Viking Men's Clothing

Viking used more wool than anything else for making clothing. The Vikings made their own clothes from cloth woven from a loom by women and children in their own home.

Viking men were a long woolen Viking tunic that was tight fitting across the chest with a broad skirt and/or long trousers. The tunic was pulled on over the head. Men wore a tunic that was tight fitting across the chest. There were usually no fasteners, although some tunics had a simple button and loop of thread (left) to fasten the neck opening. A keyhole neckline was the most common, although many other shapes were used for the neck opening for both men and women. Men's necklines were high, since a garment that revealed the chest was considered effeminate.

Tunics of all but the poorest people were decorated with braid, at least on the neckline and cuffs. The tunics of the more wealthy were also decorated with braid on the hem of the skirt. Silk was also used to trim a tunic, although the cost of imported silk must have limited this kind of trim to only the wealthiest people.

Under the tunic, it's likely that most men also wore an undertunic (right). This was made most commonly from linen. (Linen was more expensive than wool, but more comfortable against the skin.) The construction was similar to that of the overtunic, except that the sleeves and skirt were made longer. It has been suggested that the undertunic was visible under the overtunic, so that people could see that one was wealthy enough to be able to afford an undertunic.

It appears that a wide range of styles of trousers were used in the Norse lands. Some were tight. Some were baggy. Some trousers were of simple construction. Some were complicated, using elaborate gores around the crotch area for freedom of motion, and built-in socks (like modern sleepwear for toddlers), with belt loops around the waist.

Trousers had no pockets and no fly. The lack of a fly meant that men had to pull up their tunic skirts and drop their trousers to relieve themselves. The lack of pockets in any Viking-era clothing meant that men and women had to carry their everyday items in other ways, such as suspended from the belt, carried in pouches, carried around the neck, or suspended from brooches.

In cold weather, Vikings wore fur or woolen hats, cloaks or sleeved jerkin. The cloak was simply a large rectangular piece of wool, sometimes lined with contrasting color wool. Cloaks provided protection from the cold, from the wind, and to a limited degree, from the rain. Some cloaks were made with very dense, very thick wool, which would have provided extra protection.



Fig - 5: 9th-10th century AD. A small penannular brooch with a flat, rectangular-section band with scrolled terminals and a long pin.



Cloaks were typically worn offset, with the right arm (the weapon arm) unencumbered by the cloak. Cloaks could be embroidered, or trimmed with tablet woven braid. Typically they hung to somewhere between the knee and the ankle depending on the wealth of the owner. The cloaks were fastened at the shoulder with a brooch or a pin at the right shoulder. The pins ranged from simple bone pins to elaborate gold jewelry.

Fig - 6:

On his feet he would wear socks and soft leather shoes or long leather boots suggest a certain elegance and style-consciousness. They were known to have worn puttee-like leg wrappings from knee to foot The wraps consistent of two long, narrow strips of cloth, typically wool, which were wound around the leg and foot. By starting at the knee and wrapping downwards, no clips or fasteners are needed. The wraps stay firmly in place, even during vigorous activity.

Most men wore long hair and beards as a protection from the cold weather. Caps were made of wool, or sheepskin, or leather and fur. Some had ear flaps for warmth.

Fig - 9:

In battle he would wear an iron helmet and a mail-chain to protect himself. The sword they carried seems lightweight and suitable for travel for warfare.










Source

Fig - 5: Lehtosalo-Hilander, P-L.,Luistari (Finland), A History of Weapons and Ornaments, Helsinki, 2000.