CHAPTEE XXI. 



OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN. 



Weaving and embroidery The housewife's keys General occupation of 

 ordinary women Queens brewing ale and bleaching linen Looms- 

 Amazons. 



HIGH-BORN women occupied themselves with weaving and 

 embroidery, participated in the household duties, and took 

 charge of the estate while their husbands 

 were absent. 



The wife had a bunch of keys at her side, 

 to show her authority over the household ; 

 and in many graves of women keys either of 

 iron or bronze have been found. 



The women had a special habitation called 

 Dyngja or Skemma, which men were not 

 allowed to enter, and where their female 

 friends visited them. 



In earlier days it seems to have been the 

 custom for fathers to have champions outside 

 keeping guard in order to prevent men from 

 Fig. 1339. Bundle of coining into the women's quarters ; and these 

 fcronze keys m a champions are described as having taken 



large stone cist made . *- 



of slabs; found with animal shape. 1 



The Bayeux tapestry' corroborates in 



birch bark, &c. | many points the truthfulness of the Sagas ; 



real size. Norway. , . . , 



for example, when referring to the dragon- 



1 Kagnar Lodbrok's Saga. 



2 This valuable piece of work contains 

 72 distinct scenes, 623 persons, 202 horses 

 and mules, 55 dogs, 505 divers animals, 

 41 ships and boats, 49 trees in all, 

 1,512 distinct objects. And well worth 

 while, indeed, is a journey to Bayeux 

 for the special object of seeing it. The 

 historical part does not take up more 

 than 11 inches; in the space above 

 and below there is a border, where lions, 



birds, dragons and fantastic objects are 

 represented. The most accurate work on it 

 that has been published is ' La Tapisserie 

 de Bayeux, reproduction d'apres nature 

 en 79 planches photographiques, avec un 

 texte historique, descriptif et antique, 

 par Jules Comte, conservateur du depot 

 Idgal au ministere de 1'instruction pu- 

 blique et des beaux arts. Paris. J. Roth- 

 schild, editeur, 13, Rue des Saints- Peres. 

 1878.' 



