Tindome-Art on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/tindome-art/art/Rodiaud-9th-10th-century-Gotlandic-Viking-woman-414573516Tindome-Art

Deviation Actions

Tindome-Art's avatar

Rodiaud, 9th-10th century Gotlandic Viking woman

By
Published:
2K Views

Description

Way back in the early 2000's, I began collecting pearls for making a Viking Age outfit, as they may have looked. This required extensive research, a lot of money (spent a little at a time, but amounting to a fair bit) and a lot of sewing. This photo was taken in August 2013, on the island of Gotland, my home, and during the best week of the year, Medieval Week. It draws right off every little image I have ever seen from picture stones, gold images and so on, where what is interpreted as a female figure stands with a horn proffered (or without, as the case may be) in profile, and one can see the triangular scarf, pearls on her chest, and a hard-to-interpret-part of her lower dress.

I consider myself as having come quite close to the more probable interpretations of how a Gotlandic Viking Age woman from late 9th, early 10th century, might have dressed when dressed in finery. And that's final. I became an archaeologist partly because of my interest in this. Close - but it is impossible to know for sure.

Outfit breakdown:
Under-kirtle, hemp fabric, knee-length and short-sleeved (because it is SO much easier to clean than a full-length one, easier to sew tighter to hold breasts in place, and requires less fabric. One has to consider practicalities such as getting sweaty, and during these ten-and-more years, I've come to many conclusions regarding dress. Amongst others, there's no damn WAY they wore wool in several layers during the warmer days. It's plain damn stupid).
Kirtle/dress, hemp fabric, full length.
Blue dress/kirtle, wool, full length. Added strips of red fabric because I had no more of the blue, after several years of wear when I'd grown more muscular, and washed it so it became smaller.
"Apron dress", hand-dyed green wool, held up by bought wool tablet-woven bands. Part of this band also decorates the front panel and serves as a belt. Said front panel carries a silk embroidery on fine linen fabric, sewn on. Pattern of embroidery taken from box brooch.
Patterned scarf, square folded in two, held in place by box brooch and animal head twin brooches.

Box brooch and animal head brooches, bronze, copies of find in Fröjel, Gotland, bought via Dan Carlsson, archaeologist. The box brooch found in the grave is a copy itself, of a piece that was probably part silver, and in more parts. Borre style decorations.
Pearl spreaders, bronze, bought via Burr Öhrström. Copies of Gotlandic find.
Utility brooch, bronze, copy of/inspired by Gotlandic find.
Ten rows of pearls, most of them copies of finds, or simple ones as found throughout the areas influenced by Vikings. Majority in glass, some in bone, a few in amber. Strung on two threads of waxed linen thread per row.
Three silver pendants on lowest row of pearls: arabic coin, handmade triangle pendant from Afghanistan (contemporary, but quite the same as they've "always" been), copy of find from near my family home in Rute ("shield-formed pendant").
Necklace and bracelets, twisted bronze. Common throughout the Viking Age.
Bracelet, silver, twisted.
Silver rings, copes of finds, bronze ring, copy of early Iron Age find.
Copper wire strand to hold iron scissors and fire iron.
Keys, bronze, copies of Gotlandic finds.
Ear spoon, bronze, inspired by Gotlandic finds.
Needle holder, bronze, bought from Burr again, copy of Gotlandic find.

Hair pins, bone, look copied from find of cloak pin.

Hair twisted and put up in a knot - as per the images!


So here you see a very rich - of course, she's from Gotland! - woman from the late 800's, early 900's. Everything is hand-sewn, and I am constantly upgrading. To hand-woven, hand-dyed etcetera. I don't think I'm going to add more rows of pearls, it's heavy as heck and really, I can't fit more onto those spreaders...

My next project is going to be a set for a Viking Age woman from the British Isles, northern Scotland, say, Orkney, Shetland, Sutherland and thereabouts. I look forward to the research, and, to carrying far, FAR fewer rows of pearls! Besides, I think one to three rows of pearls look GORGEOUS, so, it's really not about having as many rows as possible, for me... it's about authenticity and what is correct.
Image size
2816x2112px 1.83 MB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon DIGITAL IXUS 65
Shutter Speed
1/501 second
Aperture
F/5.6
Focal Length
6 mm
Date Taken
Aug 11, 2013, 3:12:08 PM
© 2013 - 2024 Tindome-Art
Comments18
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
handSoffMyHat's avatar
The attention to details is epik, besides the fact that i love the simple but speckled with details style of it :3