a millimetre thick, which follows an irregular path towards the edge of the brooch.
Greg Speed and Penelope Walton Rogers: A Burial of a Viking Woman at Adwick-le-Street, p 76
The smokkr itself was not preserved. Walton Rogers believe that the bundle of cords at the left brooch (AB) served as a replacement for a loop, presumably as a running repair. She interprets the plied cord at the right brooch (AC) as a tool band for a knife that was found in the grave.
Her conclusion is that there were two loops at the bottom of each brooch, and one at the top, something which demonstrates that the appearance of multiple loops aren't limited to Birka.
Because all we have are fragments of the smokkr, it may be relevant to examine other garments for inspiration. Caution must be used when extrapolating from such finds as they may be radically different from the smokkr, but they may still be useful in demonstrating which tailoring techniques and patterns were known to the Vikings.
This is the closest we get to a "proto-smokkr" and is perhaps the most
relevant peripheral find in regards to interpreting the construction of
the smokkr.
The woollen peplos from Huldremose in Denmark dates from the Roman Iron Age. It has been woven in a single piece on tubular loom, and forms a tube without seams, 168 cm long and 264 cm round. It is similar in design to the ancient Greek peplos, but would have been too long for the wearer unless the top part was folded down, or it was hitched up at the waist with a belt.
Dresses like this might be seen as precursors to the Viking smokkr.
There are several theories regarding what type of garments was found in this grave, from a man's tunic to a woman's smokkr. Either way it can be helpful to know exactly how the disputed fragments looked when making up your mind as to which interpretation to believe.
In grave 735 a man and a woman (possibly holding a small child) had
been buried close to each other. The bones had deteriorated to such a
degree that only the teeth of the two adult skeletons remained.
The grave contained large amounts of silver and gold tablet woven bands,
silver thread embroideries and the largest pieces of silk twill that has
been found in Birka. Because of the lack of skeletons it is unclear
which textile fragments belonged to the man and the woman respectively.
Piece nr 1 (figure 735:5 bottom right) consists of a tablet woven band between two fragments of silk twill. The fabric along one edge of the piece has been folded towards the inside, and there are traces of wool on the fold. The direction of the weave in the silk twill indicates that the folded edge was either at the top or the bottom of the piece. The shape of the piece combined with the traces of wool lead both Geijer and Hägg to conclude that the fold ran along the bottom of the piece and was probably stitched to a woollen cloth.
Stycke 1 (735:5) består av ett brickband, B18, mellan två sidenkypertstycken. Den nedre kanten har en enkelt vikning mot avvigan, och på vikningen finns lämninger av ett ylletyg, vid vilket stycket kan ha varit fastsytt. Att döma av vävens riktning i sidenkypertdelarna bör stycket ha suttit med vikkanten uppåt eller nedåt i dräkten. Vikkanten med yllerester samt styckets disposisjon talar kanskje snarast för att det skulle ha suttit som 735:5 visar, med den vikta kanten nedåt.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p 74, illustration p 128
Geijer suggests a reconstruction where piece 1 is placed with the
folded edge of the silk twill along the waist area of the person wearing
the garment. The lower part of the garment would consist of wool
stitched to the silk. She proposes that piece 1 was connected to another
piece (nr 2, figure 735:5, right side).
Piece nr 2 consists of three separate pieces of silk twill, A, B and C (735:4 b). Between fragment A and B runs a tablet woven band (735:4 a, band 3) identical to the tablet woven band in piece 1. Along the edge of fragment B there is another tablet woven band (735:4 a, band 1). Additionally there is a tablet woven band running diagonally along the top of piece 2 (735:4 a, band 2). A gore of silk twill (fragment C) fills the space between fragment B and the band, but does not continue across the vertical bands. The three bands (1-3) seem to have been part of the construction and shaping of the garment.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka p 128
The four tablet woven bands (735:4 a, band 4-7) that run horizontally across the piece seem to have had a mainly decorative function. These bands lie on the outside of the silk twill, and crosses on top of the vertical bands. The decorative effect has been strengthened by varying the stitching so that every other band has been fastened with the same type of stitches. Thus half of the bands have been fastened by small, invisible stitches, the other half by blanket stitching.
Three of the horizontal bands are sufficiently preserved that the ends of the bands still remains. They have been folded and stitched in place on the silk twill (piece A) at one end. The other ends (that meet the vertical band 1) have also been folded and are kept in place by a seam.
Här är brickbandet B18 hopfogat med ett annat, vertikalt gående band, som hör till ett annat stycke, nr 2. Detta stycke (735:4 a-b) består av tre sidenkypertdelar, A-C, og sju brickband, 1-7. Sidenkypertdelarnas fogning framgår av 735:4 a, som återger avigsidan: de två större delarna A och B ramar in det vertikalt placerade brickbandet nr 3. Över hela det hopfogade stycket AB ligger på rätsidan fyra brickbandstränsar, 4-7, varav tre med ursprunglig avslutning i båda ändar. Åt ena hållet är bandändarna nedvikta och fastsydda mot sidentygets rätsida, åt det andra hållet möter bandändarna i rät vinkel et annat, vertikalt placerat band, nr 1, vid vilket de vikts ned och fästs med en söm.
Den tredje sidenkypertdelen på detta stycke, del C (735:4 b), fungerar som en kil mellan det snedfogade brickbandet överst, nr 2, och övriga delar. Kilen måste ha upphört vid det vertikala band 3, eftersom stycke A på andra sidan om detta band fortsätter upp över det horisontala band 4.
Det är ovisst, om band 2 fortsatt över band 3 på detta ställe. Det är emmellertid tydligt, att brickbanden 2 och 3 har haft konstruktiva funktioner i samband med hela styckets kilning och fogning (ev. gäller detsamma även band 1). De fyra horisontelt påsydda tränsbanden har främst dekorativ funktion. Som Geijer påpekat förstärktes den dekorativa effekten genom den teknik, med vilken banden applicerats på stycket: vartannat infattat med langettsöm, vartannat diskret fäst med osynlig söm.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p 74-75
Lastly there is another piece from the same garment, piece nr 3 (figure 735:5, left side). This piece lacks the vertical bands and upper gore, but has more of the horizontal decorative bands left intact than piece nr 2. It is clear that piece 2 and 3 is designed to sit on opposite sides of the chest of the wearer.
The horizontal bands have been folded and stitched down on the silk
twill at one end. The other ends of the bands are torn. The bands have
been adjusted in order to follow the shape of the body, so the band in
the middle of the chest is longer than the one at the waist. This seems
to have been a garment that was fitted to the body of the wearer
(735:6).
The distance between the pieces are unknown, but it would at least have covered ca 30 cm of the chest (piece 2: 15 cm + piece 3: 16,5 cm). The height of the garment is even harder to calculate. The suggested reconstruction has a height of ca 32 cm. The neck and shoulder part of the garment is unknown.
Detta stycke har flera av de dekorativa tvärtränsarna bevarade än föregående men ingen likartad kostruktiv fogningsdetalj. Hela stycke 3 motsvarar ur funktionell synspunkt delen A på stycke 2 (735:4 b). De ursprungliga bandavslutningar, som finns kvar, är liksom där invikta åt ena hållet och nedsydda mot rätsiden.
Det är tydligt, att stycke 2 och 3 inte suttit på samma bröstkorgshalva utan att de är parstycken. På nr 3 bör tvärtränsarna liksom hos parstycket 2 ha varit avslutade invid et vertikalt placerat brickband (jfr 735:4 a, band 1) på den sida, där brickbanden saknar avslutning. Själva sidentyget bör ha varit hopfogat i sidled med et annat stycke, som korrensponderar mot del B hos parstycket 2, jfr 735:5.
De nedfållade tränsarna på stycke 3 slutar inte på en rak linje över varandra, vilkat tydligt framgår, om man med ögat följer de vertikala trådarna i väven. De mellersta tränsarna slutar längre ut på kyperttyget. Brickbanden har härmed anpassats efter bröstkorgens välvning (jfr punkt-strecklinjerna på 735:5). Denna detalj, som går ut på at avpassa plagget efter kroppens former, bör ses i samband med kilskarvningen av stycke nr 2, genom vilken vidden i tyget ökades mot kroppens mitt.
När man altså adderar detaljerna hos de här beskrivna styckena 1, 2 och 3, vilka obestridligen hör til samma plagg, får man den bild, som demonstreras på 735:5-6. Stycke nr 3 bör ha legat på höger sida av bröstet med de invikta og nedsydda bandändarna mot kroppsmitten, medan stycke nr 2 låg på vänster sida med kilskarven avsmalnande ut mot sidan. De inbördes avstånden mellan styckena är givetvis ganska ungefärliga. Tillsammans måste de emellertid ha täckt bröstet med ca 30 cm på bredden (stycke 2: 15 cm + stycke 3: 16,5 cm). Den sammanlagda höjden är svårare att beräkna; enligt den här föreslagna rekonstruktionen kan den ha varit ca 32 cm. Hur axelparti och halsöppning varit utformade är oklart.
Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p 74-75, illustrations p 128
Some interpretations
Geijer interpret the fragments of metal tablet woven bands and silk from
female graves to be decoration of the smokkr. In the case of grave 735
however, she believes that all these fragments belonged to the man's
clothing, based on where they were placed in the grave. Inga Hägg
disagrees. According to her, all that can be inferred from Stolpe's
original drawing of the grave is that the largest textile fragment
covered the chest of one of the adults but that it is in no way certain
which of them it was. They were buried so close to each other that their
clothing may have intermingled during deterioration.
The tortoise brooches was found laying upright on their edges, a strong indication that the woman had not been placed on her back in the grave, but rather had been buried beside the man in a sitting or half crouched position (possibly with their knees touching). According to the drawing of the grave, one of the brooches lay with its inside towards the largest textile fragment (piece 3). Hägg comments that this could be interpreted in two different ways; either the textile fragment is from a garment that the woman wore beneath her smokkr, or the brooch has been turned around in the grave during decomposition and lies on the man's chest, on top of the remains of a garment worn by him. Neither the grave drawing nor the layering of the fragments gives a clear indication of which alternative is correct. She therefore turns to the fragments themselves.
There are additional tablet woven bands in the grave. According to Hägg these appears to have been part of a fragment that looked similar to piece 2 or 3, but with richer and broader tablet woven bands, probably a separate garment of the same type, but of a larger size. She sees no reason that the man should be wearing two garments of the same type, and so concludes that Geijer was mistaken when deciding that all the decorated fragments were from a man's garment. Hägg believes that the woman and man were wearing similar garments - probably tunics. The smaller garment (piece 1, 2 and 3) with the slimmer bands was worn by the woman, while the one with richer bands and possibly also the silver embroideries belonged to the man.
Hägg believes that the garments are two out of several that were decorated with silk and metal tablet woven bands, and that all these tunics were imported to Birka from the Kiev-Byzantinium area. She argues that in addition to importing the tunics themselves, the Birka Vikings adopted the custom of using these garments as signifiers of rank within the royal court, from Kiev (Birkas orientaliska praktplagg).
Thor Ewing on the other hand, believes that the fragments described
above come from a smokkr. His theory is discussed in the chapter on the
shape of the smokkr further down in the article.
That is the end of the hard evidence, and we're entering the land of interpretations. No complete smokkr has been found, although the archaeological evidence contains some larger fragments. This means that when we want to reconstruct the garment we must combine the archaeological evidence with other (and less reliable) sources, like poetry or illustrations.
When looking at the Birka evidence, Agnes Geijer chose to base her interpretation of the smokkr solely on the loops and whatever fragments that were attached to them. She concluded that the smokkr was usually made from linen. Inga Hägg takes a less conservative approach to the same evidence, and identifies several unattached pieces of woollen cloth as smokkr fragments, based on their layer in the grave, and their placement under the brooches. She concludes that the smokkr could be made from either linen or wool. Her conclusion is supported by the linen smokkr found at Pskov and the woollen smokkrs found at Haithabu, Køstrup and several of the minor finds.
There is not enough evidence to tell whether linen or wool were the preferred fabric used in the smokkr. Although more than hundred graves in Birka contained fragments of the smokkr, Inga Hägg only lists 33 of them as containing remains from the body of the dress itself. Given that wool is more easily preserved than linen it is not surprising that the proportion of wool versus linen in these graves is 25 vs 8. In reality, linen might have been more common than these numbers suggests.
There is no clear chronological division of the linen and woollen smokkrs of Birka, linen smokkrs appear both in early graves from the 9th century and the later graves from the 10th century. Hägg also believes that the choice is unlikely to be a matter of status, because the grave goods that follow the two types of smokkrs are of comparatively the same value. Perhaps both were used interchangeably, with linen smokkrs in summer and woollen smokkrs in winter? Or perhaps it was a matter of taste? All we know for sure is that both types existed during the Viking Age.
From the archaeological evidence we know that the smokkr, however it may have looked, was fastened to the "tortoise" brooches with fabric loops. It isn't the first time fabric loops appear in Nordic clothing, but although one loop has been found attached to a man's garment from the Migration period they seem to fall out of use in the Iron Age. Thus the sudden appearance of loops on the smokkr isn't just a continuation of an existing clothing tradition.
The majority of the woollen smokkr fragments from Birka are fine twills (usually broken lozenge twill), although there are some fragments of repped woollen cloth and other tabby weaves as well. According to Geijer the fine cloth was imported, probably from Syria. These fabrics were tightly woven and would not easily admit the 4-5 mm thick iron needles of the "tortoise" brooches without tearing threads.
Hägg and Geijer believe that the reason behind the introduction of the loops was a desire to avoid piercing the expensive imported cloth. This may explain why the majority of the smokkr loops at Birka were made of the tougher and presumably cheaper linen cloth, instead of using the imported smokkr fabric (although woollen loops are used at Køstrup, at Sandanger and in at least a few Birka graves). The inspiration for the loops may possibly stem from the loops and buttons in the Oriental garments imported to Birka.
The loops seem to have been made by folding fabric strips and either whipstitching them along the sides (Birka grave 835) or along the middle of the strap (Birka grave 465). Some loops had an inner core of a stronger fabric. This is the case for several of the silk loops where the silk is covering a linen core, and for the Køstrup find. The width of the straps may have varied; the straps at Adwick-le-street were 4mm, while the strap in the photograph of the loop from the Pskov seems to be 1 cm wide.
Some loops may have been made of twined string instead of fabric. The Værnes finds have fragments of strings inside two brooches, and Blindheim believe them to be smokkr loops. She wrote her report before a lot of the newer material became available however, so an alternative explanation could be that the strings are part of the smokkr decoration, like in Birka graves 511, 973, 1083, 1084, or at Køstrup, and that the smokkr was fastened by linen loops that have deteriorated (except one).
The fabric loops that have been found attached to smokkr fragments are open from the part that lie around needle until the base at the edge of the smokkr, except for the front loops in Birka grave 835. These were sewn closed with the exception of a couple of cm at the end.
How long were the loops? Starting with the front loops we immediately run into one of the many disagreements of the different archaeologists. Agnes Geijer bases her theory on Birka grave 1084, where a loop was found connected to the edge of the smokkr. The top of the loop is missing, but the part that remains is roughly 3 cm long. Geijer suggests that the loop was torn near the edge of the brooch and that the preserved part once was shown in its entirety below the brooch. Thus according to her reconstruction the front loop was roughly 6.6 cm long.
|  |
Inga Hägg looks at the same evidence, but interprets it differently. She believes that the remains are the part of the smokkr and loop that were inside the brooch, and points out that the smokkr fragment has a slightly rounded edge, as if it decomposed along the edge of the brooch. She acknowledges that the Birka material has several linen loops that is torn at the edge of the brooch and probably used to continue beyond the brooch (e.g. the loop in grave 465), but Hägg believes that these loops are not part of the smokkr. |
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| Geijer's interpretation Thor Ewing: Viking Clothing p 27 | Hägg's interpretation Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, p 134 |
Her argument is that when one compares the total number of loops found at respectively the top and bottom of the brooches in Birka, there are significantly more loops at the bottom.
There is more metal surrounding the needle in the lower part of the brooch, which increases the chances of conserving nearby fabric, but if this was the sole explanation the top and bottom loops should have the same fabric distribution. This is not the case. Out of 22 graves with one or more silk loop, only one is found at the top of a brooch, indicating that the silk loops had a very specific function to fulfil on the front of the garment. Combined with the fact that remains of silk bands have been found attached to different tools, it seems likely that these silk loops were used to hang tools from the brooches. Hägg believes that some of the long linen loops found at the bottom of the brooches had the same function.
