Amber

Amber is fossilized resin which has succinic acid present in its chemical makeup. It begins as resin tree sap drippings and progresses into copal then amber as it fossilises, which can take millions of years. To transform from resin to copal and then to amber relies on polymerisation and terpene evaporation.

There are three commonly known amber types that are available today - Baltic amber, Dominican amber and “young amber”.

Baltic amber is one of the best known authentic ambers. It was deposited as sap oozing from now-extinct resinous trees as much as 50 million years ago and laid down in deposits through what is now the coast of the Baltic Sea as well as parts of Russia. The Kaliningrad Amber Factory in Russia produces 90% of the world’s amber.

Dominican amber was deposited approximately 10 to 25 million years ago in what are now the Dominican amber.

More recent, but still valuable is the “young amber” deposited by deciduous trees in what is now Poland from 10000 to 1 million years ago. The reason from this type of amber is not properly amber and should more correctly be called copal (pictured below right). A similar substance, Kauri Gum, can be found in New Zealand.

Tibetan amber is NOT real amber. In my experience this is a cheap plastic substitute that is commonly found on e-bay. Also be aware that some glass beads are called “amber” due to their colour alone, however I have had success through e-bay when searching on “Baltic amber” (pictured below left) and observing the appearance of the beads; especially look for the swirls that are formed by slow gradual oozing prior to fossilisation.

Baltic amber can have succinic acid present between the ranges of 3 to 8 percent. Amber which is clear usually has lower levels of succinic acid and increases as the amber becomes more opaque.

One of the best tests on real amber is the hot point test. It involves heating up a piece of wire or similar equipment and poking it into an inconspicuous place on the item being tested. Amber should give off a pine gum or resinous smell and the slight puncture mark may appear white.

Historically, amber beads were made by taking a block of amber, cutting it roughly to shape and drilling a hole through. Its final shape was attained by turning it on a bow lathe before polishing. The Vikings produced many different amber articles, including wedge shaped beads and amulets, sometimes even playing pieces for games.

In Viking mythology amber was formed from Freya’s tears. She was married to Odur the god of sunshine, but when he left her to roam in distant lands she followed him weeping. Her teardrops changed to gold in the rocks and amber in the sea.

Amber is said to clean and purify the system of the wearer. The aura of this stone is believed to act on endocrine and digestive systems. Its magnetic properties (rubbed against wool, amber attracts paper) is believed to be beneficial against fatigue and depression. Amber brings joy to life and gives the courage necessary to overcome anxiety. Stone of the sun, amber warms the heart in literal and figurative sense and is believed to be a good remedy for colds and flu.

Additional Resources
Amber Gallery - Fakes and Amber Tests
Viking Answer Lady - Amber
Regia Anglorum - Glass and Amber

Raven Banner

The Raven standard is pictured in the Bayeux Tapestry and while Norman, has a very recent Viking heritage. It is depicted mounted on a spear accompanying William the Conquerors army

Difficulty: Medium
Total Time: 7 hours

History

The Raven Banner is described in several literary accounts mention several battles including the battle at Cynuit in 878 CE. One account attributed the Raven Banner of Ubbe and a Danish army, which was defeated by King Alfred.

The Raven Banner is supposed to provide prophesy for the outcome of a battle. Some mention a banner with no embroidered image at all, whence a raven will magically appear upon it, beating its wings in victory or drooping its whole body in defeat.

The banner is mentioned again, and perhaps most famously, as a sigil of the Orkney Earls in connection with the Battle of Clontarf (1014 CE) and the battle at Dublin on Palm Sunday. The two saga’s describing these events – Orkneyinga Saga and Njal’s Saga describe the banner’s infamous curse, death to any standard bearer. “Now, take this banner. I've made it for you with all the skill I have, and my belief is this: that it will bring victory to the man it's carried before, but death to the one who carries it.”

Documentation

The Anlaf Sihtricsson coin minted at York in 924 may depict the Raven Banner. While it cannot be confirmed, the banner shows a triangular design with rectangular tassels hanging from the lower edge. In the scene of the Bayeux Tapestry where the brothers of Harold Godwinsson are slain a similar banner is depicted falling under the hooves of a horse. Unfortunately no design is shown on the flag to confirm the presence of a raven on the coin.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts a second banner as the Normans ride into battle with a clear representation of a bird on a semi-circular banner, which may be the famous Raven. There are as many similarities as there are differences between this second banner and the coin.

