Oppstadveven

“Wadmal and weaving formed the basis of an important part of women’s history. We felt a longing and a need to look closer at that history and, at the same time, to bring the old loom back to life ...“ With as history that stretches back over thousands of years the warp-weighted loom is a simple construction that can yield beautiful and complex textiles. In Western Norway, this tradition has been kept alive through the weaving of ‘åkle’-woven carpets. Over the past couple of decades Osterøy museum, Museum Centre in Hordaland, with its focus on tangible and intangible cultural heritage, has provided loom based handwaving courses in a bid to ensure that the textiles techniques of the region are passed onto a new generation of practitioners.

As well as providing a historical backdrop this text is also serves as a handbook for weaving. Some of the many topics covered include: How to build a loom, how to arrange the loom for weaving different types of fabrics and how the history in the North Atlantic area has been shaped by this handwaving tradition. Take time to enjoy this fascinating journey through the traditional skills and knowledge associated with the standing loom.

HILDUR HÁKONARDÓTTIR | ELIZABETH JOHNSTON | MARTA KLØVE JUUHL RANDI ANDERSEN (RED.) ATLE OVE MARTINUSSEN (RED.)

THE WARP-WEIGHTED LOOM KLJÁSTEINAVEFSTAÐURINN OPPSTADVEVEN ISBN 978-82-7959-219-8

KLINKINS STEINS KLJÀSTEINAR KLINGJA KLINGANDE STEINAR

BOK A ER UTGIT T AV MUSEUMSENTERET I HORDAL AND

I SAMARBEID MED SK ALD FORL AG UTGIT T MED STØT TE FRÅ NORSK HÅNDVERKSINSTITUT T OG NORSK KULTURRÅD INDEX: EGIL NYSÆTER TRANSL ATION: HANNA DALE GRAFISK DESIGN: AUD GLOPPEN FONT: LEXICON OG PL AN GROTESQUE PAPIR: MUNKEN LYNX TRYKK: LIVONIA PRINT, RIGA © SK ALD 2016 E-POST: FORL AG@SK ALD.NO WWW.SK ALD.NO ISBN 978-82-7959-219-8

CONTENT

RANDI ANDERSEN OG ATLE OVE MARTINUSSEN

7

Preface

HILDUR HÁKONARDÓTTIR

11

How We Met ONE TEXTILE HERITAGE – THREE STORIES

17

The woof of war

HILDUR HÁKONARDÓTTIR

21

Iceland’s Settlement and Trade in Woven Goods – 900 Years Working the Old Loom

ELIZABETH JOHNSTON

59

The Warp-Weighted Loom in Shetland

MARTA KLØVE JUUHL

93

The Warp-Weighted Loom in Norway with Emphasis on Western Norway THE PRACTICAL HANDBOOK

MARTA KLØVE JUUHL

145

Building a Warp-Weighted Loom

JOHNSTON, KLØVE JUUHL, HÁKONARDÓTTIR

148

Weaving Instruction for the Warp Weighted Loom |

MARTA KLØVE JUUHL

179

Weaving Diagrams and Instructions for Various Textiles

SKÚLI THORODDSEN, HILDUR HÁKONARDÓTTIR

197

The Viðeyjarskýrsla or ‘Videy Report’ From Around 1760

ELIZABETH JOHNSTON

209

Spinning

Hvernig setja skal upp í kljásteinavefstaðurinn | Oppsetjing av vev

TEXILE FINDINGS AND RESEARCH INGVILD ØYE

219

The loom in the grave – a source to textile production in the Viking period

MICHÈLE HAYEUR SMITH

235

Textiles in Iceland, ad 873–1600

KATHERINE LARSON

243

Weaving in the Dark? Hearth-House Weaving on a Warp-Weighted Loom

CAROL CHRISTIANSEN

251

Taatit Rugs – Shetland’s Pile Bedcovers

CAROL CHRISTIANSEN AND LENA HAMMARLUND

261

Finishing Cloth in the Sea

SIGRIDUR SIGURDARDOTTIR

267

The Heritage Crafts School and the Warp-Weighted Loom

ATLE OVE MARTINUSSEN

273

The importance of safeguarding and passing on intangible cultural heritage connected to crafts in our modern society

