Hello Everyone,

I was wondering what kind of pants a viking would wear? Does anyone have any pics of viking style pants or know where I could get reproductions?

Also, does anyone have pics of a viking style hauberk or gambeson or know where I could get a quality reproduction?
Would a stiff leather vest be accurate for a viking? I am trying to make a viking kit without a mail coat and I'm not quite sure what I should use for upper body protection.

I plan on using this helmet http://www.merctailor.com/catalog/product_inf...ucts_id=71

Thanks inadvance for the input.
-James

Some authors seem to advocate that the Vikings turned towards exploration and attempts at colonization of new lands around 1100 to 1200. If this assumption were true, the climatic timing was unlucky.

http://www.spirasolaris.ca/1aintro.html

There are not much textile material left from the viking era, so much have to be guess work. There are however fragments of textiles or textiles used in later eras that can give us a fairly good picture of how they could have looked.

Pictures of clothing can be seen in the gotlandic sandstones and the oseberg tapestry.

Hera are some helpful links with pictures and patterns:


Simple pants:

http://www.historiska.se/histvarld/eng/drakte...krigfr.htm

Rus ballon pants:

http://www.historiska.se/histvarld/eng/drakte...errefr.htm

A few pictures of the ballon pants:

http://www.historiska.se/collections/shm-bild...sp?ID=5605

http://www.historiska.se/collections/shm-bild...sp?ID=5612

Thorsbjerg Trousers:

http://www.realviking.vikingagevessels.org/pd...othing.pdf

Damendorf trousers and sami trousers:

http://www.frojel.com/Documents/Document04.html

I my self have a couple of rus ballon pants. This model is well documented in viking art. Only problem is that buying the textiles can be pricey. I used about ten meters of fabric for my trousers. I have heard that there are guys that used up to fourteen meters.


Hope this helps.

/Ville

we don't know a lot about this...

Simple, non-baloon pants would be a safe bet. Combine with leg wrapings if you want a more baloon'ish look. Anyhow, this a eastern thing.
(Real manly vikings go west, and beat up celts and saxons, and come back with gold and women... Sweedish sissyboys go east, and come back with silly pants. :p )

As for the mail, we, again, do not know. It is assumed that vikings wore short sleeved mail shirts, but only two shirts have been found. These where as far as I remember sleveless.
We dont know anything about gambesons...
The byzantines, at the same time (but half the world away) used short sleeved, thigh length gambesons. these seem to be the norm with viking reenactors.
There is no evidence of thick leather armour, though gambesons faced with hide are mentioned.

yeah yeah yeah...

The pants are still silly. :D

I'm going with reasonably loose pants, optionally with leg wrappings, myself.

Actually fighting in baloon-pants seems like an inane idea. I think those are pants you wear to your blot-feast showing you are the guy with the latest stuff..

I've seen lots of people fight in baloon pants...
So it's posible

The landsknechts are worse, anyhow...

The Vikings ( as with anyone who wore ringmail ) would most definetely have worn a gambeson. There is lots of proof for Gambesons if one looks hard enough. Lots of re-enactors dodge the Gambeson question possibly because metal is cool, cloth is not, added to the fact that they are not, in my experience, very comfortable on a hot summers day "on the battlefield". The fact is that gambesons are essential for actual ringmail, otherwise it is of very very little use. If you've ever seen real ringmail, you'll understand...
I would suggest a garment made of many layers of wool, and /or linen, 'gamboised' with diagonal or vertical and horizontal seams. Thet can also be stuffed with old cloth or horsehair. History is littered with stories of cloth armour, but leather would be very difficult to make into effective armour, i think., unless, as was suggested, ( and there is some literary evidence for this..) as the outer layer of a Gambeson. Reindeer hide was used to provide armour for the retinue of one of the Norwegian King's retinues. Forget for now which one. Possibly Olaf Tryggvason. ( be grateful for some assistance from one of our Norwegian friends..) They were said to turn a sword as well as any mail. This should tell you more about ringmail than it does about leather armour! ;) Hehe..
As for pants...I take it you mean trousers? It has been suggested that trousers were quite baggy, as oppposed to the tighter fit of the Englisc, and please avoid the cross strappins on the lower leg. Little evidence for those that i know of and even if there was some evidence, they only serve to perpetuate the stereotype image of the Vikings. One might as well have a helmet with horns on! :lol:

I think we can be quite clear on that there were vikings that used baggy trousers (sorry for the pants. My english is not what it could be :) )
Whether they used leg wrappings or not is hard to tell, but considering later finds and finds from other parts of europe it seems likely. If they didn't use leg wrappings one has to ask one self why? maybe the were bare legged? However I can say from experience that cross wrapping the legs is unpractical.


Some pictures of balloon (or baggy) trousers:

http://www.gotmus.i.se/fornsalen/bildstenar/B...lla_a1.jpg

http://www.historiska.se/collections/mis/sok/...?uid=18450

http://www.historiska.se/collections/mis/sok/...?uid=17816

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~catsha...lbjers.JPG

http://www.abc.se/~m10354/bld/img/bildsten.jpg

/Ville

I might be a little bit off-topic but... do you know what kind of liners or arming cap were used by Vikings ? I own this spangenhelm from Albion (very nice helm for the price if you ask me, looks better in real than on the photo) :

[ Linked Image ]

There is a leather liner inside, but I feel I may need some kind of arming cap (or some adjustments made to the liner) for it to be really stable on my head.

I think it's easy to explain the "balloon" pants. Get your butt outta icy, you gotta wear 7 kilos worth of clothes
not to die of exposure in your own living room, herring for every meal land and go to where the spices are.
The people there drink wine, eat Oranges and wear "balloon" pants even in Winter (during which they see the
Sun) Who'd rather have Rottfisk and mummified Lingonberries whist sitting in the dark?

Lol
Doug Gentner