DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

MAMMEN CHIEFTAIN

Fine clothes, tablecloths, white bread, and silver

cups were all signs of nobility. This man is wearing a

reconstruction of clothes found in a nobleman’s grave

in Mammen, Denmark. They are made of high-quality

wool and silk, decorated with embroidered borders

and even gold and silver thread. The noble couple in

the 10th-century poem Rigst hula have a son named Jarl,

which means earl. He owns land, rides horses, and can

read and write runes (pp. 58–59). His wife Erna is

slender and wise. Their youngest child is named

Konr ungr, which means king.

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FANCY HAT

The rich wore expensive

clothes and imported jewelry.

These parts of an elaborate cap

were made in Kiev, Ukraine,

and worn by a nobleman

in Birka, Sweden.

Silver cap mount

Silver tassels

TO CAP IT OFF
This silk cap was worn by
a rich man or woman in
the Viking town of York,
England. The silk may
have been imported from
the faraway city of
Constantinople.

BROOCHES AND BUCKLES

All Viking men wore brooches

and buckles to fasten their clothes.

But the richer they were, the more

ornate their brooch or buckle. These

examples come from Gotland, Sweden.

Bronze brooch for holding

a cloak in place

Bronze

belt

buckle

Braids for

fastening cloak

Wool tunic

embroidered

wit h animals

and faces

Embroidered

human faces

Tunic was

often worn

over a linen

undershirt

Dyed woolen

pants

Fur

trim

Cloak of

dyed wool

BORDER FACES

The border of the

Mammen cloak was a

panel of silk embroidered

with human faces. No one

knows whose faces they

are. But the silk was

imported, and the beautiful

decoration shows how

wealthy the man was.

ASSEMBLIES

Each district had its own assembly,

or Thing, held outdoors at a special

spot. There were also higher-level

assemblies, such as the Althing—the

governing assembly of all Iceland

(p. 20). One observer said: “Icelanders

have no king, only the law.”

19th-century

painting of the

Althing, Iceland