Figure 1: Woven coverlet with swastika motifs, Setesdal, Norway, late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Vesterheim 1979.065.002—Gift of Dagny Blessum Rudin.
Sacred Symbols on Ceremonial Cloth by Mary B. Kelly
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rom the earliest times, symbols embellished textiles, giving them great beauty and conveying meaning. This was particularly true when, as was common, textiles were made and used for rituals. The symbols might be woven directly into the cloth as it was made, or added later by embroidery, or printed with wooden stamps. Woven tapestry was more common in Viking times, and embroidery was more popular in later periods. In Viking times, symbols that were already millennia old were woven or embroidered on cloths used in ceremonies. It is easy to see these symbols on the Oseberg tapestry and other textiles that were remarkably preserved in a Viking ship found in 1904 near Tønsberg in Vestfold County. The Oseberg ship was built between 815 and 820 C.E. Parts of the Oseberg tapestry portrays processions, offerings of textiles with symbolic designs, and symbols marking people, animals, and buildings. People are also dressed in ceremonial attire and shown conducting a ritual. A thousand years later, many of the same symbols were used on nineteenth-century ceremonial cloths in Norway and elsewhere in northern Europe. This is certainly a testament to the tuition and dedicated conservation of the women who made them. The exhibition Sacred Symbols, Ceremonial Cloth, on view at Vesterheim through February 21, 2010, focuses on symbols found on Norwegian textiles before the arrival of Christianity and appearing well into the nineteenth century. The exhibition showcases precious Norwegian textiles, both from Vesterheim’s collection and on loan from Telemark Museum and private collections, and explains their symbols and use in Vol. 7, No. 1 2009
Oseberg Tapestry Found aboard a Viking ship buried under a mound near the Oslofjord, the tapestry dates from 834 C.E. On the ship were the skeletal remains of two women and everything they would need for the afterlife: food, chests, beds, transportation (horses, cart, and sleighs), agricultural and household tools, shoes, and textiles. Everything was well preserved by the thick layer of blue clay under the ship. Some believe that the older woman is Queen Åsa of Agder, grandmother of King Harald Fairhair, and the younger woman her servant. Others believe they are priestesses or weavers. The tapestry was woven in soumak, or brocade, with wool and linen yarns on a warp-weighted loom. It is only 6.25 to 9 inches wide. The length is unknown because the textile is fragmented. In now-faded colors, the tapestry displays a combination of symbolic and narrative imagery. Some of the tiny figures hold symbols in their hands, while others wear symbolic clothing, headdresses, or masks. Solar and seasonal symbols, trees of life, ships, and shrines are depicted. Horses pull ceremonial carts piled high with decorated textiles, and people clothed in similarly-patterned clothing walk alongside on their way to offer the gifts to the deities. The scenes are divided by trees of life and bordered by zigzag patterns. The tapestry is in the collection of the University Museum of Cultural Heritage and housed at the Viking Ship Museum on Bygdøy, Oslo, Norway. 5