292 



DRESS OF MEN. 



The belts worn round the waist were often very costly, and 

 of silver and gold. 



" Thjof (= Fridthjof) threw off his cloak ; he had on a dark 

 blue kirtle under it, and wore the good ring on his hand (or 

 arm). He wore a broad silver belt round his waist, and a large 

 bag with pure silver money in it, and a sword at his side. He 

 had on his head a large hood made of skin, for he had weak 

 eyes and was hairy all over his face " (Fridthjof 's Saga, 

 c. 11). 



These cloaks were the most costly part of their dress ; they 

 were made of materials called yudvef, pett, and baldakin. 1 

 Among the many kinds of cloaks mentioned were 



The Kapa, or hood-cloak, the usual colour of which for every- 

 day use was grey ; for feasts, scarlet ; sometimes lined with fur. 



The Feld, identical with the Kapa. both sides of which were 

 sometimes of different colours. 



There were also rain or dust cloaks, and cloaks made of 

 reindeer-skin. 



The finest were the skiklyja 2 and mottul, which were only 

 worn by the high-born chiefs, being a characteristic of birth, 

 just like the paludarnentum or military cloak of the Eomans, 

 or the chlamys of the Greeks, which were of scarlet bordered 

 with purple. The cloaks and mantles (mottul) were fastened 

 round the neck or held up by bauds or straps, which were so 

 long that they could be put on the head. 



The cloak seems to have been long enough for a sword to be 

 carried under it without being seen. 



"Then Thorolf put off his strap-mantle (seilatnottnl}, which 

 was of scarlet, lined with grey fur. He laid it over Thorstein, 

 but it did not reach lower down than his waist when he rose. 

 He then took it off and told him to wear it himself, and give 

 him another garment, though it might not be as fine. Thorolf 

 then fetched a hairy cloak (lod-kapa), and told him to put it 

 mi. He threw it over him, and it was neither too long nor 

 too short " (Svarfdsela Saga). 



" He (Sigurd) wore blue breeches, a shirt, and a mantle 



1 Baldakin, stuff or skin from Bagdad. 



2 It seems to have been the custom to 

 fold up the edges of the skikkja (Magnus 



Erlingson, ch. 13, 37; Magnus Bare- 

 foot, 8 Flateyjarbok, iii.). 



