Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1962, Page 62

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
signs of pile weaving; most are tabby or twill woven pieces of cloth.
However, a mitten made of coarse twill woven cloth (Þjms. 1940) found
at Garðar near Heynes and probably as old as the Heynes fragment,
shows traces on the inside of a very short napped pile apparently inserted
through sewing. A coarse felt hat and remnants of another (Þjms. 14861,
4149), undated but probably mediaeval, were covered wilh pile on the
outside. One had a rather short (ca. 0.8 cm) pile which consisted of
closely stitched loops of yarn, afterwards cut. The remnants of the other
had a shaggy (up to 5 cm long) pile, which looked very much like the
pile on the Heynes fragment but matting made il impossible to observe the
way in which it was inserled.
Written sources about lcelandic
shaggy pile weaving.
During the time of the first republic the two main export articles from
Iceland were woollen cloth, vaðmál, and woollen pile mantles, vararfeldir.
Both were used as legal tender. The old Icelandic lawbook, Grágás, gave
definite specifications concerning the vararfeldir as to tlie size and
quality commanding a certain price (two aurar): their length was to be
four þumalálnir (204.8 cm) their width two þumalálnir (102.4 cm) and
they were to have thirteen locks across the rnantle. Grágás stated further
tliat if fetdir were of a better qualily judgement was to be used in pricing
them in each instance. In Grágás reference was also made to individually
priced mantles called hafnarfeldir used as legal lender in Iccland and
probably an export article as well; perhaps this term may liave applied
to the mantles of better quality already mentioned.
The word vararfeldur lias by some been interpreted as meaning separate
sheepskins or sheepskins sewn together to the in Grágás specificd shape,
v'liereas the röggvarfeldur (mentioned in Grettis saga) was believed to
liave been a woven manlle with a pile surface. Also it has been main-
tained tliat there were two kinds of vararfeldir: those used as legal tender
and tliose used as mantles (also just called feldir). The Icelandic historian,
Jón Jóhannesson, examined all relevant data, among otliers the price of
lambskins quotcd in Grágás, which indicated that vararfeldir were of a
more costly material than sheepskin. Taking what seemed all possibilities
into account he arrived at the conclusion that the tliree words, vararfeldir,
feldir and röggvarfeldir, all meant woven mantles with a pile surface and
tliat mantles of skin or fur were called skinnfeldir to distinguish tliem from
the others.
About or before 1200 when Icelandic pile mantles perhaps because of
changes in fashion ceased to be articles of trade and export, production
of thern apparently ceascd altogether. In the Icelandic sagas — most of
which were written in the 13th c. but related stories of the lOth and
llth c. — there is frequent mentioning of pile rnantles. Another word
meaning feldur is loöi; it is found in the older Edda but does not
appear in the sagas. There, however, two other outer garments of shaggy