She concludes by saying that whenever the number of loops at the bottom of the brooch exceeds two, there is reason to believe that the remaining bands could have been used to carry tools. Such bands would have continued out from the brooch and down the front of the smokkr, but would not have been part of the smokkr. According to her interpretation of Birka grave 1084 and several others the front loop of the smokkr would have been short enough to be completely covered by the brooch along with 2-3 cm of the top of the smokkr.
| grave- number | decor | smokkr | lining/ inner smokkr | loops | height in brooch (cm) | grave- number | decor | smokkr | lining/ inner smokkr | loops | height in brooch (cm) | |
| 464 | band | W21 | FH | FH | 2 | 847 | - | FH? | - | FH | - | |
| 465 | - | W12 | FH? | FH | 3 | 849 | - | W10? | FH | FH | 2 | |
| 466 | - | W10? | FH | FH | 2-3 | 856 | - | W10? | - | W | 2-3 | |
| 507 | - | W10i? | - | W | ? | 857 | - | W19? | FH? | FH | 1-2 | |
| 511 | string | W10 | - | FH | 2-3 | 860A | - | W10? | - | FH? | - | |
| 521 | - | W14? | - | FH | - | 901 | - | FH? | - | FH | - | |
| 539 | - | FH? | FH | FH | - | 946 | - | W22 | - | W22? | - | |
| 550 | - | W10 | - | FH | 2-3 | 954 | string | W24 | FH? | - | 3-4 | |
| 563 | string | FH | FH | FH | 1-2 | 959 | - | FH? | - | FH | - | |
| 597 | - | W10 | - | FH | 2-3 | 973 | string | W10 | W30 | W25 | 3 | |
| 602 | - | W13? | FH? | FH | 2 | 987 | - | W22? | - | FH | - | |
| 606 | - | W10? | - | FH | 3? | 1062 | - | - | FH? | FH | - | |
| 731B | - | FH? | - | - | - | 1083 | string | W10 | - | FH | - | |
| 834 | band? | FH? | - | FH | 2 | 1084 | string | W | - | W30? | 2-3 | |
| 835 | band? | W22 | - | W22 | 2 | 1087 | - | FH? | - | FH | 2-3 | |
| 838 | string | W10 | FH? | FH | 2 | 1090 | band? | W33? | FH? | W33 | - | |
| 839 | - | W29 | FH | FH | 3 | 1934,1 | - | W10 | FH | FH | 2-3 |
The brooch wear marks on the smokkr fragment from Birka grave 597 and on the lined fragment in Birka grave 464 support her theory that the front edge of the smokkr reached into the brooches. The two fully intact loops, still stitched to smokkr fragments that were found at Sandanger could have given more conclusive evidence, but Holm-Olsen doesn't report their length.
Birka isn't the only place where tool-bands have appeared. At Køstrup the archaeologists found a blue linen band that did not fit in with the four woollen loops they discovered. They identified this as a band for carrying tools. In Adwick-le-Street a plied cord found in the right brooch is also identified as a tool-band.
Having discussed the bottom loops it is time to look at the loops at the top of the brooches. In all the material (Birka, Haithabu, Køstrup and Adwick-le-Street) these seem to have been torn either at the upper edge of the brooch or inside it. This means that we have very little idea as to how long they were. Presumably they passed over the shoulder and were fastened to the smokkr at the back.
According to Hägg remains from the back of the smokkr have never been found directly under the brooches. She therefore believes that the back of the smokkr probably reached no higher than up to the shoulder blades of the person wearing it (Kvinnodräkten i Birka p 50). While her conclusion might hold true, I find the argument a bit puzzling. Wouldn't the body need to decompose first, before the brooch could come in touch with the cloth at the back? And couldn't the explanation of why remains of the back of the smokkr never appear under the brooches be that it decomposed along with the body before the brooch could preserve it? (Not being an archaeologist, my knowledge of decomposing bodies is somewhat limited...)
Shelagh Lewins, a UK reenactor, suggests a different interpretation of the length of the back loops. All we know is that the loops at least reached to the end of the brooch (to my knowledge no fabric has been found attached to the top loops). Her experience with the long loops used in most reconstructions is that they make the brooches pull down and the back of the dress ride up. As an alternative she has made a reconstruction using short loops both for the back and the front of the smokkr, leading to a more peplos-like look. This interpretation probably works better for the less formfitting reconstructions, like Birka and Køstrup, than the more tailored looks of Haithabu (see below for more on the shape of the smokkr).
Finally there might have been cases where the brooch did pierce the fabric of the smokkr. In her report on the Værnes find and various other minor finds, Charlotte Blindheim refers to two finds that are described as having one loop, and one end of the smokkr pinned directly to the brooch. Given the shape of the human body it is likely that the loop would have been running across the shoulders, and that it would be the front of the smokkr that was pinned to the brooch.
Unfortunately Blindheim hasn't had physical access to the finds, and the descriptions are from the 1890s, before Geijer significantly improved the techniques of textile analysis by her work on Birka. Thus there is a definite possibility that the evidence might have been misinterpreted. Blindheim expresses an intention to check these finds later, but I haven't so far been able to find a report of her doing so (which doesn't mean that it doesn't exist).
Although the fragments that survive from the smokkr are larger than what remains of the serk, the archaeological evidence is not sufficient to tell us exactly what the garment looked like. What we know is that it was held up by loops of fabric fastened by "tortoise" brooches, it reached at least to the hip and could be at least partially lined. The larger pieces found at Birka, Haithabu and Køstrup also gives some information about the shape of the smokkr.
It is highly likely that the shape of the smokkr varied according to time and place, so the smokkr worn by a 9th century woman in Birka would have looked different from the smokkr worn by a woman in 10th century Haithabu. Thus we can't just simply glue together the pieces from different finds (unless we want to create a Frankensmokkr :-), but we can with some caution draw on the different finds when chasing the underlying shape of the smokkr.
This is where the archaeologists part ways and end up with very different reconstructions. Partly this is due to some of them not having access to later finds when they made their theories, but it is also due to different interpretations of the same evidence.
The main puzzle that arises from the Birka material is how to explain the multiple loops that is found within the brooches. Although evidence for multiple loops are found elsewhere as well (e.g. Adwick-le-Street, Sandanger and Kaupang), Birka is alone in having such a large variety of loop combinations. The first reconstruction is advanced by Agnes Geijer.
None of the numerous smokkr pieces found at Birka show traces of
having been shaped by cutting. There are large number of fragments of
folded and hemmed edges. The edges have been folded on the grain, that
is, with warp threads running vertically on the piece and the same is
true for the lining whenever it is present. From this evidence Geijer
concludes (and Hägg agrees) that the Birka smokkr wasn't cut and
shaped to fit the body. Instead the fabric was used almost unaltered
after leaving the loom, the only modifications being:
When deciding on the shape of the smokkr Geijer drew on other dresses worn in the Baltic area, especially the hurstut dress. (Inga Hägg: Kvinnodräkten i Birka, illustration p 53)
She believed that the smokkr was constructed as a rectangle of linen
wrapped around one side of the body, held up by short loops at the front
and longer loops running over the shoulders to the back. Geijer
postulated one set of loops per shoulder for each rectangle, unlike the
hurstut dress which has a fastening only on one of the shoulders.
The multiple loops found at the top and bottom of the majority of the brooches could be explained by the smokkrs usually being worn in overlapping pairs, so that instead of showing the serk, the open side of the overdress revealed the inner smokkr. As the inner loops in a brooch often are made from a rougher weave than the outer loops, she assumed that the inner smokkr usually were made from rougher linen than the outer. She believed the remains of the smokkrs in grave 563 to be from such an overlapping pair, with a decorated smokkr made from dark blue linen, outside an inner smokkr of white linen.
Inga Hägg points out that unlike for the hurstut dress, the
loops of the smokkr must have been placed at least some centimetres from
the corners of the rectangle, as no loops at Birka have been found sewn
directly to a corner. At the same time the upper edge of the smokkr
remains horizontal across the width of a brooch, evidence that the sides
of the smokkr were held close to the body instead of being allowed to
hang freely. Hägg suggests that for the overlapping open linen
smokkrs this was probably achieved by wearing a belt made of textile
materials.
While Hägg seems to share Geijer's belief that the pair of linen smokkrs could be reconstructed as overlapping rectangles, she argues that the woollen smokkr had a different shape.
The surviving fragments from the body of the woollen smokkr often come from within only one of the two "tortoise" brooches within a grave. This makes it necessary to examine whether the woollen smokkr was asymmetrical in form, like e.g. the hurstut dress. In order to find out Hägg checked the number of loops in brooch I and II in all the graves where fragments from the body of the smokkr appear in only one brooch. She found variations from grave to grave, but not in a consistent pattern. Also, the graves with the best preserved material show almost total correspondence between the loops in brooch I and II. Thus Hägg concludes that the smokkr was symmetrical.
The upper edge of the woollen smokkr remains horizontal across the width of a brooch (just like the linen smokkr), indicating that the sides of the smokkr were held close to the body. In addition surviving fragments from woollen smokkrs lie in a single layer around the body, instead of the double layer one should expect from a pair of overlapping wraparound woollen smokkrs. Based on this, Inga Hägg proposes that the woollen smokkr consisted of a front piece and a back piece sewn together at the sides. She points out that this closed tube would be a natural continuation of the woollen peplos that seems to have been in use during the Iron Age (as evidenced by the Huldremose find).
