Guðrún Sveinsdóttir

Challenges Entered: Embellish It, Stretch That Comfort Zone!, Can't Quite Prove It, Down the Rabbit Hole

Projects: Goldwork/Embroidery Award Medallions, Viking-era Silk Coat Trim, Viking-era Scandinavian Underwear and Menstrual Products

EK Wiki page: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/index.php?title=Guðrún_Sveinsdóttir

Goldwork/Embroidery Award Medallions

For this challenge, I decided to try a new embroidery skill: goldwork. In this case, it's silver thread rather than gold, but it is certainly metallic, and my understanding is that it still falls under the heading of "goldwork." I am making award medallions for Their Majesties' use in future Courts, and wanted to use metallic silver thread for some silver level awards. I modeled my concept off of the Opus Anglicanum, the English style of intricate embroidery that dates back to at least the 10th century (St. Cuthbert's stole and maniple are the earliest known surviving works in this style).

The medallions I decided upon were the Silver Wheel, Silver Brooch, and Silver Mantle. I used a base fabric of blue linen, with a variety of options to try for goldwork (silver Japaned silk), other embroidery (silk thread), and appliques (an imitation "cloth of silver"). The linen is backed with cotton interfacing for stability (not period-correct, but helpful for the medallion structure). The medallion base is a pendant "tray" with a built-in bail, the padding is foam, and the cord is hand-made cotton lucet cord. All non-metallic thread used is silk, other than the heavy-duty basting thread used to cinch the linen behind the medallion base.

I started with the Silver Wheel for two reasons: a) I figured it would be the easiest of the three to attempt, and b) I had an ulterior motive, since I was making one in secret for a certain recipient, and I knew the date he would be receiving it in Court. For the first Silver Wheel, I started with satin stitch for the body of the wheel, with a border, spokes, and axle center of surface couching. The results came out fairly well, although the metallic outer shell of the Japaned silk thread liked to catch and kink up, so it was labor intensive to make it work evenly. This is the only medallion that is complete (due to the Court deadline), although there are 3 others in process. The second Silver Wheel was made entirely with surface couching, which was a much faster and easier process than the satin stitch. The embroidery itself is done, but it has not yet been turned into a medallion. I have also laid down the applique "cloth of silver" half-circle as a partial base for a Silver Brooch medallion, and cut a "cloth of silver" applique for the Silver Mantle.

My full documentation can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gj7jguIGceonfahk0hfNN_QqDYeEzNUwgkZ_KXZQYwM

Viking-era Silk Coat Trim

My goal for this challenge was to embellish my Viking-era red wool coat. The coat was made in 2018, but at the time, I didn't have appropriate trim available. I wanted to use trim that would reflect my persona, the daughter of a 10th cent. Scandinavian merchant on the Volga trade routes; and my heraldry, which includes a lion and roses (technically octofoils). There are several Viking-era Scandinavian finds of Byzantine silk trim, including at Oseberg and at Birka, where my persona is from. Not all are patterned silk, but a few are, including the find at Oseberg. In 2019, I acquired a beautiful 100% silk damask reproduction (made by Sartor) of a 9th-10th cent. Byzantine brocade from the tomb of St. Julian. The pattern shows rondels of lions facing each other, and flowers in the spaces between the rondels.

It has been two years since I acquired my silk, and until this challenge gave me an incentive, I had yet to be able to bring myself to cut it into strips. According to both Vedeler and Krag, the extant finds of strips of silk describe it as "long, rectangular strips," some displaying evidence of needle-holes where they were sewn onto garments, and ranging in width from 0.8cm to 4cm (about 0.3" to 1.6"). At those narrow widths, any larger pattern in the silk would be nearly indiscernible. My love of this fabric stems from the lion pattern; I really didn't want to lose that. I ended up compromising with myself: I cut 1" strips to be used for trim down the front length of the coat, and cut 2" strips (to preserve the lion pattern) for the collar and cuffs.

Since the trim is silk, I used 100% silk thread (by Gütermann) to hand-sew it onto the coat using a combination of back stitch, running back stitch, and whip stitch (all period-appropriate). The cuffs and narrow front trim were mostly straight trim onto a straight seam (with a slight angle to the sleeve causing a slight angle to the seam of the trim). The collar, on the other hand, is curved, and therefore I needed to take darts in the straight strip of silk to mimic that curve. I tried to minimize disruption of the trim pattern through careful positioning of the darts. While I had a few hiccups that required some rethinking and reworking, overall I'm happy with how it turned out.

My full documentation can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NcWoKM1XWP2JdQfoRFSFupV3J5pLGVpOGJo4ojqaN-A

Viking-era Scandinavian Underwear and Menstrual Products

As someone with a Viking-era Scandinavian persona, I have been attempting to recreate an outfit that will be as period-accurate as possible with the current archaeological knowledge. In my quest to do this, I had a random thought: what would my persona have used for underwear, and how about menstrual products? What would have been available in that time and place? I posted this question in three relevant groups on social media, and accidentally started a huge debate, totaling over 500 comments between the 3 groups. While most comments were not based in archaeological finds or extant textual evidence, a few gave me some places to start.

In Lendbreen (Norway) and Coppergate/York (Viking-era England), there are finds of small wool and linen/hemp rags, which could have been used as "toilet paper," menstrual rags, or both. In Herjolfsnes, Greenland, there is a find of a possible incontinence or menstrual belt/pad with fragments of sphagnum moss, wool, and linen inside a sealskin holder. In York, there's also a find of sphagnum moss sheets that were confirmed to be used as toilet paper. The Sámi used sphagnum moss for diaper padding, and both the Laplanders and Greenlanders used it for cradle lining.

Based on the details of those finds in context with other concurrent cultures, the availability and known uses of sphagnum moss, and a successful experimental archaeology recreation by another reenactor, I believe the Herjolfsnes belt, with a linen pad stuffed with sphagnum and/or wool (well-scoured to remove the lanolin for better absorption), would be a good solution for anyone experiencing bleeding. There is archaeological evidence that, although scarce and not completely provable, points towards this interpretation, especially in context with evidence from the surrounding cultures of the time. Based on the archaeological evidence we do have, as well as the success of the experimental archaeology, I believe that this would be a likely scenario as well as a practical one. Stuffing a pad with rags could have been an alternative when sphagnum wasn’t available/handy.

My full documentation can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VIqh0KbWVjuaiEMf7Q3uStByjV0wmLG1ejSPGcjx6iA