Name/Title
The Valkyries' loom : the archaeology of cloth production and female power in the North AtlanticEntry/Object ID
GT1100.H3 2023Description
"In The Valkyries' Loom, Michèle Hayeur Smith examines Viking textiles as evidence of the little-known work of women in the Norse colonies that expanded from Scandinavia across the North Atlantic in the ninth century AD. While previous researchers have overlooked textiles as insignificant artifacts, Hayeur Smith is the first to use them to understand gender and economy in Norse societies of the North Atlantic. This groundbreaking study is based on the author's systematic comparative analysis of the vast textile collections in Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands, materials that are largely unknown even to archaeologists and span 1,000 years. Through these garments and fragments, Hayeur Smith provides new insights into how the women of these island nations influenced international trade by producing cloth (vaðmál); how they shaped the development of national identities by creating clothing; and how they helped their communities survive climate change by reengineering clothes during the Little Ice Age. She supplements her analysis by revealing societal attitudes about weaving through the poem "Darraðarljoð" from Njál's Saga, in which the Valkyries--Óðin's female warrior spirits--produce the cloth of history and decide the fates of men and nations. Bringing Norse women and their labor to the forefront of research, Hayeur Smith establishes the foundation for a gendered archaeology of the North Atlantic that has never been attempted before. This monumental and innovative work contributes to global discussions about the hidden roles of women in past societies in preserving tradition and guiding change."Lexicon
Search Terms
textile fabrics--north atlantic region--history, textile fabrics--scandinavia--history, textile fabrics, viking--scandinavia--history, women weavers--scandinavia--history, vikings--clothing--scandinaviaBook Details
Author
Michele Hayeur SmithPublisher
University Press of FloridaDate Published
2023ISBN
9780813066622, 081306662XNotes
Length: 217General Notes
Note Type
ContentsNote
Preface -- Introduction -- Note on Old Norse characters -- Part I. Textiles and their interpretation -- 1. Sheep, wool, and fleece processing: where it all began -- 2. Potential insights on archaeological textiles: the nature of preservation and the conservator's eye -- 3. King Harald's grey cloak: Vararfeldir and the trade in shaggy pile weave cloaks between Iceland and Norway in the late Viking and early Middle Ages -- 4. Re-clothing the inhabitants of tenth-century Dublin based on archaeological evidence -- 5. The sensory archaeology of early Medieval fabrics from the North Atlantic -- 6. The function of written textiles in the Íslendingasögur -- 7. The Medieval mantles of Hibernia: functional markers of ethnic identity -- Part II. Understanding through replicating -- 8. Making the best of it: planning decisions for reproduction fabrics -- 9. The value of intangible knowledge: how living history can aid experimental archaeology in exploring the past; Iron Age Scandinavian tablet weaving and Nalbinding -- 10. Collaborative working practices: creating and theorising Sprang -- 11. From wool to mitten: when history comes to life in your hands.