Viking Women's Costume

   The average Viking woman wore an ankle-length dress length with full length sleeves made of linen. Until the eleventh century the sleeves are depicted as tight, or straight, or only slightly flared at the wrist and sometimes turned back to form a cuff. Wider sleeves started coming into fashion at the beginning of the 11th century. The body of the dress was untailored and similar in shape and construction to the male tunic.

   Over the dress she wore a long apron-like garment called a hangeroc, which was a traditional Scandinavian over-garment. It could have been a tube of cloth, either woven as such or formed by sewing a rectangle of cloth up the back. The lower hem (circumference of tube or length of rectangle) was wide enough to walk comfortably in and accommodate the train of an under-dress. 

   Several fastening methods were used to hold the hangeroc in place: it could be pinned directly to the under-dress by two pins or brooches at the front, or have loops sewn into the upper hem, front and back, to which brooches were attached. The top edge of the hangeroc takes all the strain and was frequently reinforced by the addition of a decorative woven band. Wealthier women would further decorate their hangerocs with additional bands and maybe panels of embroidery at the upper hem.

   The most common finds at many Viking archaeological excavations across Scandinavia are clasps, pins and brooches. Since the Vikings rarely used buttons, brooches were used to fasten clothing. They were first used by men to fasten a linen or fur cloak. Later, women used them as a fastener for dresses, aprons and shawls. It was only late in the Viking Age that brooches were considered a piece of jewelry.

   Some of the brooches recovered from dig sites are hallow underneath and are often round or oval in shape. These are often referred to as “Turtle Brooches”. Others are shaped like animals. All are made of silver, bronze or iron. Needle brooches were also found but they are made of bone and were worn by poorer Viking women. 

   Brooches were used to fasten the back and front pieces of the dress and apron. When worn near each other, the brooches were often connected with a chain or string of glass beads. These beads often indicated wealth.

    She also carried some household items including a knife, a pair of scissors, fingernail cleaners and keys. These either hung from a belt worn around the waist or from a brooch attached to the apron about shoulder high.