RANDI ANDERSEN

285

Epilogue

ØRJAN ENGEDAL

292

Rekonstruksjon av forhistoriske drakter

295

References

298

Illustrations

299

Contributors

300

Notes

302

Index

5

HILDUR HÁKONARDÓTTIR is born in Iceland. In her late teens she moved to America where she became interested in textile fragments from Peru and Egypt. This interest deepened while she was studying tapestry weaving in Iceland and Scotland. After graduation from art school she encouraged artistic weaving in her home country and is well known for her work, some of which emphasises women’s oppressed role in society in the wake of the 1968 social upheavals. Her interest in the upright loom grew through a desire to use simple implements and, at the same time, to bring to light the wealth of written sources found in Iceland about the loom and its products.

ELIZABETH JOHNSTON comes from a Shetland family of spinners and knitters. She got to know the old upright loom when she was working at the famous Old Scatness archaeological site. This was before she had any experience with weaving on a flat loom. She is a storehouse of knowledge about the old and unique wisdom of spinners, knitters and dyers, having learned these crafts from Shetland women who were taught the centuries-old methods used by their mothers and grandmothers. She has researched old patterns and working methods. She lives with her collection of spinning wheels and from her craft, and gives courses in Shetland and abroad.

MARTA KLØVE JUUHL , a daughter of a sheep farmer and wool grader in Voss, learned to weave from her grand-aunt and then graduated as a weaving teacher. After teaching the craft for 25 years and taking commissions from artists, Norsk Folkemuseum, Gamlehaugen in Bergen and several churches, it naturally became her task at the Osterøy museum to understand how to work the warp-weighted loom. From her childhood at the farm, she knew the tradition of woven and knotted ryas and åkle, which stretches back to the old loom, and after meeting Berta Liarbø in Fitjar, the last åkle weaver on the warp-weighted loom, she acquired even more knowledge about the old ways.

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Hildur HĂĄkonardĂłttir

In eastern Slovakia where Hungary, Ukraine and Poland meet, examples may be seen of garments worn by the Ruthenian (Rusyn) nomads. They brought this tradition with them from farther east in the Middle Ages. The garment, a guba, is made from the long-haired wool of the racka sheep.20 In more recent centuries, the guba was made with sleeves. Various ancient traditions persisted for many centuries and at winter festivities people donned shaggy garments to play the part of animals, or dressed as shepherds at Christmas. Tradition also says that bridegrooms (or gatecrashers at weddings) wore shaggy white garments. The true meaning of these stories is unclear and has become frayed like an old garment. → Similar garments are still to be found in Rumania, called suba.

�

The first and only fulling mill built in a river at the outskirts of ReykjavĂ­k, and belonging to The New Enterprises. Of the original ten houses, only one still exists in the centre of Reykjavik.

In neighbouring countries, the native sheep had generally been replaced with breeds that had finer fleece. In due course, ill-conceived attempts to improve the native sheep stock led to disease, and the number of sheep dropped by about half, causing detrimental wool shortage.

Marta Kløve Juuhl

Hildur Hákonardóttir Iceland’s Settlement and Trade in Woven Goods

Danish, Icelandicised as Innréttingarnar. Only two or three horizontal looms had previously been installed on prosperous farms.56 But by the time Icelanders finally decided to move on from their stone-age technology, Great Britain was about to move into the machine age. Consequently, the effort was largely wasted. The industrialisation of textile production was far more complex than anyone had foreseen. Nothing had been done to explore potential markets abroad.