Some of the graves with woollen smokkrs also show traces of linen cloth and have a double set of loops inside the brooches, indicating that they may have had a separate linen smokkr of some sort worn inside of the woollen smokkr. Grave 464 on the other hand, is a clear example of a lined smokkr, where both the linen and wool cloth are sewn together and supported by a single loop.
Hägg notes that the decorative braided and tablet woven bands found in some of the Birka graves are sometimes found in the chest area, and that the brooches occasionally has sat upon a woollen garment. She interprets this as evidence for a decorated women's tunic worn beneath the smokkr, of which Birka grave 735 is an example.
In 1981 Flemming Bau reinterprets the Birka material yet again. His starting point is the different figurines and picture stones showing Viking female figures. He states that the serk is usually reconstructed as a long, train-like garment. According to him though, the figures d and e (both from the 8th century) are the only ones that support the theory of a trailing serk, and he interprets the trailing dress or train in the other figures as several different garments.
Interpretation by Bau:
Flemming Bau: Seler og slæb i vikingetid, |
|
In figure d and g unbroken lines run from the front of the woman to the back of the train, except for a small triangle in the front where the undergarment is visible. Figure e has a train and a hanging length of cloth in the front.
The trains in f, h and i appears to have been fastened at the shoulders. Figure f has some kind of undergarment (shown at the sides) and a hanging length of cloth worn at the front. In the case of h and i there is a garment worn beneath the train, and a shorter length of cloth hanging down in front. This short "apron" seems to also be present in c, and a longer version appears on j.
Der er tydeligt slæb på alle figurer, bortset fra f, men det er tilsynelatende forskjellige klædningsstykker, der danner slæbet. d og g viser ubrudte linier fra kvindens front og bagud i et slæb. Kun en lille trekant af den underliggende klædning lades synlig foran. Uden på disse to klædningsstykker bæres en slags trøje eller lignende. Ved figur e afbrydes de bagudrettede linier i slæbet med en hængende bane stof foran.
Ved figurerne f, h og i hænger slæbet ned fra skulderpartiet og ikke fra kvindens forside, som ved de tidligere omtalte figurer. Sølvfiguren f viser tydeligt et skulderslæb, foran hænger en stofbane og en underliggende klædning skimtes. På figur h og i ses et slæb, der spesielt for i's vedkommende tydeligt bliver båret uden på en anden klædning med mønsterborter. På begge, og tilsynelatende også på c, hænger et klædningsstykke ned foran, men ikke så langt ned som slæbet. Endeligt ses foran på guldspillebrikken j et hængende klædningsstykke.
Flemming Bau: Seler og slæb i vikingetid, Birka's kvindedragt i nyt lys, p 14-15
Bau takes f, h and i as evidence that there could be a separable train fastened at the shoulders, since the back in at least one of these figures (f) extends higher than what would be the case for the traditional interpretation of a smokkr with long back loops.
He argues that the trains in these figures are longer than the front cloths, and so they should not be interpreted as parts of the same garment. Instead the front cloth is a separable apron which is fastened on the woman's chest (d, g). While no fragments have been identified as part of a train in the Birka material, the figurines show lines running down the back that may indicate that the train was pleated.
Having introduced these two new garments in addition to the smokkr, Bau sets out to reinterpret the meaning of the number of loops found in the Birka graves (after the tool bands have been excluded).
Inga Hägg introduced two combinations of smokkr loops:
Most graves haven't got a full (and identical) set of loops in both brooches because of the deterioration of the fabric after the burial. Hägg thus attributes graves with asymmetrical loop numbers (e.g. a brooch with 2 loops at the bottom and 1 at the top) to poor preservation conditions.
Bau introduces two additional combinations of loops:
The introduction of these combinations means that the total number of missing loops that have to be explained by poor preservation conditions decreases significantly, because an asymmetrical number doesn't necessarily mean that loops are missing.
A smokkr has the same number of loops independent of whether it is closed or it has an opening somewhere. Thus the combination of the closed smokkr reconstructed by Inga Hägg and a separable apron or train could explain the various number of loops found at Birka. Bau rejects the closed smokkr though. He argues that while the figurines show no evidence of a smokkr with a side opening, as envisioned by Agnes Geijer, it is entirely possible that it was open in the front. He also refers to the work of several etnographic researchers that has illustrated some folk costumes from the 1700s that seems to have an opening in the front.
According to Bau, some of the tools hanging from the brooches must
have been touching the serk directly since they show traces of linen
from the serk, without an intervening layer of cloth from the smokkr. An
open-fronted smokkr, with or without an apron that could slide aside in
the grave, would explain how these knives and scissors came in contact
with the serk.
In addition, there are the decorated garments like the one found in grave 735, which Hägg interprets as a tunic that had been worn underneath the smokkr (she probably arrives at this conclusion because one of the "tortoise" brooches lay on top of one of the decorated fragments). Bau argues that if the smokkr was closed it would almost completely cover the highly decorated front of this tunic. An open-fronted smokkr on the other hand, worn without an apron, would show off the tunic underneath.
The open-fronted smokkr would also separate from the serk and apron when the woman was walking, creating a triangle as seen in some of the figurines (d, g).
Illustration from Flemming Bau: Seler og slæb i vikingetid, Birka's kvindedragt i nyt lys, p 25
One of Hägg's arguments for a closed smokkr is that the uppermost edge on all the smokkr fragments lies in a straight line along the width of the "tortoise" brooches. According to Bau only 10 graves have fragments with the edge running horizontally across the width of the brooch (and several of these are somewhat ambiguous) so Hägg's conclusion is built on very limited evidence. If the loop is fastened fairly close to the corner (as may be the case in grave 464), the smokkr isn't required to be closed in order to avoid a large "flapping" piece of fabric, and the cloth would still run straight across the brooches.
With this in mind he concludes that the large fragment running from brooch to brooch (Birka grave 597) was part of a separable apron. The fragment was found folded on top of one brooch, something which would happen more easily with a separable apron than the front of a closed smokkr.
Lastly, he argues that if a closed smokkr existed, it would fix the brooches and loops in place more firmly than the open-fronted smokkr. Thus the findings of brooches that have been turned upside down in the grave during deterioration and the loops that have been pulled out of position support his theory of an open-fronted smokkr.
He concludes that the smokkr was open in the front, and with this in
mind he reinterprets the two loop combinations introduced by Inga
Hägg. He believes that one loop above and below should be
interpreted as an open smokkr (without an apron), and that two loops
above and below would be an open smokkr plus a separable apron and
train.
Illustration from Flemming Bau: Seler og slæb i vikingetid, Birka's kvindedragt i nyt lys, p 25
He argues that the back loops of the smokkr probably ran slantwise over the shoulders, like in modern dungarees, something at least one other researcher (Thor Ewing) agrees with.
Inga Hägg comments on Bau's interpretation on her website. She points out that Bau's interpretation is strongly influenced by the figurines of valkyries and other female entities in Viking art. The problem with this is that none of these figurines are clearly shown wearing a smokkr with "tortoise" brooches, and their clothing may be interpreted in several different ways.
While Bau's work as an illustrator has resulted in his interpretation being spread widely through his clear and colourful pictures, Hägg is unequivocal in her rejection of the proposal of an open fronted smokkr.
She states that roughly 25 graves in Birka contain significant fragments from the front of the woollen smokkr, including the fragment that runs from one brooch to another (Birka grave 597) - which she obviously does not believe is a part of a separable apron.
She also refers to the Haithabu fragment (a find that was reported on after Bau's analysis) and "a host of other Scandinavian finds" that reaffirms that the smokkr did cover the front, and was closed around the body.
En omfattande spridning i handböcker och populärlitteratur fick den danske grafikern Flemming Baus färgstarka bilder av kjolen under 1980-talet och framöver (t.ex. Hvass, Jernalderen 1980 och Burenhult, Arkeologi i Norden 1999). Hans rekonstruktion var starkt påverkad av ett antal vikingatida framställningar av valkyrior och andra kvinnliga väsen i dräkter som kan tolkas på olika sätt, dock i inget fall visar de en hängselkjol med spännbucklor.
<...>Förslaget om en öppning framtill kan avskrivas direkt. I Birka har ansenliga fragment från yllekjolens framsida bevarats i bortåt 25 av gravarna, ofta fixerade i ärg och rost under de ovala spännbucklorna. I ett fall har ett sammanlagt 22 cm brett stycke bevarats, därav 12-13 cm från partiet upptill på bröstet mellan de båda ovalspännena.
