Tents & Work Shelters

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Northern European Tents

From the Psalters

  • London, British Library, MS Harley, 603
  • Utrecht Psalter

From the Psychomachia

  • Cambridge Corp. Chri. MS23
  • T49 London B.L. Cotton Cleo. C, VIII

From the Hexateuch

  • London, B.L. Cotton Claudius B IV

From other Manuscripts

  • Vatican Biblioteca Apostolica, reg. lat. 12

Re-enactment Variations of Northern European Tents

In re-enactment many variations of the Northern European tents can be seen. These variations are not seen in period art and are used purely to assist re-enactors lives easier at events.

Bell Tents

From the Psalters

  • London, British Library, MS Harley, 603 fol.24v, 68r
  • Utrecht Psalter fol.24v

From the Psychomachia

Viking Tent

Oseberg, Norway

Gokstad, Norway

The parts of the tent are described by Nicolaysen [NICOLAYSEN 1882] thus:
p.32 “When the ship lay in harbour, it was, at night time covered with a tilt (tjald) to which the recently names pillars and a ridge-pole belonged (tjaldass, tjaldstong). ……
p.37-38 c “a bundle of woolen cloth of yellowish colour, though doubtless originally white, with stripes of red cloth sewn thereon (cfr. P. 33) the whole of which, presumably had been intended for the tent, an opinion corroborated by the fact that within the bundle there were found pieces of thin hemp-rope, in all probability, the fastenings of the tilt;”
p.41 q “four long oaken boards of similar size and formed in the same manner, having art the one end animal heads carved and nearly alike one another, and intended to be viewed from both sides, of whose purpose I was for a long time in doubt, until at last it became obvious to me that theu had been placed at each end og the tilt, a conclusion to which I was led by observing the barge boards with horse heads which according to Otte, are found in houses of peasents in Lower Saxony and whose heads in some districts are turned outwards to prevent misfortune, while in others they are directed inwards to bring good luck to the house. It is sufficiently clear that each of the boards must have crossed the other, as represented, and that the ridgepole of the tilt with its ends was pivoted through the holes highest up. To me it also seems most likely …..”

Work Shelters

From the Psalters

  • Utrecht Psalter fol.5r, 84r
  • Lothair Crystal (British Museum)