tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post4613437581796143152..comments2024-03-24T21:42:17.025-04:00Comments on Loose Threads: <small>Yet Another Costuming Blog</small>: The Latest Viking FigurineCathy Raymondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-32972144151583652642015-02-21T00:12:44.607-05:002015-02-21T00:12:44.607-05:00Hi, welcome to my blog!
I don't doubt that th...Hi, welcome to my blog!<br /><br />I don't doubt that there will be plenty of people debating whether this figure is male or female. That's part of the risk in trying to make deductions about costume based on Viking age art. It's so stylized that it's hard to tell what the artist is trying to depict. The last big figurine discovery, the Leire figure was thought by some to be male, as well. http://cathyscostumeblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-female-viking-image.htmlCathy Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-9412328041523547032015-02-20T08:48:59.086-05:002015-02-20T08:48:59.086-05:00Well, it would seem others think it may be a man a...Well, it would seem others think it may be a man as well :-)<br /><br />- carol stevenson<br /><br />http://politiken.dk/kultur/ECE2551505/1200-aar-gammel-kvinde-er-maaske-en-mand/?utm_source=dailyfix.dkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-21572443939250572992014-06-23T22:57:02.773-04:002014-06-23T22:57:02.773-04:00Susan: I'm not sure whether trefoils were wor...Susan: I'm not sure whether trefoils were worn solely by men in Scandinavia at the approximate period of the figure (about 800 C.E., so not *that* early). But I am sure of two things: 1) There's no evidence that men wore necklaces with many large beads in them; bead finds in men's graves typically involve a modest number of beads (1-5). 2) The figurine is *not* wearing a top knot. A top knot is positioned on or near the crown of the head. The figurine's bun is very clearly shown on the back of the head. So I am disinclined to think that the figure is male--whatever its choice of costume. :-)Cathy Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-14939689859723824812014-06-23T22:54:02.897-04:002014-06-23T22:54:02.897-04:00Eblueaxe: I'm inclined to see the figure as w...Eblueaxe: I'm inclined to see the figure as wearing a pleated, round-necked shift too! In fact, I toyed with the possibility that the woman is meant to be Slavic, wearing a pleated shift with a panova (open-fronted skirt) over it. But two things count against that; the trefoil, and the fact that she's bare-headed--showing a woman's hair after her marriage was very taboo among the Slavs (with them, covering the hair was not acquired from Christianity, but was a long-standing practice).Cathy Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-69482463480980015702014-06-23T22:06:02.185-04:002014-06-23T22:06:02.185-04:00I'm seeing something quite different when I lo...I'm seeing something quite different when I look at this little figure-a male figure. At this early date, I think only men were wearing trefoil brooches, women took it over later. And men wore their hair in top knots, I have seen one grave in a museum with a male with a top knot. I haven't seen a woman with one yet. The necklace- seems very large and imposing-a large bead necklace or large gauge wire weaving chain. Strikes me as a male style of jewelry. The stance, the shorter skirt length, the position of the feet: That seems to me to be a male/warrior stance. Very challenging stance with the thumbs hooked into the belt.<br /><br /> No flowing skirts on this figurine. At the bottom of the skirt-the circles seem to be more like chain mail-altho I don't know the dating of that possibility. Could be decoration.<br /><br />The only thing that is not male like: no beard or facial hair. A young warrior? A young man who just became king? <br /><br />So I throw this idea out.....is it a male figure? <br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12364247342893165824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-21031154880234696182014-06-23T16:45:37.267-04:002014-06-23T16:45:37.267-04:00Working on the basis that a lot here is hard to de...Working on the basis that a lot here is hard to determine fully as its metal work and seems to contain some schematic elements that make sense if you know what they are (unlucky for us!) I think there are a few interesting things to be considered.<br /><br />I do think the top circles are supposed to represent beads, and as you suggest I believe the item in the lower abdomen/waist is a trefoil brooch. I think a caftan brooches at the abdomen or wait makes some sense, I personally am not too worried about whether the v inside the beads is the same as outside it, I think this could be a neckline, undergarment, or simply an attempt to continue the pleated design inside the beads, but beign limited by the objects size and the needs of sculpting something this size (its not easy!)