I Hedeby, Birkas handelspartner i det dåtida Danmark, har man funnit ett 30 x 23 cm stort stycke från sidan och ryggen till en yllekjol med vertikala fogsömmar och intagningar. Detta och en rad andra skandinaviska fynd stämmer med den tidigare för Birka vunna bilden, nämligen att yllekjolen täckt bröstet framtill och att det var slutet runtom i kroppens längdriktning.
Inga Hägg's website: http://ingahagg.cybersite.se/text_108109.html (visited 5th July 2010)
In his book Viking clothing (p 31), Thor Ewing also expresses his disagreement with Bau's interpretation.
He accepts that an open smokkr could show off the tunic underneath, but since the decorated tunics seem to be fairly rare, the majority of open fronted smokkrs would just expose the woman's underwear at precisely the areas one should expect to find covered. It would also be hopelessly impractical to wear without an apron, because the dress would tend to swing to the sides.
In addition Ewing argues that there is no evidence for an open-fronted garment worn without an apron in the ethnographical comparative material Bau presents (and if the apron was always present, it removes the whole point of the open smokkr because the apron covers the tunic underneath). Instead he cites Birka grave 597 and the Køstrup and Haithabu finds as evidence that the smokkr was closed.
He further argues that there is no need for Bau's open smokkr to explain the linen left on the metal implements hanging from the brooches. If a linen smokkr or a linen apron/forecloth was present, or the implement simply hung inside the smokkr, it would easily have come in contact with linen. (Also, looking at Bau's drawing of the placement of the scissors/knives it seems to me that in several of the graves, the implements may easily have come in contact with linen from the sleeves.)
| Grave | 464 | 465 | 515 | 550 | 637 | 1888 N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tool | scissors chain | scissors knife | scissors | scissors | scissors | scissors |
| Placement |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 517 | 597 | 703 B | 791 | 834 B | 838 | 943 | 978 | 980 | 1062 | 1084 | 1159 |
| scissors | scissors | scissors or knife | scissors | chainlinks | scissors | scissors | scissors? | keys | scissors | scissors? | scissors |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Flemming Bau: Seler og slæb i vikingetid, Birka's kvindedragt i nyt lys, illustrations p 26, 27. Text translated and red colour added for emphasis.
Finally Ewing refers to the description of the farmer wife in the poem Rígsþula:
Sat þar kona... sveigr var á höfði, smokkr var á bringu, dúkr var á halsi, dvergar á öxlum.
- RígsþulaThere sat a woman... a sveigr was on her head, a 'smock' on her chest, a cloth was at her neck, 'dwarf' brooches at her shoulders.
- Translation by Thor Ewing: Viking Clothing p.37
In the poem the dress that is held up by the brooches appears to be referred to as smokkr. The word is related to the verb smjùga (to creep through) and seems to reference the way the garment is put on, where the wearer creeps through the dress until arms and head emerges on the other side, another indication that the smokkr was a closed garment.
Ewing concludes that there were clearly possible variations in the style of the smokkr, just as there were in the style of the brooches; the Birka smokkr front seems to be unpleated (unlike the Køstrup find), and the various number of straps attached to the brooches suggest various combinations of garments. However, the assumption should be that the basic garment worn with the "tortoise" brooches was a closed dress of one form or another, and that these brooches would not have been worn without such a dress.
He shares Bau's scepticism towards Hägg's proposal of a highly decorated tunic worn underneath the smokkr, but introduces another explanation for this evidence. One of the arguments Hägg raises against Geijer's suggestion that the silver tablet woven bands and silk bands were smokkr decoration, is that the silver bands are also found in positions that would not have been covered by the smokkr. Ewing points out that this is true, but the bands seem to be found in two distinct areas, either near the shoulders or below the arms. When they are found in both positions (Birka graves 965 and 950) they differ in type from one area to another. Ewing takes this as evidence that the bands probably decorate two separate garments.
He proposes that the bands from the lower area could be decorating the smokkr, or a similar garment (i.e. another smokkr) suspended on top of it. If the closed smokkrs could be worn in pairs, one on top of the other, it would explain the presence of two loops at the top and bottom of the brooches in many of the Birka graves. In the case of some of these graves Inga Hägg has already raised the possibility that the traces of linen inside the woollen smokkr might derive from an inner linen smokkr instead of simply a lining. A short outer smokkr would give an opportunity for showing off fine fabric and decorative braiding at less expense than the longer main smokkr.
Based on his arguments above, Ewing interprets the decorations from
Birka grave 735 to from a short smokkr instead of a
tunic. He states that the bands appear to mirror the line of the
Køstrup smokkr, down to having a gap in the middle between the
decorations that could conceivably have been pleated.
Looking at the evidence from grave 735 I can see Ewing's point. If the decorated silk twill fragments belong to a short smokkr, it would explain why one of the fragments lay beneath one of the "tortoise" brooches in the grave. The silk twill may have been mounted on a woollen smokkr as decoration. Alternatively, the top of the smokkr was made of silk twill which had been lengthened from the waist and down with woollen fabric. I find it unlikely that the gap in the middle between the decorative bands was pleated though, as the rest of the garment seems to have been painstakingly shaped to follow the body.
The interpretation of the decorated garment as a smokkr raises some questions however. Independent of whether it is a tunic or a smokkr, I find it challenging to reconcile the shaped tailoring of the pieces in grave 735, including gores and use of tablet woven bands as a structural part of the garment, with Hägg's and Geijer's belief in an unshaped smokkr. If these tailoring techniques were in use by the Vikings of Birka, why would the smokkr be an exception? Could it be that the Birka smokkrs were shaped somewhat as well, and that the lack of evidence for this is merely because so few and small fragments have been found?
Of course, if the garments in 735 were imported as Hägg believe, they may not reflect the domestic tailoring tradition in Birka. The smokkr seem to be unique for the Vikings, and so an imported garment is more likely to have been a tunic than a smokkr. Imported garments would not have been designed with the smokkr in mind (or vice versa), so it wouldn't be that strange if the decoration on an imported tunic ended up being partly covered beneath a domestic smokkr. The tunics could conceivably be worn on top of a underdress in wool or linen in normal occasions, and only end up under the smokkr at burials or other occasions where a Viking woman wanted to wear every costly garment in her possession at the same time.
Also, while the garment might have been imported as a tunic, it might
not have remained one. Ewing's theory regarding a decorated smokkr in
grave 735 could still fit the evidence if the man is wearing a tunic
and the woman is wearing a smokkr onto which the decorated front of a
similar tunic has been appliquéd. After all, the piecing of silk
and tablet woven bands create a shaped piece of cloth that could fit
into the chest area of several garments.
Even if we disregard grave 735 altogether, there is still evidence that suggests the existence of double smokkrs, both at Birka and other places. In addition to Hägg raising the possibility of inner smokkrs at Birka, Anne Stine Ingstad interprets the evidence from Kaupang (grave C) to indicate that a short smokkr was worn outside of a long pleated smokkr. Charlotte Blindheim also believes that the woman found in one of the graves at Værnes wore a double smokkr and so does Inger Marie Holm-Olsen in relation to grave B 10720 at Sandanger.
Although Ewing has concluded that the smokkr was closed, he agrees with Bau that an separable apron or train probably was worn occasionally (see figure).
The possible combinations of smokkr, apron and train could
conceivably explain all the variations in number of loops inside the
brooches. Still, Ewing maintains that the inclusion of a double set of
smokkrs as discussed above presents an additional possibility,
especially in the cases where there are two loops at both the top and
bottom of the brooches.
Unlike the material from Birka, there is clear evidence that the
Haithabu smokkr was tailored to fit the body, and thus would have been a
closed garment.
The smokkr was made from several pieces of cloth sewn together, as
shown by the traces of seams running along the sides of the two existing
fragments. Although we cannot construct the entire pattern from the
surviving fragments, Hägg observes that the narrow cut and the dart
indicate that the garment fit closely to the upper part of the body, and
then flared out over the hips.
She theorizes that the smokkr may have been made from four parts, although this is necessarily guesswork as there is no evidence. Because of the narrow cut she believes there might have been an opening or slit, possibly closed by lacing, to allow the wearer to put the smokkr on. (My own experience is that it isn't necessary with an opening unless you want to make the smokkr skin-tight, but this might be different for people with another body shape than mine.)
She thinks that the widest point of the dart was placed at the waist, and that the worn hole and the felted area indicate that a belt had been worn with the smokkr. As far as I know, this is the only clear evidence that Viking women were wearing belts. Belt straps of metal is almost unheard of in connection with female Viking graves, so it is likely that whatever belt was worn was made of textile material.
