"Dark
Age Colours
There
is much debate about the colours employed by the Vikings to dye their
clothes, particularly as so little survives. What is clear from
experimental archaeology however, is that the brightest and the most
colourful dyes were usually the most expensive and thereby used by
the more well to do Viking. In this category we also find Jet Black
and Brilliant White. The former was a mixture of three of the most
expensive dyes: cochineal - red, woad - blue, and a brilliant yellow
probably weld. The latter was produced by the repetitive process of
wetting then sun drying, or else bleaching the material white with
wood ash. More mundane shades of grey and very dark brown were
commonly worn by the populace, similarly shades of off white were
common amongst the lower classes. Earthy shades of brown, pink,
yellow, pale blue and brick red were also fairly common. Yellow
occurs in many plants and can be quite bright, although some may
eventually fade. Wool should always be washed in cool water, to
prevent shrinkage, and in any case modern detergents contain optical
brightening and bleaching agents, and should be used with care.
All
these basic colours are fine for this guide but to help you further,
a colour chart of naturally dyed wool using authentic dyes from
Sweden is included. (See figure below.)
One
final point is that Linen is fairly difficult to dye naturally, and
so even a fairly advanced garment may be left undyed, particularly if
it is an under garment; for example the Viborg shirt. In the same
vein, the York socks were made from undyed wool but decorated at the
top with red bands."
Bye for now.
