CHAPTER XVII. 



DKESS OF MEN. 



Luxury in dress Material used Popular colours Everyday dress Various 

 garments- Belts of silver and gold Cloaks Trailing gowcs Shoes- 

 Plaids Gloves Hats Moustaches and beards Hair worn long- 

 Fashions Splendour of chiefs' accoutrements. 



THE finds as well as the Sagas, which are confirmed by the 

 Bayeux tapestry, show that from a very early period the people 

 of the North dressed with great luxury ; but, with the excep- 

 tion of the complete garments of the bog finds, only fragments of 

 wearing apparel belonging to the iron age have been discovered, 

 which in most instances are thoroughly discoloured. 



In the Sagas we have only partial descriptions of the dress 

 worn by men and women, and though many names of pieces of 

 clothing are mentioned, very little light is otherwise thrown 

 upon the subject. 



The material used for clothing seems to have been the same 

 for both sexes linen, wool, silk, skins, and furs. Among the 

 costly materials mentioned is "pell" which is supposed to be 

 like velvet. The materials were sometimes seamed with gold 

 and silver thread, or embroidered. It was the custom .to have 

 a border on many of the clothes called Mad, which was either a 

 band, ribbon, or a kind of lace. 



Blue, red, green, scarlet, and purple, were the colours most 

 in favour ; grey was the colour for everyday use, and white 

 vadmal, a coarse or thick woollen stuff, was the distinctive 

 clothing for slaves. 



The trousers were worn at a very early time, as we have seen 

 from the Bog finds, and were kept in their proper place by a 

 belt round the waist, and had the socks knitted on to them, 

 over which were shoes. Over the linen and woollen shirts was 

 the coat of mail. Over the shoulders a cloak was worn, 

 resembling that of the Romans or Greeks, with a fringe or 



