Clontarf Plans and Ideas.

[Andrea L Redden]

How's the Gear Specifications going? Are you going to make Viking women wear that tortoise brooch/apron dress combination? As far as I know (happy to be corrected) there's no evidence for it after about 950AD.

Andrea

[Seathrun]

We were up in Canada at the Icelandic Festival last week. This is a Vikings Vinland event. They are an elag of the Vikes UK. There is a definite interest in attending by them. Rodger Barry was over too and reports the same for the UK guys. I talked it up a bunch. Apparently Smiley Rus has been busy inviting people too. Also talking it up with the North American Joms.

[oleg]

Does anyone have a link to the kit guide?
Not that I'm coming, but still worth checking

[brendan]

Oleg,
the published kit guide is below. There has been 'discussion' about some of the decisions made in producing this. On the whole it is reasonable and if people have documented evidence for (more than one) item of a given type in the era then I'm sure it would be allowed (not my guide though)

Brendan
----------------

Hi all
Here is the kit guild you have been waiting on:

This kit guide is written with two things in mind: Safety and Authenticity.

Women who wish to field (either as archers or fighters) are welcome to do so, but must dress as men on the field, and women in the living history camp.

An authenticity check will be conducted on Friday evening and Saturday morning

Sources consulted for this kit guide have been dated by archaeologists in the range of 950 – 1050. It is important to remember that Gael & Hiberno-Norse, Manx and Orkney Norse fought on both sides of the battle. It is also important to note that ideas of nationality were not formed during this period of history, strategic allegiances were more important and could change quickly, and a person from the next ‘village’ was likely to brand a foreigner as someone from across the sea.
Therefore in the absence of evidence the authenticity team has decided that the idea of regional differences cannot be upheld and that the Norse involved in the conflict were all but indistinguishable from their Gael counterparts.

The kit guide therefore concentrates on known factors.

Modern Items:

It goes without saying that we expect participants to remove all modern items, these include:
All visible piercings
Watches & Jewellery
Cover Tattoos
Sun Glasses/Glasses
Make-up
No modern fastenings on clothing i.e. zippers etc.
No Celtic knotwork on clothing, jewellery, or leather items

The No List:

No Caftans
No Rus style clothing or weaponry
No Furry Hats
No Hangerocks (apron dresses)
No Black leather or clothing

kit guide for Men or Women taking the field

Under Tunic: Made of un-dyed linen, high necked, long sleeved fitted at the cuff. Dyed linen will not be accepted except in high status kit

Over Tunic: Made of wool in period appropriate colours, mid thigh to knee length, high necked with long sleeves fitted at the cuffs.

Trews: (trousers) NOT Rus baggy style.

Belt: Leather or tablet woven with appropriate fittings.

Gloves: Must be worn for safety and therefore plain welding type gloves are acceptable. However the option of welding gloves is considered a bare minimum standard and participants use them entirely at their own risk.

Shoes: these should be front laced or side toggle ankle boots/shoes.

Helmet – A conical/nasal helm must be worn and made from metal or hardened leather with metal bands. Gjermundbu type helms are not acceptable

Shield: round shields, various diameters are acceptable.
One handed spear: this is up to 7 ft long topped with a suitable blunt.

Two handed Spear: this is up to 9ft long topped with a suitable blunt.

Hats & Hoods: hoods should be in the Hedeby style, with no liripipe. Four or six piece hats are permissible however they must be untrimmed.

Seax: this must be a re-enactment blunt.

Sword: likewise this must be a re-enactment blunt. Reputable dealers include.

http://vikingswords.net/
http://www.paul-binns-swords.co.uk/Swords.htm
http://www.armourclass.com/Data/Pages/DarkAge_Main.htm

Tunic trim: tablet woven or plain bands of wool/linen fabric.

Pouches: should be soft leather, NO Celtic knotwork.

Jewellery: should be of an appropriate style and kept to a minimum, no Christmas trees please. In particular, amber beads should be round and polished (not rough) and modern 'Celtic' jewellery should be avoided. For safety reasons, leave jewellery behind when taking the field.

Colours: please do not wear black or other rich colours such as purple and navy. Also avoid bright bleached whites, natural creamy linens are best. Pastel tones are good option.

A NOTE ON TUNIC STYLES
http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~hmg/lrp/kostyme ... kjole.html
From the above websites it is preferable to make tunics in the style of Viborg, The Skjoldehamn Tunic or Kragelund tunic styles. Men’s tunics should be high necked with slits to allow the head to fit through.

Women’s Kit Guide
The general guidelines for men apply to women: this means no dyed linen or full silk garments and suitable footwear. As there are no apron dresses permitted jewellery should take form of strings of beads worn as necklaces or applied to kyrtles – no tortoise shell brooches.

Undergarments/Under-dress/ Under Kyrtle: This is a plain tunic ankle/floor length and with long tight sleeves. It should have a key-hole neckline held closed with a brooch (high round neck with a small slit to get it on over the head). The garment pulls on over the head with no lacing. This garment is made from un-dyed linen although light-weight wool can also be used. There should be gores in the dress to create a very full skirt.

Over-dress.: Measure for this dress over your under-dress. This is very similar to the under-dress but is more likely to be made in wool in pastel shades and can have some form of decoration or trim, it will also be shorter than the under-dress. This can be knee length or just a couple of inches shorter than the under kyrtle. The sleeves should be tight/ fitted to the wrist. The neckline can be wide.

Headcoverings: The usual coif is a cap with two strings for tying under the chin and is made of linen or silk although wool caps have been found in Ireland. Designs are best based on those found in Elizabeth Wincott Heckett’s book Viking Headcoverings from Dublin

A simple coif can be purchased from
http://www.medievaldesign.com/eng-prodo ... _chiave=30

Or made using the following pattern
http://genvieve.net/sca/vikingcap.html

Belts & Accessories: belts should be fabric, tablet woven and have no buckles or metal ‘ends’. There is no date on pouches (other than the Birka style) but they are essential for the re-enactor, get one, drawstring is best in either fabric or soft leather.

If in doubt, please ask, particularly if you are considering some new purchases for this event. Contact Fingal Living History at flhs@hotmail.co.uk

Fingal Living History Society
Bringing the Past to Life

[oleg]

Thanks, Brendan.

[Stephen Curtin]

Yes thanks for posting the kit guide Brendan. For those interested, here's a link to an online document about early Gaelic clothing (note that some of this may, or may not be too early for Clontarf)

http://coblaith.net/EarlyGaelicDress/default.html

[oleg]

For those interested in diversity, there is a good guide on viking age finds from female graves: belts, buckles, pouches and even a strap end!
http://www.medieval-baltic.us/vikbuckle.html

Finds from female grave in Cnip, Valtos, Uig, Lewis, Outer Hebrides: http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record. ... -082-978-C
was deposited a bit earlier, but still nice and worth mentioning.


+1:
http://pearl.dreamwidth.org/411060.html
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publ ... news13.pdf

[brendan]

That's useful - thanks
No mention of Ireland though. Which is a pity:-(
...though the Irish sea locale is represented

[oleg]

Well, the lady from Cnip, Valtos had an Irish ring pin with a cross, pretty good connection I would say.
As the event is based on 950+ period, it has to be mentioned that graves with grave goods in Dublin disappear at that time. Thus, for instance, absence of oval brooches can be differently interpreted.