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Fur & Feathers

114 bytes added, 17:51, 20 August 2013
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==The written evidence==
We have a few good literary sources describing the kinds of furs traded during the Viking Age.
*The Voyage of Ohthere from King Alfred's Orosius. Othere was from Halgoland and traded via Hedeby to London. He described the tribute paid to him by the Finlanders as:<br>
*Al-Mukaddasi, Shams Al-Deen Abu Abdallah. 985AD "fur of steppe foxes, martens, foxes, beavers, spotted hares and goats" [HOWARD-JOHNSTON 1998:p.69]
* The Saga of Erik the Red. Probably written in the C13th. Describing the prophetess Thorbjorg. "Now, when she came in the evening, accompanied by the man who had been sent to meet her, she was dressed in such wise that she had a blue mantle over her, with strings for the neck, and it was inlaid with gems quite down to the skirt. On her neck she had glass beads. On her head she had a black hood of lambskin, lined with ermine. A staff she had in her hand, with a knob thereon; it was ornamented with brass, and inlaid with gems round about the knob. Around her she wore a girdle of soft hair, and therein was a large skin-bag, in which she kept the talismans needful to her in her wisdom. She wore hairy calf-skin shoes on her feet, with long and strong-looking thongs to them, and great knobs of latten at the ends. On her hands she had gloves of ermine-skin, and they were white and hairy within." http://sagadb.org/eiriks_saga_rauda.en
 
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==The archaeological evidence==A few archeological archaeological sites have turned up a number of finds of fur.
*Birka, Sweden: 90 fragments of fur and 100 feathers [HAGG 1986:p.52] were found. Geijer reports of the following types of fur being found: Squirrel (grave 507), Marten (grave 557), Beaver (graves 539, 619, 956, 968). These pieces for fur were probably used as decoration on womens clothing. [GEIJER 1938: p.133] [HAGG 1986: p. 65]<br>
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==The tanning process==
 
 
 
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==Evidence by animal==
===Bear===
{{Evidence