The King´s Treasurer (landfógeti) Skúli Magnússon and champion of the New Enterprises, had planned for women around the country to spin yarn in their homes using spinning wheels. Specialised workmanship was needed if the new weaving workshops should be capable of producing various kinds of cloth.57 But women were somewhat reluctant to abandon their knitting, which was a known source of income. It took time to master the spinning wheels and to produce the desired thickness and quality of yarn, let alone guaranteeing that the specific information reached the spinners in the countryside. There was no distribution system, no means of providing training in rural areas or any regional system for collecting spun yarn or selling it, and so the advent of industrial production, on however small a scale, encountered various problems. How, for example, were the factory workers to be fed when they lived far from where food was produced? There were no shops. In many parts of Europe, urban development with small industries went hand-in-hand with the cultivation of potatoes.58 This useful and nutritious plant was a welcome addition to other foods, and Skúli Magnússon was one of the first to set up a potato patch at his residence on Viðey Island, a short distance from Reykjavík; he had acquired his first seed potatoes from a Danish student who had been sent to help start the New Enterprises.59 Despite the well-meaning efforts of Skúli Magnússon and others, the attempt to launch a production of fully finished woollen cloth was short-lived. In 1764 three of the buildings burned down. 60 A whole profession of woman weavers disappeared, and it took time to train the men to do the weaving. The dream of large-scale woollens exports came to nothing. Iceland did gain some renowned male weavers, but had fallen too far behind. One hundred years later,

51

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Hildur Hákonardóttir Iceland’s Settlement and Trade in Woven Goods

the men handed the shuttles and yarn back to the women, when it was clear that the woollens industry was not going to be a success. The country did not industrialise in earnest until it acquired hydro-electricity and geothermal power in the early 20th century.

At some point Skúli Magnússon appears to have realised that it was necessary to transfer existing craft skills to the more productive new technology – or perhaps he was simply interested in the subject from a historical point of view, or maybe he was desperate. At any rate, he sat down with a woman (whose name is not recorded) who knew how to weave on the warp-weighted loom, and asked her what it had been used for.

The precise date of that interview is not known, but it was probably in 1764. Skúli seems to have interviewed only one woman – or she may have spoken on behalf of a larger group. His recount of their talk, the Viðey Report, was published a hundred years later in a periodical.61 The woman describes nine types of weaving. Parts of the report are difficult to understand, as the woman uses specialised weaving vocabulary, and Skúli does not ask her to explain the terms. The question of thread count is particularly obscure; such information is more readily acquired from surviving pieces of weaving, or from the Búalög rules.

Over the next half-century, the number of horizontal looms rose steadily. By the beginning of the 19th century the warp-weighted loom had all but disappeared. The timbers of the old loom were re-used as fence posts or wall-studs – timber was always in short supply, so it would inevitably be repurposed. Warp-weighted looms remained in use, however, in a few places – on one farm until 1860.62 Initially the horizontal looms were quite narrow – at least those used in the home. A story is told of an old woman’s indignation over the product from the new, narrow floor looms: ‘It’s no wider that a dog’s tongue, and it’s impossible to make any garment from it,’ she uttered.63

WAS WADMAL FINE CLOTH OR COARSE SACKING MATERIAL? The opinion has been expressed that the cloth woven on the warp-weighted loom was coarse and of poor quality. However, examples of textiles woven after the introduction of the horizontal loom provide evidence of expertise – whether the weaver was then

Horsehair sacks are said to have been woven on a warp-weighted loom as late as the early 20th century in the isolated Öræfi region: it was difficult to weave coarse fibres such as horsehair on the horizontal loom, so the old loom was used. The clearest evidence of warp-weighted looms is the collections of loom weights, which withstand the elements, even though they have gradually been dispersed and returned to nature – with the exception of the examples stored in sturdy boxes in the repositories of heritage museums. ← Brynjólfur Sveinsson (1605–1675), bishop in Skálholt, wearing a woollen frock that would have been woven on the old upright loom.

The first flat loom came to Skálholt almost a century after his death, but it was designed for linen and was of little or no use.

