Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Probably Not a Haithabu (Hedeby) Bag

When I bought the wooden frames I used in my Viking period bag, I assumed that the maker was correct in attributing them to a Haithabu (Hedeby, Denmark) find.  I made this assumption because the shape is similar to frames shown in photographs of finds from the harbor that are displayed in the Hedeby Museum.

Yesterday, however, I found some infographics on Pinterest claiming that the particular shape of frame that I used is from a find, not from Hedeby, but from Sigtuna in Sweden. This infographic in particular. The shape they attribute to a Sigtuna find is an exact match for my bag frames.  Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find additional information to confirm whether the infographic is correct. 

In addition, if the infographic is correct, my frames are much smaller than the original find. The infographic claims the Sigtuna find was 48 cm long--that's nearly 19 inches. My frames are 22.5 cm (9 inches) long.  So at best my bag is 50% historical, and it may well be based upon a find that was nowhere near Hedeby!

I will see whether I can find out more about the particular find that inspired the frames I bought.  In the meantime, apologies for misleading anyone.

EDIT (7/5/2018): Thanks to the commenter who pointed out that I'd incorrectly stated that 48 cm is nearly 12 inches (it's significantly larger). I've changed it above.

2 comments:

  1. A quick message that 48cm is nearly 19 inches (28cm is nearly 12 inches).

    ReplyDelete