Viking Finn Costume

Here You can find some information about Viking Age costumes in Finland. Text in this page are handouts from my Viking Finn Costume classes. On the side You will find my articles about the subject and a couple of links to good sites. Take a look into these pages and give feedback. I am available, if You want me to teach, hold a class or write something, or just want to talk with me. Contact me.
My next project will be to investigate closely the weaving of hollow selvage that the vikings in Finland did weave to the side of their fabric. Nowadays it is made on a very complicated way. I am sure they made it much easier. To be continued...

Viking Male and Female Costume in Finland

Viking Age male dressed up in the same style to a tunic, a cloak or a jacket and legwear as the other people around the Baltic and in Scandinavia (see picture). Archaeological finds from Finland show that we had our own way to decorate and finish our garments. Unlike Scandinavia, in Finland Vikings continued to use the old warp weighted looms and the old weaving technique maintaining from the migration period. The pieces were woven in warp-weighted-looms and were lined, from start and end too, with tablet woven bands. Most common were woolen twill. Also striped and checked pieces of textiles are found from the graves.


Male Viking Costume Closet Selection
Picture is from: Elsner, Hildegard: Wikinger Museum Haithabu: Schaufenster einer frühen Stadt, p. 46. Wachholtz Verlag
To decorate their clothes Finns did use bronze spirals, which male used earlier than female; already in the early Viking Age. Later the spirals vanish from male costumes, to be continued and being more complicated in female clothing. To finish the tablet woven bands in the start and end of the fabric or the legbands they made simple looped bands, into which they put spirals. Separate spiral ornaments were sewn onto tunic necklines, around the side opening and on the cloaks. Many 9-10th century graves from southeast Finland had a tablet woven belt, which were decorated with bronze spirals. Towards the end of Viking Age the spirals vanish from male gravefinds; female continue to wear it. Spiral decoration technique is typical to other Baltic countries, too. There the technique were different.

Tunic were possibly several models, at least tight and loose to wear on at the same time; the length of the sleeve did vary. Pants are thought to be worn three models as in Scandinavia, long pants, kneelength wide ones and very tight socks with feet. Finns also used legbands, leg bandages, headdress (leather, textile or nålebinding (finds from Lithuania), hood finds closest from Denmark), a jacket (jinglebell button lines on the chest are found from some graves) a cloak, a raincloak and nålebinded mittens.

Many graves in Finland contained belt tags. Tagged belts give a hint from intercourse with other tribes around the Baltic. The brooch that closed the cloak and the one in belt did change during and towards the end of the Viking Age. The male Viking in Finland did not use much jewellery; bronze plate or spiral rings were common in male graves.


Finn female Viking from mid 11th century and male viking from 10th century
Photo Rauno Huikari

Female Viking Age Costume in Finland

The female Finn wore a different style of costume from Scandinavia. The textile pieces were woven in warp-weighted looms, and they were lined with tablet woven bands all over, from the start and ends, too. That is a tecnique which were used all over Nordic before Viking Age; Scandinavians developed a new fashion in Viking Age, the Finns contunued using the old technique. Most common were woolen twill, but plain weave wools and linen were also used.

The garments vere decorated with tablet woven bands from very finely spun wool. The weave was often plant fibre, nettle, hemp or linen. The belts were often multi-colored thicker-spun wool, and the belt-ends were finished beautifully.

The Finnish Viking always wore an apron. The dress consisted of underdress, overdress (peplos-type square or two rectangles), apron, legbands or legbandages, headdress, nålebinding mittens and a cloak. The rich ones did decorate their clothes, apron at least, with bronze spirals. The spirals were less and of stronger wire in the beginning of the Viking age; in the end more and finer quality wire.

The very richest did wear shoulder brooches to keep the peplos-style dress on; often Finns had chains with them. From the chains, more vithin the centuries, did hang many necessary equipments. The brooch model in Finnish Viking Age were always round. The decoration varied; and after Viking Age the brooch model changes into silver horseshoe in the southwest and into bronze pointed oval in Savo and Carelia. In the change of the Middle Ages new details come into southwestern textile finishing.

The are no idea of Scandinavian style headresses from Finland. We have our own type of so called curve veil in southwest and veils in other parts of Finland; all hardened with bark.