<br /><br />However, If this was a pleated under serk with nothing on top of it but beads at the neck, it sure would match some of Thor Ewings theories about wide V-necks coming quite low would it not? Fleming Bau had theorised that sleeves may have been horizontally pleated, and includes them like this in his reconstructions, so perhaps this is whats going on? It would be amusing if some of his ideas appear to be true! I'm not sure what the trefoil brooch is doing in that instance, perhaps holding the neckline together at the waist... (it would be pretty revealing as Ewing suggested, without a Smokkr in that case!), or perhaps we are seeing a belt?<br /><br />I have to say, the caftan seems to make most sense, but perhap that was pleated? If not it sure looks like that dress might be split all the way down the front.<br />P.S On scarves, I was sure Thor Ewing had mentioned scarves in his book, but can't for the life of me find it now, I'll try to remember to ask if I see him at a conference again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-54785517132755380952014-06-15T14:08:34.949-04:002014-06-15T14:08:34.949-04:00On whether the Vikings ever wore scarves or fichus...On whether the Vikings ever wore scarves or fichus--we don't know that, either. The other usages of scarves that I know of are all much earlier in time; Roman soldiers wore scarves, apparently to protect their necks from chafing due to their armor, and the Huldremose woman was buried with a scarf (though one that is much too long to tuck in at the neck). But again, that doesn't mean scarves weren't worn by Viking women, simply that we have no evidence.Cathy Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-4343639499584775332014-06-15T00:48:12.103-04:002014-06-15T00:48:12.103-04:00That's for sure! This one is a thinker. I'...That's for sure! This one is a thinker. I'll admit my kneejerk reference when I first saw it (after wtf is going on here?) was the oseberg ship woman, with the skirt and whatnot. It's certainly not a 1:1 comparison, more a "feel" thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-49198953392011967132014-06-14T12:56:00.007-04:002014-06-14T12:56:00.007-04:00We sure can't rule out the possibility that th...We sure can't rule out the possibility that the Revninge figure is wearing a vee-necked tunic made in that manner. <br /><br />As for whether Vikings wore vee-necked tunics, the Skoldehamn tunic is vee-necked, though it was worn over a kirtle with a little stand collar. But there is argument about whether the Skoldhamn tunic was Viking (Dan Lovlid thinks it might have been worn by a Saami). Also, the Skoldehamn has been dated to 1050 C.E. or so, while the Revninge figure is dated to about 800 C.E.<br /><br />I think the dating is more of a problem to the vee-neck theory, myself. As you said, the vee-neck is associated with the bliaut, and all of the vee-necked examples I know of are 11th or 12th century. The Revninge figure is much earlier than that. On the other hand, it's possible that the vee-neck (formed by a vertical silt) is much earlier than 11th-12th century and we just don't have any surviving early examples.Cathy Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-20275027972454080982014-06-14T12:49:33.045-04:002014-06-14T12:49:33.045-04:00Hi, synj-munki! My problem is that I can imagine ...Hi, synj-munki! My problem is that I can imagine *too many* things that might be going on! I could even imagine her wearing a pleated, Slavic shift with a panova over it, except for the trefoil thingy. <br /><br />And one thing I didn't mention are the round things on the bottom of her skirt, that look like they are attached to the trim around the triangular opening (or the belt ends, if you think those raised strips are belt-ends). What might they be? I know of no round strap-ends that have been found.Cathy Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04580681386443534011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-4927367191244535552014-06-13T00:01:10.962-04:002014-06-13T00:01:10.962-04:00The pleated area inside the neckband kind of remin...The pleated area inside the neckband kind of reminds me of a fichu, though I'm not aware of the Vikings wearing anything like that. I wonder if it's something like a bliaut, where the neck opening is a vertical slit?Stella Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05469996244394603024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2670213486548123819.post-6223940731099223192014-06-12T23:38:20.528-04:002014-06-12T23:38:20.528-04:00he idea of an open front caftan/ long jacket with ...he idea of an open front caftan/ long jacket with looooong sleeves over a possible smokkr over a pleated shift is an interesting idea. I've been pondering this one since it popped up on past horizons and most of what I've got is "huh. That's interesting. Not a damn clue what's going on."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com