The hole at the top, probably caused by wear, may have been used as a temporary mechanism to attach a strap, e.g. by passing it through the hole and tying it. In "Livet i Birka" she theorizes that the Haithabu fragment, while originally part of an upper class smokkr, would have been passed on to a servant or slave when it showed traces of wear. This second wearer of the garment would not have owned brooches, but would simply have tied strap to the front of the smokkr (Livet i Birka p 14).
| 
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| Reconstruction at the Historical museum in Oslo | ||
Only one fragment of the Køstrup smokkr survives. Thus we
can't tell whether this smokkr originally was a simple tube, sewn
together and then pleated at the front in order to give some shape to
the garment, or whether it consisted of several pieces, possibly cut to
fit the body as in Haithabu.
What we can tell is that this in all likelihood was a closed smokkr. There are traces of a vertical seam between the brooch and the left armpit, stitching two cloth edges together. This could be a seam that stitches the cloth into a tube, or it could be one of several seams if the garment was pieced together. (Either way, I find it unlikely that there was an opening right beside a seam.)
In addition, the fragment runs from the middle of the front of the smokkr and continues along the side of the body far beyond what a separable apron would, which excludes Bau's open-fronted smokkr. Ewing notes that a side opening would probably not have been combined with a pleated front as it would make the garment hang unevenly. Looking at the fragment it also seems to cover enough of the side to exclude a side opening.
The smokkr had a single loop at the top and bottom of each brooch, so additional garments like a separable apron or a train was probably not worn in combination with it.
The Køstrup find has the largest fragment of a pleated smokkr that has been found so far, but it is not the only one. Pleating is also known from the smokkr fragments in grave C at Kaupang, and there is pleated woollen fragments in grave B 5625 at Vangsnes that may belong to a smokkr. Unfortunately, these fragments are too small to tell us anything about the shape of the smokkr.
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| Reconstruction at Køge museum | Reconstruction at Ladbyskipet museum | Reconstruction at Trelleborg museum |
While Vikings did travel to Russia, it isn't a given that the remains in the Pskov grave are from a Viking smokkr. It was found together with "tortoise" brooches though, and the preserved linen loop also seems to indicate a smokkr, or something very similar. The archaeologists interpret it as a sarafan, a Slavic garment that may be akin to the smokkr.
According to their interpretation the large silk fragment served as the trim of the top edge of the sarafan/smokkr, which was made from fine blue linen cloth. The "side bands" of the fragment served as the trim for the side and back of the garment, and had long linen loops going over each shoulder.
It is unclear from their report whether there was evidence of more than one loop at the top and bottom of each brooch, and if so how many, but although they "question the presence" of an extra apron or train, they have not included either in the illustration of their reconstruction.
Moreover, detailed examination of the inner parts of the brooches with the traces of a pair of straps on the pins have led us to question the presence of either a pinafore or a train as proposed in F. Bau's reconstructions.
Elena S. Zubkova, Olga V. Orfinskaya and Kirill A. Mikhailov: Studies of the Textiles from the 2006 Excavation in Pskov, p 298
They propose that the unattached strips of reddish-violet silk that was found may have served as trim at either the bottom edge of the sarafan or at the bottom edge of the serk beneath it. The silk strips have traces of degraded linen at the back, evidence that they had been sewn on to a linen garment. Frustratingly, both the sarafan/smokkr and the serk were made from the same blue linen cloth, so this doesn't really help in concluding which of the garments the strips were attached to.
What strikes me as peculiar when reading about the Pskov find are the
dimensions. If the scale in the photograph is correct, the part of the
fragment that covers the front of the sarafan is about 1 m long. There
are two loops fastened at what looks to be about 10 cm in on each side,
which means roughly 80 cm between the front loops!
If we take into account that the distance from the edge of the central piece to the back loop is 20-25 cm, and assume that there was roughly 80 cm between the back loops as well, the resulting sarafan would have a circumference of 220 cm. Even if the back loops were placed at a shorter distance from each other than the front loops (like on a dungaree skirt) the dress would have been very wide in front.
So was it worn by a Viking lady of truly heroic proportions? Or did the wearer make a kind of "attached apron" by folding the front in an accordion fold with extra loops to keep it in place? Such a construction (right figure) would have left extra loops in the brooches, but should also have left traces of extra loops on the large fragment.
Did she just let the front fall in a large fold on her chest
(left figure), and if so, how did she keep the brooches and loops
from simply slipping of the shoulders like the straps on a too
wide dress? We will probably never know...
In 2008 Annika Larsson launched a new interpretation of the smokkr.
While she states that her interpretation is based on the Pskov
find, she also refers to the Birka material in some of her
conclusions, and appears to assume that the smokkr she
reconstructs is equally applicable as a Birka smokkr.
Unfortunately I have not been able to get hold of her
dissertation in order to read the details of what she bases her theories
on. The information I have is from a couple of newspaper articles, and
they tend to aim for shock value instead of scientific fact.
Larsson proposes that the smokkr consisted of a single piece of fabric that was open in front (a return to Bau's theories in other words, but without an apron). She seems to interpret the Pskov fragment as a train, with the central piece with three strips of silk decorating the back of the smokkr instead of the front (or at least I assume so, it is not visible in the photographs of her reconstruction).
She has also decided to move the brooches to the middle of the breasts, instead of the usual position high on the chest.
"The grave plans from excavations at Birka outside Stockholm in the 19th century show that this is incorrect. The clasps were probably worn in the middle of each breast. Traditionally this has been explained by the clasps having fallen down as the corpse rotted. That sounds like a prudish interpretation," says Annika Larsson.
Annika Larsson: Press release from Uppsala University
Inga Hägg is to put it mildly, somewhat critical towards this interpretation on her website. Her arguments against Bau's open fronted smokkr are equally applied to Larsson's interpretation. And while Bau interprets the smokkr front from grave 597 to be a separable apron, Larsson's reconstruction has no front at all, and so is in direct oposition to the finds from 597. Hägg also notes other discrepancies between the Birka evidence and Larsson's reconstruction.
| Hägg's comments regarding the Birka evidence | My comments regarding the Pskov evidence |
|---|---|
| Brooches: The majority of graves in Birka and the rest of Scandinavia have brooches placed near the clavicles or high upon the chest. The grave finds Larsson refers to are a strict minority, and the position of the brooches near the breasts in these graves has been explained earlier. The decomposition of the body will have caused some of the brooches to move lower, helped by the fact that several of the bodies were buried in a sitting or crouching position. | Brooches: The brooches at Pskov were found inside a box inside the grave and thus give no information on which position they were worn in. |
| Smokkr loops: There is no evidence for the use of tablet woven bands as straps in the entire Scandinavian archaeological material. Larsson refers to Agnes Geijer's description of the Birka finds, but what Geijer actually reports is that the tablet woven bands ran horizontally under the brooches, not vertically over the shoulders as straps. | Smokkr loops: There is no evidence for tablet woven bands in the Pskov find. |
| Decoration: Although the metallic tablet woven bands decorating the clothing of the women at Birka almost always were made from silver thread, the reconstruction uses golden bands. No bands have been found in a position lower than the hip at Birka, but the reconstruction still positions bands at the lower edges of the garments. | Decoration: There is no evidence for tablet woven bands in the Pskov find. The distinctive pattern of three bands of silk used at the top of the smokkr isn't visible in the photographs (but the part of the smokkr with these bands may have been placed at the back of the woman in the reconstruction). |
| Tunic and serk: The decorated tunic has been placed inside the linen serk in direct opposition to the layering of the Birka graves. | Tunic and serk: The Pskov find shows evidence for a blue linen serk with purple silk cuffs and possibly purple silk bands fastened to the lower edge of the dress. This appears to have little in common with the two garments shown in the reconstruction, so I assume that the layers beneath the smokkr were not based on the Pskov evidence. |
| Headdress: Although he skull fragments from Birka show traces of some kind of headdress that the bands had been sewn onto, the reconstruction has a single band wrapped around the head. | Headdress: No evidence in the Pskov find |
To summarize, Inga Hägg is not terribly impressed with the quality of the research underlying Annika Larsson's work. She argues that Larsson has ignored significant parts of the existing research when making her reconstruction of the smokkr. In conclusion Hägg maintains that the smokkr was a closed garment, referring to the traces of smokkr fronts from the Birka material and to the clear evidence from Haithabu and other Scandinavian finds.
Lastly, there exists a suggested reconstruction where the smokkr consists of two separate hanging panels, worn over an underdress.
