The Norse Saga Cloak

[Wayland]

Some of you may know that Debs has been working hard on a Norse mythology cloak for me for a couple of years now. The intention is to use this as a storytelling aid in schools in the future.

Having just photographed the embroidered cloth to map it to the planned design, I thought it might be interesting to show you the progress so far.

As you can see, the main framework is nearly complete, ready to be populated with the main characters and places, which you can see digitally superimposed on the embroidery in this image. It's probably approaching the half way point some time this next year.

To give you an idea of the scale we're talking about here.

A cloak is usually made from a full loom width of cloth, which in this case is a little over five feet wide.

The surface you see is pure fulled wool and the embroidery ( crewel work strictly speaking ) is fine two ply wool as well.

Some of the eyes have been set with beads for an extra touch of sparkle and when finished, the cloak will be lined with another sheet of contrasting wool, we are still looking for the right piece so I cannot tell you the colour that will be yet.

 

[Mesquite]

I saw this when you posted it on FB and thought WOW!!!

Seeing it again I'm of the same opinion... it's simply stunning and it's still unfinished... it's going to be unbelievable when finished, a true heirloom piece

Can you share with us what the story line is?

 

[Broch]

That is truly magnificent!
It's definitely a labour of love

 

[Janne]

Another Quality Project by Team Newell....

In the future, can you tell us the story line?

 

[Wayland]

It contains elements from many stories but the intetion is to provide a visual key for kids ( of all ages ) while following an arc that takes them through the entire Norse cycle.

It should begin with the Creation which leads into the story of Kvasir and the Mead of poetry.

We will tiptoe through the war of the Gods and come to the building of the wall around Asgard.

Once that is in place we can cover the loss of Sif's hair and the treasures of the gods.

Possibly move onto Þórr's dual with Hrungnir.

The trip to Utgard followed by Þórr's wedding.

Perhaps the story of Idun's apples.

We definitely have to cover Loki's children and the binding of Fenrir.

Maybe Þórr's fishing trip, leading onto the death of balder and the binding of Loki.

Which leads us nicely onto Ragnarok And beyond.

It should be about two hours of material when I have it properly honed. The trick is to sort out the overlapping timelines to create a coherent but entertaining narrative while remaining respectful to the source material. More difficult than it might sound.

There are also some other stories that can be slotted in depending on the audience and performance time available.

 

[Woody girl]

Wow that's so clever and beautiful. Have just been listening on radio 4 to these stories.it can be quite confusing trying to imagine everything as a newcommer to it all. I can imagine that a wonderful visual aid like this will bring things to life.

 

[crosslandkelly]

That is amazing Gary.

 

[Wayland]

Wow that's so clever and beautiful. Have just been listening on radio 4 to these stories.it can be quite confusing trying to imagine everything as a newcommer to it all. I can imagine that a wonderful visual aid like this will bring things to life.

That is precisely the point, illustrated so well.

Many years ago, a man called Confucius said:

I hear and I forget,
I see and I remember,
I do and I understand.

Those principles have been central to my work for twenty years and, if I am spared, they will serve me for the next twenty as well.

 

[Woody girl]

I must admit that even as an older person I appreciate that a book with a few illustrations or photos does help to set the scene much more efficiently. Much as I love audio.

 

[Wayland]

Janne has just, very politely I must say, raised a point by PM that many of the buildings look reminiscent of the Stave Churches that came along later than the pagan period.

That is quite intentional and illustrates some of the thought processes that Debs has put into the design.

It is now thought that the stave churches drew upon the design of the earlier temples such as the one found at Uppåkra a few years ago. The picture above shows a possible reconstruction based on the post layout and sizes. I visited the site shortly after it was found and the pattern of post holes is very similar to the stave churches that followed.

It was not uncommon for the church to appropriate existing locations and traditions so adopting a similar design is certainly not unlikely and may explain their different style to churches being built elsewhere at the time.

As for using that style in the cloak, We thought it fitting that the gods should "live" in their temples.

Other kinds of dwellings are, as far as possible, related to their occupants as well.

The Jötunns live in buildings more like great long houses, the Vanir occupy low earth houses such as those found in Iceland, the Alfar live in Katas like the Saami and so on.

We are both very open to questions about the design, apart from anything else it is good practice for answering the barrage of questions that will come from the public but it also helps us to see with different eyes if that makes sense.

 

[Dreadhead]

That's an incredible piece of work!

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

 

[Tengu]

That is impressive.

Do I see Heimdall blowing his horn from the Heimdall stone in Jurby church? You are right about the stave churches. The Keils on the Isle of Man were simple (No beehive huts as far as I know) but the later chapels had a distinct but basic design.

However they were stone and not wood. apart from in Greenland, did the Norse ever build in stone??

Love to sit in on one of your storytelling sessions!

 

[Janne]

The Norse in todays Denmark and southern Sweden ( Skåne) did build using wattle and daub on a wooden frame.
This building custom persisted until fairly recently.

The rest of the Norse lands - depends on location. Wood, wood and earth clot infill. Or earth clot supported by wood.

Further north they dug down the structures, for insulation. Then earth.

On Björkö most houses were timberframed wattle and daub I believe, with pore wooden houses.

