[Joonas Pessi]

I have heard that red clothing was a sign of status in the viking age, since madder does not occur in scandinavia (as far as I know)

This seems to be supported by both archeological and literary evidence: The "queen" buried in the Oseberg ship find was laid in madder-dyed red cloth, the wealthy man buried at Mammen had on him, an embroidered cape dyed with madder, and probaply a tunic also dyed with madder.

In the sagas red clothing is mentioned along with other signs of status such as golden armrings, gold brocaded bands sewn to cuffs, swords, and helmets. I have compiled a few examples here that illustrate this:

-here a shepherd is describing a band of men to Helgi, and this is how he describes Bolli Bollisons clothing:
"Next to him sat a man in a gilded saddle; he had on a scarlet kirtle, and a gold ring on his arm, and a gold-embroidered fillet was tied round his head. -Laxdaela saga Chapter 63

-Gunnar has disguised himself as "Huckster Hedinn", a poor and quarrelsome character, but one man notices something peculiar about him and describes it to Hoskuld:
"I saw how a golden fringe and a bit of scarlet cloth peeped out at his arm, and on his right arm he had a ring of gold". -Brennu Njals saga Chapter 23

-Gettir is wrestling with Audun, when Bardi enters the hall:
he sees a man come up, of goodly growth, in a red kirtle and with a helmet on his head. -Grettirs saga Asmundarsonar Chapter 28

There are lots of examples of red clothing associated with status in the sagas but I think these serve to illustrate my point.

What I haven't found out is how common other, less expensive colour choices were for rich people. Would some rich people wear tunics that were not red out of personal preference, much like modern people do, or would they have considered showing his status more important than his colour preference? And how frequent would it have been for someone of a higher status to choose not to signal his status via clothing colour?

I am asking this, since I am planning to portray a rich person from Hedeby, but red as the main colour of a piece of clothing has never been very appealing to me, and I would rather wear blue, but I might just have to get over my modern preferences, and make a red tunic.

The one example that I have been able to find is of Harald Hardrada wearing a blue tunic before the battle of stamford bridge:

The English king Harald said to the Northmen who were with him,

"Do ye know the stout man who fell from his horse, with the blue kirtle and the beautiful helmet?"

"That is the king himself." said they.

So would it be ahistorical to wear a blue tunic as a rich person in 10th century Hedeby?

[Mark Millman]

Dear Mr. Pessi,

Keep in mind, if you're reading the sagas in translation rather than in Old Icelandic, that skarlat, which is now usually translated as "red" or "scarlet", really meant something more like "brightly colored" when the sagas were written. There seems to be some scholarly opinion (among historians studying the luxury woolen broadcloth called "scarlet cloth", which is the source of the Old Icelandic word) that red (specifically from the dye kermes) was always a component of the final color, but it could be used along with other colors, such as blue (from woad, to produce purple) or yellow (from weld, to produce orange). I don't know how widespread this opinion is, but it seems to have some weight. Like you, I understand that red was a high-status color, and that dressing to reflect one's status was more important in the Viking Age than it is today, but I think that you at least have the option of dressing in purple.

Note also that many people think that there were two colors indicated by the Old Icelandic word blár, and that it could be used for "blue" or for "black". In the latter case, it would have been a deep raven black or blue-black produced by dyeing, rather than the color obtained by, for example, weaving the wool of black sheep, which was svartr. There seems to be some scholarly dissent from this idea (specifically at https://scholar.colorado.edu/gsll_facpapers/1/), but I'm not sure how influential it is. At any rate, high-status individuals in the Icelandic saga planning to commit a killing are often described as dressing in blár clothes, so deep blue or blue-black probably works for your impression.

I hope this proves helpful.

Best,

Mark Millman

[Joonas Pessi]

Thank you for the reply Mark, I had not heard that the word skarlat, in old norse meant brightly coloured, and not just red. I had thought that kermes was only used on imported silks, and not wool. What are these scholars basing this opinion on, is there archeological evidence for woolcloth, which has been dyed using kermes as a component?

Yes dark blue is what I am going for when the woad that I have planted is ready to harvest. I am still wondering would dark blue be high status enough for someone that can afford a helmet, and perhaps even a mail shirt? At least it was good enough for Harald Hardrada, but its about a century later than what I am going for, and the wrong geographical location.

The prevalence of blue clothing in the sagas might just be due to the fact that blue was the most prevalent clothing colour all over scandinavia, (from what I have read) and they might have just used the best clothing they had for such an important task, and that they would have been noticeable, since a killing committed openly would be manslaughter, but if it was done covertly it would be considered murder.

[Mark Millman]

Dear Joonas,

[Joonas Pessi]

Yeah I am probably going with a deep blue tunic, trimmed on the neck with deep red/purple silk, and silver brocaded tablet woven bands at the cuffs.

[Tommi Syrjänen]

[Joonas Pessi]

I have seen the chieftain from the ladby burial reconstructed with blue clothes, although I am still trying to confirm this with from the museum.

[Joonas Pessi]