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Marta Kløve Juuhl

bedspread or coverlet. It lay on top of the bed and was meant to be displayed; it was adornment, as it says in Saa Maata.

Underneath the åkle or brotkvitel lay a simpler woolen blanket, which was also called a kvitel. There could be both a top- and bottom kvitel. The beds and benches were part of the living room furniture, and we can imagine that an åkle would also be something of an eye-catcher. It was important that it protected what lay underneath, but the weaving of it was also one of the few places where the wife could show her skills in creating border variation and combining colours to exploit the full potential of the simple technique of making weft ribbed fabric. The quote from Saa Maata indicates that the brotkvitel was something that would light up the living room.

Åkle from Hålandsdalen, Fusa.

This åkle from around 1890 has yarn dyed with store-bought dyes.

In the oldest title deeds from Haus municipality in Hordaland, the åkle is mentioned as far back as the 18th century. In the division of an estate at Seim in 1705, the document lists for instance “1-one wevgang (which must mean one loom, that is, one warp-weighted loom), one åkle and one mjukkvittel (“soft blanket”).” Both wadmal, brotkvitlar and other types of cloth are mentioned during divisions of property in Nordhordland.175 From the 18th century and towards our own time, there are preserved examples of åkle. This makes it much easier to say something about their quality and appearance. In general, åkle are carpets where the warp thread does not show. The warp can be made of wool, linen or cotton, depending on its age. The weft is usually made of wool. One may stumble across some linen used as weft, but this is very rare.176 The oldest ones have homespun yarn in both warp and weft. This was before cotton yarn was known in Norway.

The weft was home-dyed until the early 20th century. Plant dyes were the norm until merchants started travelling around the countryside selling bags of dye powder. Examples of this type of åkle can be found from the late 19th century. These dyes were not always as strong, and some of them faded very fast, while other parties would retain their hue longer. This is why you will often find åkle where the pattern is faded quite unevenly. It may seem like the weaveress has suddenly switched to a different pattern, but on the contrary: it is the dye that fools you. It may also be that the dyes were completely different from what the dyer had imagined. The surprise would be great when you discovered a bright pink where you had

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Marta Kløve Juuhl

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Marta Kløve Juuhl The Warp-Weighted Loom in Norway with Emphasis on Western Norway

imagined red. This could also happen with plant-based dyes, but the colours were never as garish as with chemical dyes. They were probably easier to control.

Around 1990, an older woman in Arna related that traditionally, “runæ”, that is, the spring wool, would be spun and used for the weft. She did not mention why, but one might imagine that it has to do with the length of the fibres. The spring wool is shorter than the autumn wool. The weft in åkle is often very thick, and is sometimes 3-ply, but it is a soft yarn. If you are spinning thick yarn, the fibres do not need to be as long. When the weft is not beaten hard together, the åkle will adapt to your body when using it as a bedspread. But Saa Maata states that these textiles were quite thick, because they were often quite tightly beaten.

There are many local words for an åkle: dokkåkle, smettåkle, ruteåkle, brotkvitel, triskjeftsteppe, randåkle, brautåkle, krokåkle or fjølrøysåkle, depending on which district it is from. They usually have a crosswise border, or the entire coverlet has a square pattern, and they often include eight-pointed stars.

Triskjeftsteppe and krokåkle are woven in the krokbragd technique.

You need three shafts to weave this on a horizontal loom, but on the warp-weighted loom, one would pick up the shed equivalent to the first and third shaft. You use the natural shed as the second shaft. The term krokåkle indicates the pattern achieved using this technique: spikes or zigzag borders. Randåkle and brautåkle also mean coverlets with decorative borders, but these could be made with different techniques. Fjølrøysåkle refers to the weaving technique. One could pick up some warp threads on an extra stick in the loom, and every time the pattern was needed, one would place the stick or board on its edge, lift it and pass the weft through. On a warp-weighted loom, this board would have to be moved below the shaft when not in use. If you needed this pattern shed, you would pass the stick close up underneath the shaft in a horizontal position. Then you would use another stick and place it in the shed that would form above the shaft. This creates a pattern shed.

