I've struggled for a while on how to make a basic kit guide on this highly speculative item, especially given the large amounts of disclosures and information detailing how conjectural the item is, however, for the sake of expediency, I will try to keep everything basic and brief!
To start, it should be noted that this hood is, for the most part, a conjectural item. True, it is based off an original fragment recovered from Hedeby, which was initially identified as being the rear portion of a hood, complete with the base of a liripipe "tail", the rear seam, and part of the gores to fit over the shoulders, however, recent years have seen this analysis questioned and the hood be debated as everything from part of a child's tunic to trousers. The reality is, we likely will never truly know what this fragment really belonged, to, and given the extreme lack of hood finds from the Viking Age, especially in Denmark, many have latched onto the fact that it may be a hood of sorts. This basic kit guide will analyze the fragment as if it were that of a hood, and what said reconstruction would look like. To start, the original fragment is a rather vague assortment of panels and seams, which as noted above, appear to contain the base of a "tailed" hood's liripipe, rear seam, and part of a gore and its seam. The fragments are made out of a semi-shaggy "Wadmal" wool in which extra fibers are woven in during the weaving process to create a sort of "hairy" appearance to the wool. This is another feature of the fragments which have led archaeologists to identify the fragments as belonging to a hood, as Wadmal appears to have been particularly favored as a winter garment textile and to date, no hood or trouser fragments made from it have been found, meaning it was likely a hood constructed from it for warmth. With this basic construction idea in mind, it is likely the hood's main body, consisted of one long rectangular panel which was folded in half so that it stood vertical and the fold created the top of the head. The liripipe, of which length is unknown to us, would then be affixed to the top rear. The liripipe is a particularly interesting feature as these are relatively unknown on hoods until the High Medieval Period, meaning if this hood did in fact bear one, it would be the first of its kind until the 14th Century! There are some stone works which do appear to depict men wearing hoods bearing tails, but this has also been read as men with long hair in braids, as well, so again, the presence of the liripipe, as well as its overall length, remains highly speculative. In addition to the tail being affixed to the back, an arrangement of gores looks to have also been added. Given the odd placement on the original fragment, it is likely a set of gores, rather than on large one or two, were used, the most expedient set-up being what is seen on the reproduction below. The front of the hood's construction is unknown to us, though it is likely it simply had a plain face opening and a smaller, less-elaborate gore in the front. These served the purpose of opening the lower hem of the hood up to make it fit around the shoulders, back and chest easier. The seams are sewn using a running stitch and then folded over and treated with overcast stitches. Given the relatively basic design of the hood, and possible ease in obtaining the proper textiles at the time, this style of hood was likely worn by all classes of Danish society (unless there were some social connotations with specific classes wearing hoods we are unaware of), however, this particular style would likely be a middle-to-lower-class hood, and appropriate for those portraying 10th Century Danish traders, farmers, lower-ranked Vikings, and citizens. Below is the reproduction, as well as the original fragment upon which it is based. Comments are closed.
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