Joke of All Trades

Taking a break from sewing to FINALLY clear some projects off my woodwork table. Here's a snapshot of a WIP scabbard for my iron age Germanic sword. Such a lovely weapon deserved a lovely home! The planks were cut from single piece of walnut, which I then divided into two halves, and let warp naturally to form a sorf of pocket for the blade. Now I will chisel out the rest of the channel on the inside of both planks to form a custom fit. Then it will be glued, sanded, shaped, and finished with iron fittings. This design is based on the 2nd century find of germanic scabbard at Vimose. Stay tuned for updates later on!

One of the most interesting pieces of "Viking" cultural clothing is the smokkr, commonly called the apron dress. I recently decided to make one for my partner. While I was familiar with the look of the apron dress, I'd never seen one in depth or studied the sources. So this was an opportunity to make my own interpretation based on primary sources! Shoutout to Hilde Thunem for her compilation article, which was a huge help in chasing down the right sources. Most of this smokkr is based on Birka grave 464, which contained a fine wool dark blue smokkr with a top hem covered in a strip of silk, and linen loops sewn behind it. (Hägg, 1974). However, due to the size of the fragments, no real info on construction could be gleaned, so I looked at other finds. The Hedeby harbor find of a smokkr fragment shows a piece of the top panel, the piece of a dart, and cut edges with stitch holes that once attached to other pieces (Hägg, 1984). Based on the asymmetrical shape of the dart, ...

What a weekend! This was a very different sort of Return of the Sun. Ravensborg allowed restricted attendance and there was a fraction of the normal amount of people at a normal event, with no public attendance allowed. Nevertheless, we all had a great time and are thankful to have been able to go. We were able to accomplish some important tasks for the fort, after having not received any attention for over a year. Big thanks to the thanes for working so hard to get this going, and to all of the volunteers who made it happen, from the labor to the feast. The combat was great (videos coming later) and the party was lively. We even managed to have a small market, which I was woefully unprepared for, but it went well! This was not a typical event, but a memorable one nonetheless. Hopefully this is the beginning of a good season!

Here is the second lovely brooch I purchased from Twilight Forge! This is a slightly simplified version of a 10th century brooch found in a hoard discovery in Gotland, Sweden. Cast in brass and measuring a little under 3", it is on the larger side as brooches go, but the interesting thing about this brooch is that it differs from other penannular designs by actually being a solid ring, not being a 'C' shape. This is what archeologists refer to as "pseudo-penannular". The piece that connects the two serpent heads is far enough away that the cloak pin can slide past it, allowing it to be pulled through the ring and twisted around to secure the cloak. Here, you'll see it displayed on a hand-woven, madder-dyed twill wool cloak. No, this lovely handiwork isn't mine-- I received it recently from a weaver in Russia, but didn't have a brooch nice enough to wear with it until now! Gotland is a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea, just a quick sail from the major ...