The origin of this particular reconstruction is a bit unclear. I
can't find any traces of it in the archaeological reports, instead it
seems to originate with the illustrations by David Mallot in "Vikings in
England" (1981). Since none of the archaeologists mentions it, I suspect
that it could be the result of Mallot misinterpreting the evidence (the
original archaeological reports in German and Scandinavian aren't all
that accessible).
Despite its unclear origin, this reconstruction is the one that tends to appear in many of the coffee-table Viking books. Because it is so widespread, I decided to include it here along with my thoughts regarding to which degree it fits the existing evidence. You will have to make your own judgement of course.
Caution is required whenever we try to judge what the Vikings found practical, but to the modern mind this reconstruction is a fairly impractical garment. The back panel has a tendency to bunch up around the neck because of the pull of the brooches in front. The panels also give little protection against wind and cold, which for me personally is a significant drawback as I live in Norway.
When examining the archaeological facts it could be argued that the two panels might possibly fit the Birka evidence in the instances with a single loop above and below in each brooch. The numerous instances with multiple loops above or below in the brooches are harder to explain though, without resorting to some kind of additional garment worn with the panels. To my knowledge there are no contemporary clothing traditions (like e.g. the hurstut dress or the peplos from Huldremose) that supports this reconstruction. The two-panel interpretation is also in direct opposition to the evidence uncovered in Køstrup and Haithabu.
The top of the smokkr was finished by folding 4-5 mm of its edge towards the inside and stitching it in place, or by folding it twice as evidenced by the finds from e.g Vangsnes and Sandanger. It could be decorated in various ways; folding a silk band over the top like a bias tape (e.g Birka 464), laying a string on top of the edge (e.g Birka 973) or along it, sewing a decorative woven band along the top of the smokkr (e.g. Køstrup) or fastening it with blanket stitch to the edge of the smokkr (e.g Værnes). It is possible that linen smokkrs had their decoration placed roughly half a centimetre down from the edge in order to cover the stitches that kept the hemming in place (e.g Birka 563).
So did the decoration run along the entire length of the top of the smokkr? The tablet woven band at Køstrup is just long enough to cover the space between the two brooches, while the silk decorating the Psokv smokkr seems to have run along the top of the dress. With only two samples it is impossible to know what (if any) common practice might have existed; on one hand decoration might have been expensive and used sparingly, on the other hand tablet woven bands or other decoration might be used to protect the edge of the garment against wear (a theory advanced by Anne Stine Ingstad when interpreting the Kaupang finds). It might even be something as simple as a matter of taste. Unless we find significantly more samples we will never know.
Silk strips could be appliquéd on the smokkr as decoration as demonstrated by the Pskov find. The Pskov smokkr with its entire front flap covered by silk strips also shows that there could be a significant amount of decoration at the top of the smokkr. And although the question remains of whether the garment in Birka grave 735 is a tunic or a smokkr, the heavily decorated front shows that several tablet woven bands were occasionally combined on a single garment.
The find at Haithabu demonstrates another decoration technique. Long vertical darts run along the back (and possibly the front) of the smokkr. Unlike modern clothes where the ridges of darts would be hidden inside the garment, the Haithabu fragments not only have them on the outside, but actively draw attention to them by the addition of a thin decorative braid on top of the ridge. The evidence also shows that the Vikings did not solely decorate the front of the smokkr.
It is also possible that the smokkr was decorated along the bottom edge.
A fragment of a tablet woven band and woollen string from Kaupang may
have been stitched to the bottom of the smokkr in order to protect
against wear. As Hägg states, the female figures on the figurines
and picture stones aren't usually shown clearly wearing "tortoise"
brooches. Thus we can't be certain that they are wearing smokkrs.
Nevertheless, the silver figurine from Tuna (see photograph) has
decorative bands running along the lower part of her apron/dress/tunic,
supporting the theory that the bottom edge of female attire could be
decorated.
Stitching could be used as decoration in and of itself like in grave 735 where half of the decorative bands are stitched in place using blanket stitch. To my knowledge no evidence of actual embroidering on the smokkr has been found so far, but the archaeological evidence is as stated earlier very limited.
According to Ewing, the smokkr could also be decorated by beads.
Some graves from Birka (632, 843A, 791 and 825) had a perfect circle of beads on the woman's breast, which must have been stitched in place on one of her garments. These bead circlets occur in graves with oval brooches as well as those without, so they were probably simply sewn onto whatever garment was most convenient. As well as bead circles, there are also bead squares and bead ovals. Sometimes, a group of beads have been sewn in a tight group around a central brooch.
Thor Ewing: Viking Clothing, p. 65, illustration p. 66
Linen is very difficult to dye when you don't have access to modern chemical dyes, so it is not surprising that most of the linen loops and linen smokkrs fragments appear to be undyed. The exceptions are Birka grave 563 and Pskov where there is evidence of blue linen smokkrs. In addition, there are fragments of linen that may have once been dyed red in grave 762 in Birka. They stem from a linen underdress, but they demonstrate the possible existence of red linen fabric.
Wool is fairly easy to dye using natural substances and many of the fragments of woollen cloth that has been excavated show traces of colour. Both the Køstrup smokkr and some of the Birka fragments were made of blue (or dark blue) wool. There is also evidence of brown smokkrs. Inga Hägg reports that some of the smokkr fragments from Birka were dark brown, and the two fragments from Haithabu were dyed brown.
Not all smokkrs was made of fabric in a single colour, as shown by the smokkr fragments with blue and reddish brown stripes found in grave 1090 in Birka. The question is could other patterned fabric also have been used in the smokkr? The main grave in Værnes contained a tiny woollen fragment woven in a two colour plaid pattern, and the graves 27/1963 and 159/1960 in Haithabu contain fragments of linen plaid in blue and white, and blue and red, respectively. None of these fragments belonged to a smokkr, but they do demonstrate that plaid were known and used among the Vikings.
The problems when trying to identify what kind of colours the smokkr may have had are manifold. First of all, identifying the colour of the archaeological evidence is challenging, partly because it is difficult to separate colour originating from dye from rust or other discolouration, and partly because plant dyes decays in the ground. Secondly the archaeological evidence can only take us so far. The fragments are just too few to give a correct picture. Although the existing smokkr fragments are either blue or brown, I find it unlikely that every Viking woman through the ages wore variations of just those two colours in her smokkr.
Collecting and summarizing the different studies by textile archaeologists in regards to which dyes were likely to be known and used by the Vikings is a separate research project though, and not one I have had time to do (yet). On the other hand, Carolyn Priest-Dorman have done a thorough work on this in her article on colours in the Viking Age.
This is almost impossible to discover purely by archaeology, because the metal artefacts that preserves fragments of clothing seldom are placed at the lower edges of the dress. We know that the smokkr was at least hip-length, since there is at least one grave in Birka with fragments from the smokkr attached to a chain and knife hanging down to the hip of the body, and the Haithabu fragments would also have reached that far.
Turning to the pictorial evidence, most of the figurines and picture stones are hard to interpret in regards to a) if they are wearing a smokkr and b) if so, what exactly on the figures represents it.
| 
| 
|
| Female figure from Oseberg tapestry. Thor Ewing: Viking Clothing, p. 38 | Picture stone from Läbro, Sweden. Thor Ewing: Viking Clothing, p. 37. | Anglo Scandinavian carving from Pickhill in England, Thor Ewing: Viking Clothing, p. 45. |
Unlike many of the figurines and picture stones, the Oseberg tapestries show women wearing something that might be a "tortoise" brooch. They wear floor length garments, but their sleeves have the same colour and pattern as the trailing trains, indicating that this is a dress or underdress, not a smokkr. The smokkr could be hidden under the "cloak" that runs from their shoulders, but if so, it is short enough to leave the underdress visible beneath.
The Läbro stone shows a woman wearing some kind of an overdress on top of a long underdress. If the overdress is a smokkr, the carving indicates that the smokkr would have been short enough to show the underdress beneath it. Another possible interpretation could be that this is two smokkrs worn on top of each other (e.g. like Kaupang grave C) with a pleated inner smokkr worn under a shorter outer smokkr.
Due to her shawl, it is not possible to tell if the silver figurine from Tuna (above) is supposed to be wearing "tortoise" brooches. As Hägg already has pointed out, this means that we can't know for certain wether she is wearing a smokkr or some kind of other garments. If she is wearing a smokkr, however, it appears to be floor length, combined with a short apron in front and a long, pleated train in the back. On the oposite end of the scale, Ewing refers to an Anglo Scandinavian carving from Pickhill in England that seems to show a woman wearing a very short suspended dress with a pair of brooches.
In summary, the pictorial evidence doesn't give any clear conclusion as to the length of the smokkr. Due to the lack of a Viking Age "smokkr control committee" traveling around and ensuring that everybody's smokkrs were exactly the same length, we can safely say that some variation existed. We just don't know how much.
