No Wool, No Vikings -- The fleece that launched 1,000 ships.

[HuckleB]

http://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-long/no-wool-no-vikings

"...

Wool provides warmth even when it’s wet. The key is kink: wool fibers have regular crimps. When they’re spun into yarn, the kinks don’t quite match up, trapping pockets of insulating air. The fibers themselves have an outer layer of tiny scales coated with lanolin, a waxy substance that repels moisture and preserves the air pockets. The scales overlap like shingles, locking and tangling together, making the surface even more water-repellent.

And wool has another advantage for people who spend weeks or months at sea. It doesn’t need much cleaning. As Norwegian textile archaeologist Lise Bender Jørgensen told me in an email interview, airing and a bit of rinsing might be all the cleaning it needs, even after weeks at sea.

...

All that wool! It took land and farming skills to raise the sheep that supplied the wool, and a support network of (mostly) women whose spindles and looms produced the cloth. Textile archaeologist Jørgensen says the introduction of sails must have greatly increased the demand for wool and grazing land. Norway-based historical textile researcher Amy Lightfoot has even speculated that the demand for pastureland might have driven the Viking expansion as much as the gleaming temptations of stolen treasure and legitimate trade. Clearly the classic image of wild-haired Viking warriors isn’t the whole story.

...

Until recently, many historians thought that what we’re doing—sailing into the wind—was impossible for Viking boats with their square sails; they believed that the boats could only sail with the wind behind them. However, Langeland and others have demonstrated that square sails can indeed sail into the wind, if not as efficiently as triangular sails. But what about woolen sails? Surely woven wool would leak too much air for efficiency. How did the Vikings turn wool into functional sailcloth?

..."


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The piece is long, but worth the time. A fantastically fun bit of history.

[malthaussen]

1. As to cleanliness...

... I'm sure wool has the characteristics described, but I have a hard time believing it would matter much to a bunch of bloodthirsty barbarians.

Anyway. what alternative did they have? It's not like polyester was around in the tenth century, and cotton does not grow in Scandinavia.

-- Mal

[XemaSab]

8. Flax and hemp, maybe?

[Ex Lurker]

16. Nobody was very clean back then NT

[LeftyMom]

20. Contrary to myth, people were pretty clean in the Dark Ages.

By the Viking age the Scandinavians were largely converts to Christianity, and church of that period, being the product of earlier Roman culture, was pretty big into bathing as a mark of civilization and a symbol of spiritual purity.

People also really wanted to stay clean because skin diseases were feared and stigmatized.

The stereotype about people in pre-modern European societies being filthy and stinky would have been more true during the Renaissance, both because religious changes happened (a view of the Roman church as being decadent rather than civilizing would have changed how people thought about bathhouses, which would have been the most Roman-inspired non-church building the average person ever saw,) and the concentration of people in cities in an age without sewers or more than rudimentary sanitation codes would have made for some seriously unhealthy water. Also that's around when people decided that diseases were transmitted by bad air and bathing left the pores dangerously open. But even then people scrubbed down with a damp linen cloth daily and changed their clothes religiously, so the funk is probably seriously overstated. Their hair might have been gross but I'm guessing they had some kind of rudimentary dry shampoo to keep it from getting overly oily, they were pretty big into cosmetics by then.

[madaboutharry]

2. Love reading about Viking history.

Thanks for posting.

[HuckleB]

7. Absolutely!

:cheers:

[snooper2]

11. did you know they kept miniature sheep as pets?

[madaboutharry]

12. I didn't know that.

But one thing I learned that is very interesting is that they were very clean. They bathed once or twice a week, which was really unusual at that time in history. They kept their hair, their clothing, and their houses very clean. And they also have been found to have very good teeth. They were the original clean freaks.

[NaturalHigh]

3. Bookmarked

[MgtPA]

4. What a terrific read!

Thank you, HuckleB, for posting this. I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.

[yellowcanine]

5. Baa.

[procon]

6. I'm a spinner.

Working with raw wool sheared from my own sheep, I card the wool, then use a spinning wheel to make yarn for needlework projects. I clean the wool several times using only in borax and washing soda to remove dirt and soil, but leave the natural, waxy lanolins. Handled this way, the wool is very soft, light and strong. It also 'breathes', wicking sweat away from the body while still keeping you warm and dry. The natural oils in the lanolin prevent most stains from sticking to the wool, and the surface can usually be cleaned by brushing or wiping with a damp cloth.

Many years ago I knitted a stocking cap for my brother who complained about his bald head freezing as he worked on the flightline getting USAF jets ready for test flights. He loved the wool cap as it was the only thing that kept his head warm and dry out in the freezing rain.

Since then I've knitted wool scarves and caps for most of my family members, from warm 2-ply hunting masks that are impervious to rain and snow, to delicate, lacy and warm little baby caps. Wool really is a remarkable and very versatile fiber.

[HuckleB]

15. Fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

[KamaAina]

9. No Vikings? That would make a lot of cheeseheads very happy.

[HuckleB]

13. +1

[FLPanhandle]

10. A fun little history video (no wool though)

[HuckleB]

14. Fun.

[OriginalGeek]

17. My kilt is very warm

and, since I live in Florida, I had mine made from 13oz fabric. Standard kilts are made from 16oz. But I think I'll get 16oz for my next one..I think I like the drape of the heavier fabric better.

[HuckleB]

18. If you're wearing that in Florida, you have some serious heat tolerance!

[OriginalGeek]

19. I try to make sure

I can stand next to fans.

[HuckleB]

21. I'd be looking for freezers, so good on you.