Get the look: Viking woman, Nordre Kjølen

Near the Nordre Kjølen farm in Solør, a Viking woman's grave from the 2nd half of the 10th century AD was found. The Viking woman in this grave was a warrior from an aristocratic family. She was buried with various weapons, a sword, axe, arrows, bow, spear and shield. With this blog, we want to highlight the diversity of her life. We have therefore assembled an appropriate 10th-century outfit that she would have worn outside of battle.

The young lady from Solør passed away at the 18-19 years of age and found her final resting place at a prominent location, clearly marked as her grave. Traditionally, when weapons are discovered in a grave, it is assumed to be a man's grave. Moreover, physical remains are often missing in such graves, making it difficult to determine gender via DNA analyses. For a long time, it was thought that the weapons in her grave had a ceremonial meaning. However, the wound on her forehead is an unmistakable indicator of the impact of an enemy axe that even caused damage to her skull. From this, we conclude that this Viking woman absolutely did not use her weapons solely for ceremonial purposes. 

For practical reasons, women likely preferred to fight in men's clothing instead of women's clothing. According to the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, Æthelflæd of the English kingdom of Mercia wore men's clothing during the war against the Vikings. But outside of battles, this young woman wore noble women's clothing as depicted on the tapestry found in the Oseberg ship burial.

In Nordre Kjølen, no traces were found of objects traditionally buried with women. This blog therefore presents an artistic impression.

The underdress was the basic of Ingibjorg's clothing and was essentially a long tunic. She also slept in it.

Ingibjorg wears a luxurious dress with embroidery. There is little evidence of Viking embroidery found, but it is likely that clothing was adorned with gold and silver thread.

Ingibjorg wears a red hangeroc, which must have been a significant status symbol. Textiles could be dyed with madder red, a plant that did not grow in Scandinavia. The hangeroc is trimmed with an embroidered border to emphasize her wealth.

Ingibjorg wears Viking shoes that are based on finds from the Oseberg ship burial.

The belt held the clothing together and was used to hang various practical items.

The turtle brooch or tortoise brooches was used to pin the shoulder straps of the hangeroc to the fabric. About half of the women's graves from Birka contained turtle brooches, which means they may have been worn only by certain wealthier classes or free women (women with full legal personality).

Various practical items and jewelry could be hung on the turtle brooches. This could be done using small hooks.

Ingibjorg used the picker and nail cleaner for her personal hygiene. She may also have used an ear spoon, comparable to the modern cotton swab.

A needle-case was also indispensable for a wealthy Viking woman. Although Ingibjorg was skilled in the art of war, she likely also mastered traditional women's crafts such as sewing, embroidery, and weaving.

A knife was indispensable in the daily life of every Viking. Therefore, Ingibjorg would always have carried this with her.

Various images of Viking women show short cloaks or shawls. These were probably made of wool and could be fastened at the throat with a brooch.

The so-called ring fibula was developed by the Celts in the late Roman period. The design was further developed by the Vikings of the Irish Sea area into the thistle brooch or thistle fibula, named after the ends that resemble the bulb of the thistle. These brooches were made of silver and were absolute status symbols, which corresponds with Ingibjorg's important aristocratic status. The original of this brooch came from the middle of the 10th century.