Woven Into the Earth: Textiles from Norse Greenland

By Else Østergård and Else Ostergaard

One of the century's most spectacular archaeological finds occurred in 1921 when Poul N rlund recovered dozens of garments from a graveyard in the Norse settlement of Herjolfsn s, Greenland. Preserved intact for centuries by the permafrost, these medi-aeval garments display remarkable similarities to western European costumes of the time. Previously, such costumes were known only from contemporary illustrations, and the Greenland finds provided the world with a close look at how ordinary Europeans dressed in the Middle Ages. Fortunately for N rlund's team, wood has always been extremely scarce in Greenland, and instead of caskets, many of the bodies were found swaddled in multiple layers of cast-off clothing. Eighty years of technical advances and subsequent excavations have greatly added to our understanding of the Herjolfsn s discoveries. In Woven into the Earth Else sterg rd recounts the dramatic story of N rlund's excavation in the context of other Norse textile finds in Greenland. She describes what the finds tell us about the materials and methods used in making the clothes. The weaving and sewing techniques detailed here are surprisingly sophisticated, and one can only admire the talent of the women who employed them, especially considering the harsh conditions they worked under.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 8772889357
• ISBN13: 9788772889351
• Release Date: October 2024
• Publisher: Aarhus University Press
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 3.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.4" x 11.8"

Customer Reviews

Woven into the Earth

This is a must have for anyone interested in the subject. This book is well worth the price.

Woven into the Earth

This is a fantastic book for academical purposes or for someone who has been re-enacting early middle ages for some time. By this I mean somebody who is really interested in making medieval garments themselves. I would not recommend this book just for the pleasure of reading.

Astounding connection between weaving and life

This book is so well written that you can read it even if you aren't particularly interested in weaving, and enjoy it. It is a cultural connection between the craft of weaving and the culture of life. Highly recommended to weavers who are interested in the history of their craft.

Instant Classic

It is rare that more than a few shreds of fiber survive from an archaeological site. Thanks to the unique climate and soil conditions in Greenland, we have a number of whole garments that have survived from about a 200-year span during the middle of the medieval period. Until now, most of that information was known in detail only to specialists. Ms. Ostergard's book collects the information she and her colleagues have derived from the Greenland finds and presents it clearly and succinctly, with full color photographs and line illustrations describing the weave, cut, pattern and techniques used to sew the items in meticulous detail. This book is a permanent asset to the study of medieval costume, an instant classic and, thanks to its clarity of writing and layout, useful even for the costumer.

Delicious addition to fiber history

superb. The binding is good, the paper is good, the editing appears to be good, the content is way coool. The pictures (printed on a very fine semi-matte paper) are very clear; there are diagrams of almost every weave discussed, and clear discussions of all the weaving tools found in Greenland and some other Norse sites, as well as the material, dyes and finishing methods. Two garments are diagrammed on graph paper (a hood and a dress). The writing is clear and interesting and accessible, and the writers clearly care about the people who were behind the artifacts they are examining. My only additional desire would be for a summary of the recent research on the history and demise of the Greenland colony (and maybe an explanation of the two-page statement in Inukitut (?)). If you are a costumer or a scholar or a fan of weaving in different circumstances from the ones we enjoy now, this is a rewarding and fascinating book.