Some scholars question why the Bayeux Tapestry should depict a Raven Banner in the hands of a Norman warrior. Two suggested answers include reference to an unrecorded Viking leader among William’s troops, or possibly an oblique reference to the Normans’ origin as Vikings under Hrolf der Ganger.

Construction

I created my pattern first out of newspaper working the white semi-circle to the maximum size the paper would allow and aiming for the rough proportions shown in the Bayeux Tapestry.

I cut the red border and the bird shape – two of each piece, one for each side - and also two white semi circles from linen material.

After sewing on the border to each white semi circle, I cut slits all the way around the inside seam, about an inch apart and just into the stitching. This allows the curve to sit better, which I ironed into place.

I pinned the bird shape, making sure that the bird was facing the top of each side in order to get "mirror images". Then I stitched it on, carefully rolling the edges in as I went to prevent fraying.

After stitching both of the birds on I created a pattern for each of my triangular flags. After three size checks I discovered that 20cm long and about 10cm wide worked the best. I allowed a seam edge and cut out 9 pairs, which I stitched together then turned and pressed with the iron.

After laying out my triangles with the semi-circular banner I found that I only needed 7, which I pinned on the inside and aligned the second semicircle. All of these layers were sewn together. Then I sewed down just the white area on the flat side.

NOTE: When you sew on the triangles remember that you want to sew right sides together, which means that your triangles end up inside the flag. When it is turned they will be on the right side.

I carefully turned the whole lot inside out through one of the small holes left in the red, then sewed up the holes.

The ties are made of 2cm wide tubes – I cut 6cm wide strips about 60-70cm long and turned them inside out after sewing, pressing them flat with the iron. Then I folded them in half and sewed them onto the banner at even intervals. After trimming and finishing off the ends by hand they are each about 20cm in length.

They are tied to the spear pole with a half bow which seems to hold them quite well and allows them to be removed and fixed to any other size poles if need be.

Additional Resources

The Vikings – Osprey Elite Series
The Bayeux Tapestry - David M Wilson
Viking Answer Lady - The Raven Banner

Silk

Silk is made from the unwound cocoons of a particular group of moths. The oldest silks date back to 1500 BCE in China, although the word “silk” in Chinese is known to be older than that. The establishment of the Silk Road between 140-60 CE marks the beginning of silk use in the West.

Silk feels gorgeous, however unless you are portraying someone extremely wealthy (and have all the accessories to go with your', 'outfit) it would not be recommended to make an entire garment out of silk. The most common use for silk in our era was for trims (collars, cuffs, and decorative accents).
Fabric Types

There are many types of silk available to us today, and they differ in quality and price, however the following are ones that are known to be of our period.

Noil (Raw Silk)
Often called “raw silk”, Noil is characterised by a nubbly texture and the subtle flecks that are actually particles from the silkworm’s cocoon. It has a muted sheen, resists wrinkles, is softer than linen and is excellent for clothing.

Habutai
This silk is soft, lightweight and lustrous with a smooth surface. It means “soft and downy” in Japanese and is a very versatile silk fabric.

Samite
Twill-faced patterned silk. This was the weave used in ancient Persian and Byzantine figured silks.

Care

Silk is a fibre made of protein like wool or hair, therefore some detergents that are made to dissolve protein stains may weaken silk over time. It can be washed, however it is recommended garments be washed by hand. Try a baby shampoo or use soap which is different in chemical composition than a detergent.

Dry cleaning is optimal as some silk dyes used during manufacturing may lose their brilliance through normal washing.

How it is Made

Silk thread is obtained by carefully unravelling silk worm cocoons and reeling the silk onto spools. First the cocoons are soaked in water to make them easier to reel, then the start of each thread is found - one thread per cocoon. Michael Cook from Wormspit states that an ounce of reeled raw silk is equivalent to about 250 cocoons and can be created in an evenings work.

Silk can also be made by spinning. The cocoons need to be degummed and carded, much like wool.

Additional Information

Virtue Ventures - Silk
Winter Fabrics - Silk Types
Worm Spit

Natural Dyes

Many people believe that in order to look medieval, you can only use very plain, natural colours. It is actually possible to produce a myriad of colours using natural dyes, and even very bright ones.