If smokkrs occasionally were worn in pairs, the length might have varied depending on whether the smokkr in question was meant to be worn alone (or with a separable apron or train), or if it was designed to be worn on top of another. It might also have been a matter of local custom, taste or temperature. Unless more evidence surfaces from the lower parts of the smokkr, which is highly unlikely, we will never know.
This is the smokkr pattern suggested by Agnes Geijer. The long
loops run from the back, over the shoulders and are fastened by
the brooches. This smokkr is open at one side, and two such
dresses could be worn together, one around either side of the
body.
We only know how one piece of the Haithabu smokkr looked. Thus there are several possible ways to interpret this smokkr, among them Hägg's speculation that it might have been made from four pieces.
Monica Cellio suggests an interpretation
where the haithabu piece would have covered only one sixth of the
circumference of the top of the smokkr. By adding gores to the
smokkr she increases the flare further.
She doesn't mention which pieces should be placed on the front, back and sides of the smokkr, but if Hägg's interpretation should be believed, the original fragment (lower row of Cellio's pattern overview) was at the back of the smokkr. The geometrical shapes in the pattern allows for efficient use of fabric and little waste.
Vigdis Vestfirzka (SCA) has published a slight variation of Cellio's pattern that allows for easier layout if your fabric isn't the same on both sides. The pattern requires the "Haithabu pieces" to each cover 1/3 of the circumference of the body, while the original fragment was fairly narrow (16 cm). The detailed measuring instructions may still make this a good pattern for beginners.
Another variation of Cellio's pattern, by Natassiia Ivanova Medvedeva (SCA), uses one
additional body piece, and one gore.
The reconstruction by Peter Beatson and Christobel Ferguson suggests significantly fewer pieces when reconstructing the Haithabu smokkr.
Unlike Hägg, who places the Haithabu fragment at the back
of the smokkr, Beatson and Ferguson puts it on the right and left
sides. This changes the interpretation of the worn out spot near
the top of the original fragment. Hägg believed that the
spot was where a loop was attached, but in the Beatson and
Ferguson reconstruction it seems more likely to be where the arm
and body rubbed together.
The next reconstruction is presented by Historiska världar, a project run by the Museum of National Antiquities.
They say their reconstruction is of a 10th century smokkr, but
doesn't set a specific geographic place. I have sorted them under
the Haithabu reconstructions, since the smokkr they are
presenting is tailored. While the pattern they suggest doesn't
contain a piece shaped exactly like the Haithabu fragment, they
do refer to the Haithabu find as evidence that the smokkr could
be shaped.
Comment by Carolyn Priest Dorman in Norsefolk Yahoo group: "They've done the full-length side gores (which lead to the fitted look). I cannot tell you how gratifying it is to finally see a museum using this interpretation, although it's still a modification of the original which has one straight-grain edge on the side gores. It's based on the 10th century Hedeby stuff, though, not on anything from Birka."
Lastly, the pattern presented by Nille
Glæsel as part of her report on Viking Clothing to the
Viking museum in
Lofoten, Norway provides yet another interpretation of the Haithabu
smokkr.
She suggests a simple three-piece smokkr with no gores. Two of the pieces follow the same shape as the original Haithabu fragment. In addition, Glæsel suggests that the smokkr could have been shorter in front than in the back, just like the trailing dresses on the Oseberg tapestry.
The three-piece smokkr without gores is also used in the reconstruction at the Historical museum in Olso,
although their smokkr seems to have an even length in front and back.
There seems to be fewer reconstruction patterns of the Køstrup smokkr than the Haithabu smokkr.
This reconstruction of the Køstrup smokkr uses short loops
for both the front and the back of the smokkr. Shelagh Lewins argues that the loops in the
graves are always short - only the area near the metal has been
preserved - so making the upper loops long is a pure guess.
The reconstruction she suggests is building directly on the
Huldremose dress and other peplos dresses, but adds the loops as
suggested by Geijer and Hägg in order to avoid piecing the
fabric.
Bau, Flemming: Seler og slæb i vikingetid, Birka's kvindedragt i nyt lys, KUML 1981, Årbok for Jysk arkæologisk selskap, ISSN 0454-6245
Blindheim, Charlotte: Vernesfunnene og kvinnedrakten i Norden i Vikingtiden, Viking IX, Tidsskrift for norrøn arkeologi, Norsk arkeologisk selskap, Oslo 1945
Ewing, Thor: Viking Clothing 2006, ISBN 978-0752435879. Buy from Amazon
Hägg, Inga: Kvinnodräkten i Birka: Livplaggens rekonstruktion på grundval av det arkeologiska materialet, Uppsala: Archaeological Institute, 1974, ISBN 9150600028.
Hägg, Inga: Birkas orientaliska praktplagg, Fornvännen 78, Stockholm, 1983. (PDF)
Hägg, Inga: Die Textilfunde aus dem Hafen von Haithabu. Berichte über die ausgrabungen in Haithabu, Bericht 20. Neumünster: Karl Wachholz Verlag, 1984, ISBN 3 529 1920 8. Shelagh Lewins has made available an English summary of pages 38-42 and 168-170 at http://www.shelaghlewins.com/reenactment/hedeby_apron/hedeby_apron.htm.
Hägg, Inga: Textilfunde aus der Siedlung und aus den Gräbern von Haithabu. Berichte über die ausgrabungen in Haithabu, Bericht 29. Neumünster: Karl Wachholz Verlag, 1991. ISSN 0525-5791/ISSN 3 529-01929 1. Buy from Wachholtz Verlag
Hägg, Inga: Vikingatidens kvinnodrakt: Livet i Birka, Historiska Nyheter Nr 61, Statens historiska museum och Riksantikvarieämbetet, 1996 ISSN 0280-4115. (PDF 1,3 MB)
Hägg, Inga: Populärvetenskap - en
samvetsfråga?
http://ingahagg.cybersite.se/text_108109.html
Inger Marie Holm-Olsen: Noen gravfunn fra vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt, Viking XXXIX, Tidsskrift for norrøn arkeologi, Norsk arkeologisk selskap, Oslo 1976
Ingstad, Anne Stine: To kvinnegraver med tekstiler fra Kaupang, Universitetets Oldsaksamling 150 år, Jubileumsårbok 1979, Særtrykk, Oslo 1979
Priest-Dorman, Carolyn: Colors,
Dyestuffs, and Mordants of the Viking Age: An Introduction
http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikdyes.html
Rasmussen, Liisa and Lønborg, Bjarne: Dragtrester i grav ACQ, Køstrup, Fyndske minder, Odense Bys Museer, Årbog 1993, ISBN 87 87162 49 0
Speed, Greg and Walton Rogers, Penelope: A Burial of a Viking Woman at Adwick-le-Street, South Yorkshire ( PDF 38 MB)
Zubkova, Elena S, Orfinskaya, Olga V and
Mikhailov, Kirill A: Studies of the Textiles from the 2006 Excavation
in Pskov, North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles X,
Oxbow Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84217-370-1. Buy
from Amazon.
Before the article was published in NESAT X, the
authors temporarily published a preliminary article in russian.
Peter Beatson made a summary of the russian article
at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/sarafan/sarafan.htm,
Lisa Kies has made a translation of the article (with all the
original photographs) at http://www.strangelove.net/~kieser/Russia/PskovTranslation.html
respectively.
Beatson, Peter and Ferguson,
Christobel: Reconstructing a Viking Hanging Dress from
Haithabu
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/hangerock/hangerock.htm
Cellio, Monica: The Viking
Apron-Dress: A New Reconstruction
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/mjc/sca/aprond.html
Glæsel, Nille: Vikingtidens
drakter
http://www.lofotr.no/pdf/Rapporter/Lofotr%2005.08.pdf p 10-13
and Viking - Dress, Clothing, Klær, Garment, Forlaget
Nille Glæsel, 2010, ISBN 978-82-998323-0-4. Buy
from Nille Glæsel
Historiska världer: Vikingatida kvinne - hängselkjol
http://histvarld.historiska.se/histvarld/draekter/vkvinna/hangselkjol.html
Lewins, Shelagh: A Reconstructed Viking
Woman's Outfit
http://www.shelaghlewins.com/reenactment/viking_womans_outfit/viking_womans_outfit.htm
Medvedeva, Natassiia Ivanova (SCA name):
Norse Apron Dresses - One Interpretation
http://tasha.gallowglass.org/sca/handouts/aprondresses/
Vestfirzka, Vigdis (SCA name):
Vigdís' Viking Apron Dress
http://www.silverdor.org/viking/vikingad.html
