The Duality of Textiles

• Main Author: Genevieve Nielsen 1997-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Íslensk fornbókmenntasaga; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/40325

Textiles have been an integral part of human society since the knowledge of how to create thread from fiber developed. In the Age of the Vikings, textiles played a greater role than they do today. They acted as a form of currency, especially in Iceland where there was no metalic coinage production. For purposes of exchange the quality of cloth was written into Iceland’s early laws, and failure to achieve these standards could have drastic consequences, as revealed in the sagas. Both the family sagas and the legendary sagas of Iceland use clothing and textiles within their narratives. Textiles are also inexorably linked to the roles of women, who historically have been the makers and weavers of textiles. Women and textiles have been tied to the use of magic, as well as to supernatural beings and the idea of fate. As a result, textiles reflect both the more concrete, mundane aspects of Viking culture, those that are left in archaeological finds, as well as the elements of mythology and magic more difficult to know and understand.