Comments | ragnvaeig: Beads: the difficulties of interpretation

ragnvaeig

Beads: the difficulties of interpretation

Mar 19, 2009 22:26

While I've been getting ready to teach at the Nova Schola event this weekend, I've been getting out clothes to wear at the event, and considering what I might change over the course of the coming sewing season. One of the things in particular I've been considering are my beads.

I've been amassing rather a collection of beads, which are normally ( Read more... )

academia, costuming

Comments 4

maweisse March 20 2009, 15:44:26 UTC

Wow! I remember having this exact conundrum when I still played. I basically just ran with Ibn Fadlan and wore as many beads as I felt like. I had a lot, and would typically pile them on for court and feast (yeah, I know - ostentatious!), but otherwise decide based on which necklace or strand I liked best that day. I look forward to updates on your decision.

The best thing now about having a ton of beads is that I can bring them in for show and tell when I teach Vikings - the undergrads love actually being able to touch the jewelry. Now I can't believe I contemplated selling my Viking jewelry when I stopped playing and again when I moved to the US!

ragnvaeig March 22 2009, 17:17:25 UTC

I'm figuring I'll look through the insular Viking burials first, since I have best access to those, then poke around for Norwegian graves, then maybe look at those from Birka, since they're well-known and I know there are lots of Swedish beads published. Once I have some conclusions (this might take a while, as it's a free-time project and I still have lecture materials to write) I'll talk about them here.

maweisse March 22 2009, 18:21:25 UTC

Cool. I look forward to it.

I'm teaching Ibn Fadlan next week (the Rusiyyah burial scene is part of our "burials" unit, as is Beowulf and the Jelling site). The text is James E. Montgomery's article in The Journal for Arabic and Islamic Studies 2 (2000), pp. 1-25. The article includes Montgomery's translation of the passage, and his description of the women's jewelry is different from the translation I read ten years ago. If had your e-mail address I could e-mail the PDF to you - if you're interested in it.

ragnvaeig March 22 2009, 18:30:35 UTC

Hm. Different in what way?