Viking Age Pattern Darning - A Plausible Viking Tablecloth

[ragnvaeig]

My table linens project ideas have come to fruition, and I have put together what I think is a really pretty linen tablecloth for use with our feast gear. This is going to be one of the projects I'm intending to show at Pennsic A&S, because I believe that some of the following stitches represent pattern darning, and they come from graves at

Comments

[zafania]

blue and white is alwasy the classy choice for table linens.

the technique sounds deceptively simple, and I like how the patterns are so similar to european folk designs (in fact I'm certain i;ve seen the rosette in recent danish use). I would be encouraging people to serve meals sans gravy tho!

[ragnvaeig]

Guðjónsson has some more illustrations of medieval-period-dated pattern darning fragments, so I'll have to make sure more of these motifs make it out there for re-enactors to see. Some of them look really modern! (I'm really recommending Traditional Icelandic Embroidery; I was waiting for years for it to be available again on Amazon and I gave up and ordered it from the library.)

[zafania]

actually i think i might have a copy hidden somewhere - i dont do much viking era stuff these days

[ragnvaeig]

She doesn't have any Viking-era textiles listed in her book, but she talks about Scandinavian material from "medieval" on.

For some reason, people who use her book to talk about pattern darning in Scandinavia say that it can be dated to c. 1500, whereas the author clearly states that pattern-darned textiles are talked about in Icelandic inventories of the 14th century. It's stuff like that.

[rlg]

No, she doesn't. The best you may find is things called "pre-reformation" (before 1550), although she may list some earlier items. My memory is fuzzy, I'm afraid.

I no longer have my copy of the Gudjonnson book, long since eaten by my mother's house), but if I recall correctly, during the time when Iceland was ruled by Denmark, a good portion of the Icelandic treasures were "moved" to the home country. There is a laid & couched piece (white on dark blue) that is mentioned as having a part in Iceland in the Reykjavik Museum, and part in either Denmark or England (Not the V&A, not the Brit). It is perhaps mentioned in the companion book the Traditional Icelandic Embroidery, Icelandic National Treasures (thor magnusson, out of print).