Dokkåkle, smettåkle and ruteåkle are technically the same type. All three are tapestries where the pattern is made of squares, and usually it includes eight-pointed stars. Smett means that you slip the pattern or inlay threads in between the warp threads.

Grosch explains that dokkåkle in Hardanger are åkle woven with

↑ Announcement in Horda Tidend, Voss from 1965 about delivery of ru and an announcement about purchase of wool and ru. From this text we understand that the word ru was used all the way up to the 1970s. We recognise the word from Shetland, where it means wool, and also from Iceland. ← Ruteåkle (square weave).This åkle has a strict

pattern. The main pattern, which is eight-pointed stars, is symmetrical from the centre. These patterns are rarely as accurate as here. Only the edge border is somewhat unevenly placed. The woollen weft yarn appears to be homespun.

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Marta Kløve Juuhl

number of warp threads are tied around each rock. The Sami use many threads for each rock, so that the weight is significantly lower than for the traditional åkle in Western Norway. The weight may be lower per thread because wool yarn is used as warp thread. Wool is more elastic than linen, which is used in Western Norway today.

The soft weft yarn is in large skeins, called uddu, that are passed through the shed as you weave. The weft threads are passed through in “waves”, so that it does not tighten as you push them up against the weave. You just use your fingers, not a sword beater or any other tool. This is probably done to avoid making the blanket too stiff.

With a sword beater, it is easy to strike too hard. But there may have been a tool with which to beat the weave in earlier times too.

You can vary the pattern, but there is a certain plan to the stripes and fields. There are often single-coloured fields, usually about the width of a hand, that alternate with striped fields. The finishing at the top and bottom can also be striped.

Anna Karlotte Pedersen Salo and Åse Pauline Grønnbakk still practice grene weaving, upholding a living craft tradition. Åse Grønnbakk has worked at Holmenes, a coast Sami farm that is part of NordTroms museum today. She has demonstrated grene weaving there every summer for many years. Anna Karlotte Pedersen Salo has her own weaving workshop where she weaves grener and other textiles based on grene weaving. These two informants have been my most important sources.

The photos showing the setup of a grene blanket are borrowed from Ase Gronbakk.

She has written the three following captions: My mother, Eline Solvang, warping the loom for a grene (1 x 1.4m) to be set up at Holmenes Sjøsamiske Gard in Birtavarre at Nord-Troms museum’s premises in Kåfjord. Grene weaving has survived in Manndalen, and some women, including my mother, started weaving after the Second World War, and taught many of the young this ancient weaving tradition that was on the brink of extinction. My mother taught Anna Karlotte Pedersen Salo, among other people. All the women here did not weave grene, but spun, carded and knit and traded with those who wove grener for them.

↑ My mother and I took turns warping the loom.

It was important that I remembered the entire process when I would demonstrate grene weaving during tours on the museum farm, which was my responsibility from the opening on June 17, 1989, until I retired in September 2012. → My mother and I have set up the grene and started weaving. I gathered the stones from the river in Birtavarre and weighed them by hand. It was important that they had equal weight. My father made the loom and warping frame. My mother spun the yarn for the grene. In the photo, I am in the process of making new warp threads to show the warping process. I also made a finished warp that was displayed on the wall by the loom. I have since completed the grene I started working on.

It hangs in the café at Holmenes to demonstrate a finished grene.

Loom Components

Marta Kløve Juuhl

BUILDING A WARP-WEIGHTED LOOM

A warp-weighted loom can be constructed quite easily by going out into the woods and finding some materials. You need a solid log on each side, and a few slenderer rods across. But this loom is the same as any other tool – it will work much better if it is well made.

There are many illustrations of the loom in historical times, but not all are equally reliable. Many are drawn by people who cannot weave, and do not understand why certain details are more important than others.

