Last night was the opening of the Man in the Marsh (Mannen i Myra) exhibition at Tromsø Museum. I was present with two other members of Straumeyjar to witness for the first time the actual clothing that we have based so much of today’s viking clothes on: the Skjoldehamn outfit.
It was one of the most inspirational museum visits in my life, not only because I got to actually see the oldest clothes in Norway (dated back to around the year 1050), but also because we were surrounded by people who actually appreciate historical clothing. And as a viking reenactor, it can be just as inspirational to receive praise as it is to witness historical clothing.
The Skjoldehamn outfit was found at Skjoldehamn, Andøya the summer of 1936, and is the best preserved clothing we have found here in Norway.
I have already made myself a hood from the Skjoldehamn pattern, and the next project is definitely gonna be a dress based off the pattern of the tunic you see on the picture above.
Now what is really fascinating is that they do not know if the person they found wearing the outfit was a man or a woman. There is no evidence it was either, so it is all up to each person to decide. Popular belief is to say it was a man, there off the name of the exhibition, but the scientists have not yet decided upon a gender.
Another awesome thing about the exhibition is that there are also tablet weave bands made by people in Straumeyjar. They are made by some of our really skilled ladies and they definitely deserve to be on display with the rest of the exhibition.
And finally, I got to show off my Wolf Queen dress, complete with my brand new arctic fox fur! I truely felt like a queen walking around there and I got a ton of compliments from both my fellow vikings, the people at the museum and the visitors to the exhibition.
Reblogged this on StraumEyjar.
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