What does linen have to do with traditional Viking clothing?

“Enchanted Viking, I walked the Earth,

In my soul I agreed to the life of stream and rocks,

Lurking in the darkness on my ship

I didn’t ask for anything, I haven’t wished for anything. ”

Nikolay Gumilyov

Nowadays, when we say “Vikings” we are referring to medieval mariners, natives of the lands where modern Norway, Denmark and Sweden are.  And up to this day, Viking lifestyle and culture are a mystery to scientists.

The French called them “Normans” - the people of North. In 1076 Adam of Bremen called them the "people on ash-tree boats".

English word for Viking origin is also probably associated with the verb “wiking”, which in the North earlier meant “going to the sea to gain wealth and glory”.

Scandinavian written culture was formed only after the advent of Christianity - at the end of the Viking era. Therefore, most of the ancient Vikings history, and with it their traditions and customs, do not have a lot of written evidence.

However, by the efforts of many archaeologists, there is something very interesting we know about the life of the “children of Odin”...

What kind of clothes did Vikings wear?

It is not easy to come across any Viking clothing - usually those are small pieces of fabric that somehow survived the time, for the most part by chance.

You now may be wondering what were Viking clothes made out of?

It turns out that about 40% of those Viking-era clothes found are identified as made of linen!

Apparently, flax must’ve been very important for the Vikings.

Studies have shown that in order to get enough linen fabric to make one tunic, 20 kg of flaxseed needed to be sown. And it additionally took at least 400 hours of labor from the time of flax sowing until the tunic was sewn.

Nordic linen clothing production in those years was a very, very laborious process.

Was there really a linen Viking tunic?

Like today's men and women, Vikings dressed according to gender, age and economic status. Clothes were made from local fabrics woven by the hands of women, and Viking fashion was simple.

Viking female outfit would usually include a linen strap dress with an undershirt and a petticoat. Those straps were usually pinned with brooches resembling tortoise shell, and it was customary to connect those brooches with a chain of beads.

Viking linen tunic was essential for men - long buttonless shirt that sometimes came down to knee level. Men also wore coats on their shoulders. Those coats were usually gathered and pinned up to reveal the hand opposite to the one in which Viking held his sword or ax. Thus, one could immediately see whether the Viking was right-handed or left-handed.

Viking culture today: going to a Nordic Festival

To this day, Viking culture excites the minds of people. Interest groups and historical reconstruction clubs around the world are being formed and Viking culture festivals are being opened. Here are a few places with the most noteworthy ones:

• York

Jorvik Viking Festival is one of the main historical Viking festivals in Europe.

It is dedicated to the times Jorvik (as York was called before) was reined by the Scandinavian warriors who spread their power from here throughout the island. The festival visitors are shown restored historical costumes, exciting battles and falconry.

• Lofoten Islands

Every year for five days, the village of Borg on the Lofoten Islands in Norway becomes a Viking haven.

By tradition, the festival is opened by the “leader”. After the opening ceremony the Vikings pass each other a goblet of wine and drink to the forces of nature and to a successful year. Notable attributes of the festival are the Viking Fair and battles.

• Kaliningrad

About 150 Viking reenactors from all over Russia, as well as from Armenia, Estonia, Poland and Germany, come to the Kaup Viking Festival. The program traditionally has three main parts: musical entertainment, martial arts and craft. The craft part is usually represented by masters of medieval crafts - blacksmithing, weaponry, pottery, leather-making and textile weaving.

The way that Vikings highly valued flax can help us imagine what kind of a noble material we are dealing with. Durable, warming and textured - this is how the Vikings perceived flax linen.

And so do we.

Times and customs, types of society structures and climate are changing, but something in this world remains unchanged - those are high-quality, durable man-made objects intended for a good life.