Pine is the most suitable material.

You need three solid logs: two for the uprights, and one for the beam on top. The uprights should divide in two at the top, forming a natural place to lay the beam. Then you need at least two crosswise rods. One of them should be flat – for the shed rod – and the other round – for the heddle rod. If you want to weave twill, you need three round rods in total. The heddles will be tied around these.

Each upright should have a crevice or support in which to place the heddle rods. The support for the heddle rod looks like a hook.

When weaving twill, it can be a good idea to have two sets of supports on each side. You also need sticks with which to fasten the shed rod and pass the warp threads around.

While weaving you beat the weft upwards with a sword beater. It should be slightly curved and have a certain weight to be an efficient beating tool.

To maintain warp tension, you need loom weights. Traditionally, rocks were used as weights, in pairs of equal weight. They may vary from 0.6 to 1.4 kg, depending on what you are weaving. You need to drill a hole in the rocks through which you can fasten the warp threads. The thicker the warp thread, the heavier weights you need.

These loom weights were called kljåsteinar in Norwegian. They would preferably be made of soapstone, but this was not available everywhere. You can also use small sandbags, water bottles, ceramic weights or other suitable items at your disposal.

The working drawings with measurements and comments in this chapter are made by Jon Ketil Hatland. They are also available in the booklet Oppstadveven (“The Warp-Weighted Loom”) by Anna Østerbø Kåstad, Osterøy museum 2000. Lisa Degamo has made a redrawing.

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Helping stick put in place.

Hjálparskaftinu komið fyrir.

Hjelpestokken vert festa.

Round first back warp.

Hnýtt um fyrsta bakþráð.

Rundt fyrste tråd i bakre laget.

Finishing buttonhole stitch.

Lokið við kappmelluna.

Knyting av knappholsting.

One heddle has been tied.

Eitt hafald tryggilega fest.

Ein hovel ferdig knytt.

Heddles complete.

Hafaldahnýtingu lokið.

Renninga er ferdig hovla.

In the front position, shed 2.

Skaftið dregið fram og nýtt skil myndað.

I fremre posisjon, skil 2.

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Elizabeth Johnston Marta Kløve Juuhl Hildur Hákonardóttir

Start at the right side of the loom.

Byrjið hægra megin. Festið hafaldaþráðinn vandlega við skaftið.

Start på høgre sida av veven. Knyt hoveltråden godt fast i hovelstokken.

Attach the heddle thread to the heddle rod securely. Choosing all threads in sequence from the top of the loom, pass the heddle thread between the first and second warp threads in the front layer, over the top of the heddle rod, around the helping stick at the back of the loom, and enclosing the first thread at the back of the loom. Bring the thread back to the front of the loom, between the same warp threads in the front warp layer and under the heddle rod.

Fasten with a buttonhole stitch with an extra twist. Tighten.

Next put the heddle thread around the heddle rod only and tie with a buttonhole stitch. Tighten. This helps to keep the heddle in place as you weave.

Pass one warp thread in the front and make a heddle around the next warp thread at the back in the same way. Continue across the warp.

Veljið þræðina í réttri röð upp við rifinn.

Smeygið hafaldaþræðinum milli fyrsta og annars af framþráðunum yfir hafaldaskaftið kringum hjálparskaftið og fyrsta bakþráðinn. Færið hann síðan fram milli sömu uppistöðuþráða og undir hafaldaskaftið. Festið með þéttri kappmellu og aukasnúningi. Herðið að.

Síðan skal bregða hafaldaþræðinum utan um hafaldaskaftið með annarri kappmellu og herða að. Þetta hjálpar til að halda höföldunum stöðugum.

Hlaupið yfir einn framþráð og hnýtið svo hafald kringum næsta bakþráð á sama hátt.

Ljúkið við að binda öll höföldin.

