The Vikings are seeing a renaissance in popular culture, appearing in movies, television series, and video games alike — but what did they really look like?
Generally, the Viking Age is understood to have lasted between the 8th and the 11th centuries. “Viking” was the name given to the raiders from Scandinavia who plagued the nations around the North Sea and beyond. Technically, the term “Viking” refers to an occupation, rather than a culture: those going “Viking” were simply going raiding. However, the term has expanded to encapsulate not just the cultures around Scandinavia but also their colonies and raiding grounds in Britain, Ireland, the North Sea, and continental Europe.
The Vikings also conquered land in Normandy, Ireland, and Scotland, and they traded and raided into Russia, the Byzantine Empire, and further into Asia. The central pillar of the Vikings’ success was their longboats. These clever crafts featured a sharp bow, with a wide, shallow midsection, allowing the sailors to traverse rivers and the bitter storms of the North Sea alike.
What we think of as the “Vikings” incorporated a diverse group of peasant farmers, fishermen, traders, warriors, and kings — much the same as other cultures in the Early Medieval Period.
Cloth was expensive and time-intensive to produce in the Early Middle Ages, and, as such, most people would not have more than one or two sets of clothes. The choice of material of most individuals in Scandinavia and across Europe was wool and linen; generally, linen would be worn as an undergarment and wool on top for added warmth.
Archaeology and depictions from this period show that all classes of people loved to wear brightly colored clothing adorned with embroidered patterns and braids — bright blues, shades of green and yellow, and deep reds were all achievable with natural dyes like woad, nettle, and madder.
The staple of Viking male clothing was the tunic. This was a loose-fitting garment that reached down to the knees and was secured at the waist with a belt and at the neck with a brooch. Artwork seems to show all classes and roles in society tended to wear this basic garment and wool was the perfect fabric of choice for the chilly, North Sea climate.
It seems likely that there was very little variation in this style across Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages
In contrast, Viking women’s costumes seem to have been more distinctive. In contrast to the ankle-length tunics of Anglo-Saxon women, Scandinavian women tended to wear “apron dresses.” These consisted of fabric wrapped around the torso with shoulder straps, secured with two brooches on the chest.