Headbands, Circlets, Ribbons and Fillets

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Completion Rating
This article's completion rating is 2 out of 5. Article structure and content is subject to change as data is still being collected.
Completion Rating
This article's completion rating is 2 out of 5. Article structure and content is subject to change as data is still being collected.

Headbands

A strip of cloth worn around the head
Art
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Literature

  • Binde or bænde: a band, wreath, headband or fillet [OWEN 1976]:p.603
  • Bend: a band, bond, ribbon, chaplet, crown, ornament [OWEN 1976]:p.604
  • Snood, nostle, wræd, bræle: possible headbands [OWEN 1976]:p.605
  • Indicia Monasterialia (c.1050AD) a manual of 127 signs used by monks. "pu mid fore weardum fingrumpin fore wearde heafod fram pam anum earan to pon oprum on bindan tacne": (stroke) with the tip of your finger on the front of your head from one ear to the other in the sign of a (head) band [CONDE-SILVESTRE 2001]. Which was considered a typical feature of a secular (married) woman [OWEN 1976]:p.603 [OWEN-CROCKER 2005]:p.49
  • Will of Wynfæd (late C10th) 'hyre betspan bindan' and another 'bindan' occur, with gifts of clothing [OWEN 1976]:p.603
  • Will of Queen Alfgyfu (Emma) (1012AD) a bænde to her sister-in-law. [OWEN-CROCKER 2004]:p.224

Archaeology

  • Kent, C6th. Finds of gold-brocaded headbands. [OWEN-CROCKER 2005]:p.49 [CROWFOOT & CHADWICK HAWKES 1967]
  • Northern France and Germany C6th gold brocaded headbands, circlets and decorated veils (CROWFOOT and CHADWICK HAWKES 1967) (WALTON ROGERS 2007, p.163)
  • Birka, Sweden. 15 examples of bands found on women’s heads. 12 with silver and 3 with gold. In bj.946 it was attached to a little round silk cap worn on the back of the head. In bj.731 a gold band was all the way around the head with straight bits hanging on the shoulders. An unusual 44mm wide brocaded (not tablet woven) band was worn around the head of the woman in bj.963. Geijer suggests that these bands may have belonged to either fillets or caps [GEIJER 1938]:p.146
  • Dublin. Cloth bands found with preserved human hair [WINCOTT HECKETT 2003] [OWEN-CROCKER 2004]:p.224
  • Ireland and Scotland (C12th – C13th) Thin gold bands with Scandinavian associations and small round perforations at the end of each terminal. They are suitably sized to be used as fillets or headbands. [WINCOTT HECKETT 2003]:p.7

Discussion
Owen-Crocker describes the evidence for fillets as “intermittent but recurrent” [OWEN-CROCKER 2005]:p.49. Though no such headband is visible on the majority of illustrations of women [OWEN 1976]:p.603 Wills- bequeathed bands (in some cases gold). [OWEN-CROCKER 2005]:p.49

...worn under a veil or wimple

A cloth band worn around the head under a veil or wimple
Art

  • T78:f6r – Decorated headand worn under the headband by queen Alfgyfu (Emma)
  • Harley 603 – possible women wearing headbands under their head coverings and visible at the forehead [OWEN 1976]:p.469
  • Lothar Crystal – Susanna wears a headband under her head cloth [WALTON ROGERS 2007]:p.164

Literature
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Archaeology
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Discussion
There is no parallel among English illustrations for the wearing of a band under the hood in this way, but as queen Alfgyfu (Emma) was of Norman birth, and her husband Scandinavian, it is possible that her dress reflects foreign taste. [OWEN 1976]:p.469
Ewing suggests that a tablet woven band may have been worn with a faldr (possibly a night cap) or sveigr [EWING 2007]:p.55
Walton Rogers likens the silk headbands from Dublin to that worn by modern nums. Both are of similar size and the Dublin headbands could have been worn over the cap and under the veil [WALTON ROGERS 2007]:p.165

...worn at the base of the hair [V]

Worn by bare headed women to keep their hair back.
Art

  • Valkyrie pendent from Birka with possible fillet [GEIJER 1938]:p.146 & pl.38.4
  • Oseburg (834AD) Woman depicted on cart [EWING 2007]:p.55

Literature

  • Rigspula – grandmother wears a band around her head and her hair knotted in a bun [WINCOTT HECKETT 2003]:p.7

Archaeology
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Discussion
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Circlets, bands, ribbons and fillets

A narrow band worn around the head over a head cloth. Some are decorated and some may have been of either solid gold or gold embroidered.
Art

  • T86:76v – Female figures representing the daughters of a priest wear (gold? ) head bands outside the hood, which pass across the forehead. [OWEN 1976]:p.469

Literature

  • Aldhelm (early C8th) condemns nuns who wore bright head veils secured by ribbons or fillets’ [OWEN-CROCKER 2005]:p.49
  • Will of Byrhtric and Alfswith (c.950AD) a metal or gold-embroidered band. [OWEN 1976]:p.604
  • Will of Wulfwaru left a band worth 20 mancuses [OWEN-CROCKER 2004]:p.225
  • Will of AEthelgifu left a relative 5 mancuses which was to be cut from her band [OWEN-CROCKER 2004]:p.225

Literature
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Archaeology
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Discussion
Bands are the garments (or jewellery) most bequeathed by women. 3 wills mention gold bands. Bands worn over the head cloth may have been of cloth or leather and richly brocaded or embroidered with gold [OWEN-CROCKER 2004]:p.224

Narrow long decorated ribbon

Art

  • T51:21v – over the shoulders by the sin ‘Ostentation’
  • T78:f6r – under the head dress

Literature
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Archaeology
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Discussion
Similar to the ecclesiastical stole as illustrated in Stowe 944. The association of Queen AElfgifu’s ribbons and the one depicted being worn by the sin Ostentation with worldly pomp is inescapable [OWEN-CROCKER 2005]:p.50.

References

[CONDE-SILVESTRE 2001] ^ *
[CROWFOOT & CHADWICK HAWKES 1967] ^ *
Ewing, Thor (2007) Viking Clothing. Tempus. [EWING 2007] ^ 1 2 *
Geijer, Agnes (1938) Birka III - Die Textilfunde Aus den Grabern. [The Textile finds from the Graves] Birka, Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien [GEIJER 1938] ^ 1 2 *
Owen, Gale R. (1976) Anglo-Saxon Costume: A Study of Secular, Civilian Clothing and Jewellery Fashions. Unpublished PHD. [OWEN 1976] ^ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 *
Owen-Crocker, Gale R. (2004) Dress in Anglo-Saxon England. 2nd ed. The Boydell Press. [OWEN-CROCKER 2004] ^ 1 2 3 4 5 *
Owen-Crocker, Gale (2005) Pomp, Piety, and Keeping the Woman in Her Place The Dress ofCnut and IElfgifu-Emma. Medieval Clothing and Textiles 1: pp.41-52. [OWEN-CROCKER 2005] ^ 1 2 3 4 5 6 *
Walton Rogers, Penelope (2007) Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon England AD450-700. CBA Research Report 145. Council for British Archaeology. [WALTON ROGERS 2007] ^ 1 2 *
Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth (2003) Viking Age Headcoverings from Dublin. Medieval Dublin Excavations 1962-81: Ser.B Vol.06 [WINCOTT HECKETT 2003] ^ 1 2 3 *