Legg hoveltråden mellom fyrste og andre renningstråd i fremste laget, før tråden over hovelstokken, rundt hjelpestokken og fyrste tråd i det bakre laget. Før tråden fram att mellom dei same trådane i fremste laget og på undersida av hovelstokken. Fest hoveltråden med eit knappholsting med dobbel snu. Stram. No har du knytt den fyrste hovelen.

Knyt så hoveltråden berre rundt hovelstokken og fest med eit knappholsting med dobbel snu. Dette er ein ekstra runde for å gjera hovlane meir stabile når du skal veva.

Så knyter du neste hovel rundt andre renningstråd i bakre laget på same måte som den fyrste. Hald fram slik tvers over heile veven. Pass på at du flytter deg ein tråd til venstre i fremste laget for kvar hovel òg.

NOTE: If the first thread of the warp is at the back of the loom – tie a heddle onto that thread first, and then continue with the instruction above.

When the heddles are complete, remove the helping stick.

ATHUGASEMD: Ef fyrsti þráður uppistöðunnar er bakþráður – bindið þá hafaldið um þann þráð fyrst og haldið síðan áfram eins og segir að ofan. Þegar lokið er við að binda höföldin er hjálparskaftið fjarlægt.

PASS PÅ: Dersom fyrste renningstråden ligg i bakre laget, startar du med å knyta rundt den tråden. Når du er ferdig å knyta hovlar, ta bort hjelpestokken.

S O G N O G FJ O R D A N E

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1 2–5 5–10

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THE LOOM IN THE GRAVE – A SOURCE TO TEXTILE PRODUCTION IN THE VIKING PERIOD Practically and functionally, textiles constitute basic properties necessary to keep the body warm under shifting conditions both outdoors and indoors. Additionally, they were, as they still are, able to signify status and difference in rank. In the Viking period, textile production moved into a new and pioneering role when the sail was taken into use in this northern part of Europe. Traditionally, however, textile production was a female domain, where the housewife or common wife had a superior role and responsibility in the different work processes from raw material to finished products.

This is also reflected in the burials.

The traces of textile production in Viking Age graves constitute an important source to this production in a concrete way, revealing what kind of tools were used, where, when and what kind of production they reflect. These are some of the issues I look into in an ongoing project related to the Viking period and the Middle Ages in West-Norwegian and West-Norse societies. In this chapter I look closer at grave finds related to the loom and weaving more specifically in the two counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane.

Fig. 1.

Graves with textile tools in the counties Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane.

Sometime during the tenth century a woman from one of the coastal districts in Western Norway was buried in a monumental grave at the farm Toranger in the island community of Austevoll in the county of Hordaland. The grave was discovered by local farmers in 1904 in a large cairn, approximately 10 metres across. In an open space between the stones, 3 feet or about 90 cm deep in the middle of the cairn, human bones, dress accessories and different textile tools were found.205 The artefacts give insight into an important industry and a special competence related to textile production in the Viking period (c. 800–1050 ad).

This grave is only one of about fifty Viking Age graves in Hordaland where the deceased was furnished with textile tools and other equipment. In the county of Sogn og Fjordane to the north, such grave goods were even more common, with more than eighty graves with different textile tools. Altogether then, more than 130 graves with such implements are known from this central part of Western Norway206 (Fig.1).

As with the Toranger grave, many of the grave finds were discovered during agricultural fieldwork at an early stage of archaeology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – a time of intensive land

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Warp-weighted loom in corner of Heimvikstova, with double-cloth experiment on the loom.

Katherine Larson Weaving in the Dark? Hearth-House Weaving on a Warp-Weighted Loom

Selecting dark warp threads during double-cloth experiment.

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Carol Christiansen

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Carol Christiansen Taatit Rugs – Shetland’s Pile Bedcovers

Fig. 3.

Rug made for the marriage of Ursula Mouat (1825–1912) to James Nisbet (1827–1893) on 27 June 1850. The date on the rug may indicate when it was finished!

