Becoming Úlfhéðinn- A Warrior's Journey: What to wear!

I have spoken at length about what I wear for armour, and what weapons would have been appropriate for my period. I haven't spoken at all about the “soft kit”, garb. Looking good on the battlefield is important, but even at the best events, it's only a small portion of your time. While there is nothing wrong with starting off in pajama pants and a t-tunic, part of what helps build the Dream is working towards improving every aspect of your persona; garb, armour, campsite, etc. My garb has gone through tons of changes over the last 2 years. I started off in borrowed clothes, pajama

pants, and engineer boots. I have moved on, and now even my tunics are being made in period patterns. It took time and research. I am hoping writing this out will help other people get their garb together quicker by putting everything in one spot. This is my head-to-toe norse/rus garb list.

Head

Accessories as a whole are what make an outfit stand out. The difference between being just a generic Viking cosplay, and a solidly researched Rus ulfheðinn is all in how you add details to it.

I find it is always best to start from the top: hats! I for one am a huge fan of hats, both in the SCA and mundanely. For me, the 4-6 panel Rus fur-lined hat was something that I searched for for a long long time. It was actually the first real accessory that I bought, and even just throwing it on with the terrible garb I had at the time made a big difference.

From what I have looked into, there are two types of hats that have been found: the panel hat and the conical hat. The first is more commonly seen, a small skull cap made from 4-6 panels, and often trimmed with fur. The conical hat is the “Santa” or cossack hat. My hat was purchased otherwise I would likely have gone with a conical hat. The hats that have been found have been made of wool, which means not only do the look really good, but they also do wonders for keeping you warm. In most cases, unless the weather is really miserable, I can just wear my normal garb and my hat to stay warm. Downside, I really need to make a summerweight hat. One of the conical hat tips found at birka had silk in it, which may be proof of a silk hat. I may make one in the future to see how it feels.

Shoulders

This has been one of the really rough ones on me: cloaks. I have looked around and around, and thus far been unable to find something proving the Norse had hooded cloak, which is sad because they look great. Instead, they used wool rectangles folded through some sort of confusing dark magic into a cloak. I have not yet figured out the trick for this one! Important thing: Norse cloaks were worn pinned at the shoulder to keep the sword arm free. I have found this to be very comfortable. The cloak is held shut with a penannular brooch, also called a celtic brooch. These brooches exist in many different time periods and have many different styles. Mine is made of agry twisted iron.

Recently, I've found proof for a hood that matches my period (~940CE) pretty closely, found in Skjold Harbour. This is a hooded mantle similar to what we have seen for the liripipe hoods of the later medieval periods. I have been told by many people that these types of hood are great for keeping you warm. I personally haven't seen weather that would force me to add even more warm clothing over the cloak and hat, but the coldest I have ever been at an event is just below 30 degrees fahrenheit.

Chest

Tunics, tunics, and more tunics, the evidence points to norsemen wearing an under tunic and an over tunic. Personally, due to the absurd heat in Trimaris ", I make it a point to own overtunics with ¾-length sleeves. This is one of those leaps of conjecture. The Norse travelled through all sorts of climates, so I find it mind

boggling to think they never thought of or used shorter sleeves. That being said, all the extant pieces are long sleeved. I currently own several tunics, most of which aren’t based on a period pattern but are done in the “t-tunic” pattern. These are slowly being phased out as my lady graces me with more and more amazing hand-sewn pieces to use. The pattern that she uses is based off of the Birka find, and uses a large rectangle for the front and back of the tunic with 2 gores, 2 gussets, and separate sleeves. I am a simple man, so as of now, the only trim on my tunics is fabric of a contrasting colour. However, her current project has a very decorative and impressive neckline.

For materials, the extant tunics have been made of wool with a lighter material for the undertunic. However, it's known that the Norse traded extensively and loved to show off their wealth. Wool, silk, and linen are the most common materials in period, and I could see any of them being used by the Northmen in their clothing. I would avoid using cotton, since it would have been rare in period, and the cottons that we have now are quite different. I personally use muslin in my under tunics because it breathes, and my over tunics are a variety of fabrics. As of yet, I do not have a silk tunic.

Legs

For pants, the ancestors had two styles and they seem to depend heavily on the region. There were slacks, similar to drawstring pants that can be found anywhere, and the Rus pants. Being that my persona is from the area near Holmgård, Rus pants were the way to go. I also find them more comfortable. These pants are pretty straight forward to make, they are essentially two large rectangles of fabric joined to make the top portion. Each one is a side of the pant, and the calf portions are smaller, more fitted rectangles called cannons. The joining of the large rectangle to the cannons gathers the fabric. The pants are topped off with a drawstring to hold them up. These are more or less one-size-fits-all if you buy them made, they are just that huge. Mine, I believe, are 90in around at the waist. I have a pair that I made and they have been very serviceable, but the pairs that my lady bought me for last Yule have a couple of things that I will be incorporating into my next pair. First, a drawstring around the top of the cannons, which allows you to tie them in place so they aren’t slipping down. Second, the drawstring is long, absurdly long, but this keeps me from having to sit there for 15 minutes trying to pull the string out after it disappears into the vast abyss that is the ton of fabric of these pants. For materials, the same rules apply as for the tunics, only in this case I (personally) would never use wool. Keep to the linen.

Now, onto what I think are one of the most important parts of the properly dressed Norseman: winnegas. These leg wraps finish up the look, and keep you looking good. I have two different pairs: one for fighting and one for looking good. The fighting pair are literally just a set of fleece horse leg wraps in black. I wrap them so the velcro isn't visible, and they pass the ten foot rule without any issues. I haven’t the money to ruin a pair of the nicer ones on the field, so these are the "stunt doubles". They are also the pair I bought first, since they were cheaper. The non-fighting ones are hand-woven wool that my lady purchased for Yule (sensing a pattern? I look good mostly because of her support). The wool ones have a herringbone pattern which would have been common in period, and a copper hook to hold them up.

Shoes

Shoes are made of leather. This means that they are one of the items that we have some more concrete information on. I use a pair of Viking toggle boots based on the Jorvik finds. The differences between mine and the historical versions are a reinforced heel and a lugged sole. These adaptations don’t detract from the appearance of the shoe and make it more durable for fighting.

This ran a little longer than expected; I was hoping to be able to get into some extant jewelry, but that will have to wait for a future post. Remember though, the Vikings loved bling! They were wealthy and they liked to show it off. Bright colours, expensive jewelry, furs, anything they could find.

At some point in the future I will likely go into details about each item, if there is anything item you think I need to do some more research on, let me know in the comments. Also if I got anything wrong let me know! I am still trying to learn.

Edit: It was pointed out to me that in the pictures I still have things that are period accurate. The studded tunic in the first picture is a second hand tunic. There is no proof for this kind of decoration as cool as it looks. In the last picture the belt is thicker than what has been found in period. The tunic has already been replaced, the belt will be replaced when money allows.