The most difficult colours to dye are greens and very bright red, thus these colours were more expensive. Pure black and pure white were also very uncommon, where “black” is usually very dark with a brown or blue tinge and pure white can only be obtained through ', 'extensive treatment and sun bleaching.

A Viking black was created by mixing three of the most expensive dyes: cochineal, woad and weld. The Vikings also had their own method of creating brilliant white, however again it was very expensive.

If you are portraying a Byzantine peasant then you will wish to avoid purple. It was considered an imperial colour, and culturally only worn through special privilege and rank. A very wealthy Byzantine persona may consider wearing a small piece of purple cloth.

Other colours to avoid are very bright fluorescent colours; however some bright blues and yellows can be obtained. The image below demonstrates many colours that have been obtained using natural dyes that were available during the medieval period.

Dye Equivalent Colours
The following table highlight a selection of some of the more commonly known colours and a modern dye equivalent for obtaining this colour.

Dye	Paterna	D.M.C.
Indigo from murex	540	7319
Shellfish (non-specific)	300	7895
Weld and alum and urine	711	7784
Weld	760	7473
Madder over Woad	723	7767
Madder	861	7920
Madder and alkali	930	7184
Madder and copper	871	7446
Woad	524	7692
Woad over weld	691	7769

Additional Information
Black in Period
Craft of Natural Dying
Dye Equivalent Colours by Regia Anglorum
Medieval Dyes

Treasure Necklace

The Vikings loved their colourful glass beads and different findings and sometimes pieced them together to form muddled necklaces full of colour and "treasures".

Difficulty: Easy
Total Time: 2 Hours

Documentation

Finding beads today that would have been available during the Viking era can be a daunting task. I went to a local bead shop armed with colour print-outs from various websites and spent a good hour looking through different beads and picking out a couple here, one there, a half dozen somewhere else. Some beads I even found on e-bay and had them shipped specially.

These are just a small selection of beads which I managed to find replicas for today (extant on left):

The large red, white and black bead is similar to the ones from the necklace manufactured in Scandinavia c 800 to 1000 CE. This extant necklace also includes some millefiore beads, demonstrating that this type is not post-rennaisance.

The glass debris displayed here were found in a Viking Age glass-worker's shop in Ribe, Denmark and are reminiscent to several that I included on my necklace. This segment of my design also shows millefiore beads and an eye bead.

This is a 9th cent. treasure necklace from the hoard from Hon in Norway. It is special in that it contains many golden pieces, whereas most featured silver items. I am displaying a segment that includes gold foil beads , a pendant of glass beads woven onto wire, and a pendant hanging from an attached loop. My design includes gold foil beads and a pendant with amber (later removed in favour of a fourth coin pendant), but shown is an old Islamic coin (1920's?) made into a pendant.

Hammers of this general type were distributed widely. They were cut from a single sheet, and the top was bent over to form the loop. The one I re-created is modeled after one found in Hesselbjerg, Denmark and I made it out of a piece of brass. The basic shape was cut with tin snips, then the edges were filed smooth. Next we used a hammer to "weather" the brass and make a little loop at the top and lastly it was polished. Pictured is my re-creation with an Australian 20 cent piece and the hammer on the necklace.

Construction

The difficult thing about constructing a treasure necklace is to throw away all of our modern concepts of form, colour and symmetry. The Vikings prized a mixture of colours and collected many types of beads and items converted to serve as pendants.

The Viking Answer Lady offers  directions for the construction of a treasure necklace and we shall follow them.

Step One: Arrange special beads and pendants

I started by laying out the coin pendants and the special Thor's Hammer in a rough circle on my table in approximate distances from each other.

Step Two: Make more pendants if desired with beads and wire

I created a pendant by stringing tiny amber chips onto a length of wire and then twisting the ends together to form a "stalk" which is used as the loop of the pendant. This technique seems to be used mainly to highlight a group of special beads - either the same colour, or ones that are more precious or loved than the others.

Step Three: Place pairs of beads 180° apart across the necklace

Pick up pairs of beads that are similar in size, shape and tone (dark or light) and place them approximately 180° apart across the circle. The beads do not have to be exactly the same colour.