Fig. 4.

Taatit rug with balanced crosses in the moorit border, diamonds and hourglass shapes, flower buds coming from the corners and a centre square divided into eight sections.

The Skagafjรถrรฐur Heritage Museum exhibitions are a.o.p. located on the Glaumbรฆr museum ground. There are two late-19th century timber buildings and the old turf farmhouse, where the exhibition depicts everyday life on an old manorial estate.

Sigridur Sigurdardottir

THE HERITAGE CRAFTS SCHOOL AND THE WARP-WEIGHTED LOOM

The Skagafjรถrรฐur Heritage Museum is a centre for conservation and research on local history and cultural heritage in the Skagafjรถrรฐur district.

Knowledge of old crafts will be lost if it is not maintained; the only way to do so is to conserve them, promote them and teach them. In 2006, museum staff reached the conclusion that the time had come to respond to disappearing craftsmanship skills in construction.

The decision arose from the fact that the museum had long been gathering resources on turf construction techniques, and skilled individuals were still available to share their knowledge.

The communities of Skagafjรถrรฐur in northern Iceland still abound in heritage sites that relate to the history of the region and its agricultural past. During the past ten years the museum has gathered resources on building techniques in turf and stone, and these are in the keeping of the museum. In Skagafjรถrรฐur there are still outstanding craftspeople that are willing to take part in maintaining the old crafts; and there is growing interest in maintaining the skills required in order to ensure the continuity of an important and unusual cultural heritage.

In the spring of 2007 the Skagafjรถrรฐur Heritage Museum, the Northwest Iceland Comprehensive College and Hรณlar University College jointly launched the Heritage Crafts School (Fornverkaskรณli).

From the outset, the intention was that the school could also offer instruction in other crafts. Its main objective is to offer instruction in traditional Icelandic construction methods and techniques โ especially using turf as a building material. Methods and techniques used in the courses are registered and the records are kept in the form of photographs, videos, surveys, plans and written descriptions. The courses are hands-on: students learn about the traditional tools, and also learn to use modern tools without diminishing or changing the quality of the craftsmanship.

Atle Ove Martinussen, director of The Museum Centre in Hordaland, Norway, invited the Skagafjรถrรฐur Heritage Museum to send a representative to a course on weaving on the warp-weighted loom in Norway in 2012. He suggested that it was time to make an Icelandic replica of a historical warp-weighted loom, to draw attention to weaving and enable people to make their own loom. The offer was accepted and the museum sent two weavers, Ragnheiรฐur ร รณrs-

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“Wadmal and weaving formed the basis of an important part of women’s history. We felt a longing and a need to look closer at that history and, at the same time, to bring the old loom back to life ...“ With as history that stretches back over thousands of years the warp-weighted loom is a simple construction that can yield beautiful and complex textiles. In Western Norway, this tradition has been kept alive through the weaving of ‘åkle’-woven carpets. Over the past couple of decades Osterøy museum, Museum Centre in Hordaland, with its focus on tangible and intangible cultural heritage, has provided loom based handwaving courses in a bid to ensure that the textiles techniques of the region are passed onto a new generation of practitioners.

As well as providing a historical backdrop this text is also serves as a handbook for weaving. Some of the many topics covered include: How to build a loom, how to arrange the loom for weaving different types of fabrics and how the history in the North Atlantic area has been shaped by this handwaving tradition. Take time to enjoy this fascinating journey through the traditional skills and knowledge associated with the standing loom.

HILDUR HÁKONARDÓTTIR | ELIZABETH JOHNSTON | MARTA KLØVE JUUHL RANDI ANDERSEN (RED.) ATLE OVE MARTINUSSEN (RED.)

THE WARP-WEIGHTED LOOM KLJÁSTEINAVEFSTAÐURINN OPPSTADVEVEN ISBN 978-82-7959-219-8

KLINKINS STEINS KLJÀSTEINAR KLINGJA KLINGANDE STEINAR