Might be wrong though.

There is no single Norse way to do things, the natural resources, climate, decided.

 

[Wayland]

That is impressive.

Do I see Heimdall blowing his horn from the Heimdall stone in Jurby church? You are right about the stave churches. The Keils on the Isle of Man were simple (No beehive huts as far as I know) but the later chapels had a distinct but basic design.

However they were stone and not wood. apart from in Greenland, did the Norse ever build in stone??

Love to sit in on one of your storytelling sessions!

You do indeed, well spotted. He's been turned around to fit the design better but like most of the other figures, he's been taken from period sources.

We could probably run a good quiz on spotting the sources, I think I know most of them but Debs has done a huge amount of research for this.

As Janne say, they were pragmatic people, mostly they built with the materials they had to hand and for the conditions they were living in. At Ribblehead the walls were dry stone, just like the locals but the layout was more Norse.

Archaeologists have often noted that after a few years settled in, they are almost indistinguishable from the locals, wherever they are.

Dispite their fearsome reputation, the majority just wanted a roof over their heads and food on the table like most of us do today.

 

[Tengu]

Yes, you are right, they do naturalise very easily.

Your animals are from Andreas, yes? (but they look like Pictish ones) (And we see Wayland from the Franks casket...Saxon rather than Norse)

Given that they had many art styles you have made the designs mesh in well.

 

[Janne]

What archeology discovers are the grander buildings, the more solid, richer farms.

I know several sites in Sweden where the poorest used to live.
You call them crofters?
These people lived in small huts, largely dug into a slope, above ground they had walls of turf, log support for the roof, which was from split logs, and waterproof layer of birch bark.
I ( with permisdion of the land owner) excavated a couple. They were vacated in the 1920’s, and when I excavated them in the early 90’s they were hardly noticable in the nature.
I only found them by using old maps and the land owners knowledge.

Longhouses were the ‘big boys’ houses.

 

[Wayland]

Where strictly "Norse" artwork was not available, other, related styles have been used. Some is "in the style of" rather than actually existent.

I wanted to include Wayland, for obvious reasons, and the Franks Casket, probably Northumbrian, seemed like the best fit.

It should certainly work well with the Wayland Kista I carved a few years ago.

It is ironic that Wayland was obviously a character much loved by the English judging from place name and incidental literary evidence, but his actual story, as "Volund", has only really survived in Norse sources.

One of the best preserved, and later reconstructed, great longhouses is the Chieftains Hall at Borg on Lofoten. As you know, We worked in the reconstructed building for a few summers so that is part of our story as well.

In fact the museum has some of Deb's embroidery work there as well, they have a large frieze, based upon the much smaller Oseberg Tapestry, that Debs worked on for two summers along with others.

The archaeology shows an interesting pattern in Nordic lands through the pagan to Christian conversion.

Early buildings suggest a relatively egalitarian society without a huge divide between the rich and the poor.

Some differences could be seen of course but buildings were of similar sizes and the burials, where present, showed a similar status between male and female graves.

In the later pagan period, those divisions opened up, this is the period of the great longhouses while outlying dwellings seemed to decline in quality. A gender divide also seems to occur, with female graves falling behind in terms of the quality of goods interred with the male bodies.

This seems to correlate with the rise of the Oðinnic Cult, which seemed to be favoured by the elite. Oðinn was promoted in the stories from his earlier position as a simple psychopomp, escorting the dead to the afterlife, into some kind of "Father" and leader of all the Gods. The goddesses are mostly demoted and married off, becoming simply "wives" of the gods.

It was common at the time for leaders to claim ancestry derived from divine figures and at this time such leaders were of course descended from Oðinn himself. Most of the stories that survive, including such Royal genealogies, were recorded much later, by Snorri Sturlusson, a Christian scholar who's family appear to have been prominent in the Oðinnic Cult in earlier times.

There follows an intriguing period where many of the great halls were burned down and some were not replaced. The outlying buildings seem to recover some status and there is some equalisation in burial practices as well. This is also the period where new religious ideas were being introduced by Christian missionaries. Seemingly this causes a reaction amongst the pagan community because the wearing of religious symbols becomes more prominent but interestingly they are not Oðinnic, Þórr's hammer is by far the most popular.

It would seem that the Oðinnic Cult, with it's support for the divine right to rule and it's somewhat misogynistic ideas was now on the decline while Christianity, which also supported the divine right of Kings and similar ideas about female status, was on the rise. Notably many families with Oðinnic derived names seemed to be early adopters of this new religion.

 

[Wayland]

In case you are wondering, I made the brooch that I will use for wearing this a few years ago.

This also features some of the fantastic creatures of the mythology so I think it should do the job nicely.

 

[Janne]

I will go back to Lofotr and check out your dear wifes frieze!

Is it in the hall itself, or where?

I always go to that local bank to exchange some money, then I do a qvick visit at the museum.

I am still waiting for that copy of The last of the Vikings by Johan Boyer they promised ordering for me in the museum shop.

 

[Wayland]

It was in the living quarters, over the door the last time I saw it but that was about ten years ago.

I think there were about six different people that worked on it over the years it was being made. Debs might be able to tell you the bits she worked on but I'm not sure I could.