Step Four: Create some short patterns and place remainder beads

Pendants were often emphasised with short patterns, or the same type of bead either side of them. I constructed patterns using my special gold foil beads, or in the case of the Thor's Hammer, by setting it off with my large glass beads. I also set off pendants by using the same colour and type of bead to either side of it.

Step Six: Pick a point and string your necklace

I picked the point I thought would be at the back of the neck to string my necklace. I threaded it on a heavy linen thread that I waxed prior to stringing.

 

Additional Resources

Thor's Hammer - Extant Photos
The Viking Answer Lady - Viking Beads

Rus Hat

If you are camping or spending time re-enacting in the colder months, then one essential piece of kit is a nice warm hat. This hat is completely fur lined, covers the ears and can be decorated in a variety of ways for a personal touch.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Total Time: 6 Hours non decorated (40-50 hours decorated)

According to one of the theories about the head-gear from Birka, hats display military rank. The pointed hats with gold ornaments may represent the highest rank, the rounded with silver ornaments a middle rank, and the rounded without any ornaments the lowest in rank.
The Birka grave 958 also shows what is probably a rounded or dome shape hat as shown in the picture from Arbmans "Birka - die Gräber", page 383.

Step One: Make a pattern from the basic shape to suit your desired size.

Measuring the head where the hat will sit (round up to the nearest inch). Divide this number by six - this is the width of your pattern. Next measure the length fron one side of the hat to the other (ear to ear over the top of your head) and divide this number by two - this is the height of your pattern. Draw a line to connect these two points Allow 1cm all the way around and cut out your new pattern.

Step Two: Cut six pieces of wool and sew together.

You can test your hat pattern first at this stage using some scrap material. Remember that you will have fur lining on the inside, so it should not be too snug at this stage as you need an allowance for the fur lining. If you find at the end that your hat is fitting snug, it does stretch out a little though. My hat is reasonably snug, but still comfortable to wear.

After cutting my six panels I sewed each side together using a basic running stitch. (You can start work on step four as well if you wish)

On the inside of all my seams I like to use a period seam treatment. I did this on the inside of the hat as it allows each panel to sit nice and flat and also creates a nice even dome for any decorations you wish to add.

Step Three: Design and sew your embroidery and any other additions.

The embroidery patterns I used are from a Russian book on extant items, including textiles, household items, weapons and many other things. It is a simple pattern, which I recreated in gold wool and accented with white cultured pearls.

Step Four: Cut 6 fur pieces 10cm longer than your wool pattern and sew.

You may need to cut a new pattern to help you cut your fur. Instead of adding a 1cm allowance you only need approximately 2mm for the fur. When cutting fur you should keep the fur direction the same way for each panel. In order to get a nice fluffy edge you also need to look at the direction when the fur is folded. I cut mine so that the fur was pointing away from the pointed end of the pattern. To cut the fur without damaging the folicles use either a craft knife on the leather side or small embroidery scissors with sharp points that can get between the fur. If you cut through the fur folicles you may be unhappy with the finish.

Sew each panel together using a thread such as linen. If you are using recycled fur, such as an old fur coat, then be careful the threads do not tear the leather. You may have to re-enforce spots.

Step Five: Tack the wool to the fur to keep its basic shape.

Fixing the fur and the wool parts together is probably the hardest step, though not the most time consuming. I started by tacking the two domes together at the points, then adding another line of tacking about 5-10 cm from the point around the dome. I then tacked the bottom of the wool to the fur ready for turning the fur band evenly.

Step Six: Sew fur to wool around the top of the band.

Fold your fur around to the desired height on your wool. I found that I had enough to fold over and back under again giving me in practicality three layers of fur where the band is.

Sew the fur to the wool around the edge of the band, and then using your needle carefully lever out any fur that got sewn into the band so you have a nice even fluffy edge.

 

Additional Resources
Hat pattern base and Birka grave find image from Historiska världar
Example of pattern use by Þóra Sharptooth
Fur trimmed hats from Eastern Europe and Central Asia by The Renaissance Tailor

Easter 2005: This hat won second prize in the clothing category of an Arts & Sciences competition at the XIIIth ARC (Australian Re-enactors Conferention) despite me not having any of my documentation to submit with it