Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1962, Page 65

FORN RÖGGVARVEFNAÐUR
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Irish word then derived from the Icelandic vararfeldir -which could just
as well have been an article of trade in Ireland as in Saxony.
In mediaeval art, renderings of shaggy garments were found most often
in pictures of St. John the Baptist (Fig. 11); a number of such pictures
dating from the lOth through the 12th c. were found (Figs. 15, 16). Pictures
of secular persons wearing shaggy mantles were more rarely seen (Fig. 17).
It was interesting to compare these pictures with the descriptions of the
Icelandic feldir and note the many parallels. Only on the Bayeux tapestry
was seen an apparently shaggy textile used as a rug or coverlet during this
period (Fig. 19).
Shaggy pile woven fabrics after 1200. References were found to shaggy
cloaks, tunics and coverlets from various places in Europe after 1200.
French, English and German pictorial sources showed St. John the Baptist
wearing a shaggy cloak or tunic (or both) at least until the 14th c. (Figs.
20, 21, 22). Also from the 13th into the 17th c. pilgrims, hermits and others
were depicted wearing shaggy garments in English, Irish, German and
Italian sources. Little information was found on the origin and use in
Europe of shaggy coverlets for bedding; in Scandinavia where they were
still being produced in the 19th and 20th c. they werc first mentioned
in written sources in the first half of the 15th c. and then called rya.
Sources on the use of shaggy cloaks, coats and coverlets apparently based
on old tradilion were found from various places in southern and eastern
Europe from the 18th, 19th and 20th c.
Conclusion.
Pile fabrics of a fleecy, shaggy appearance similar to that of the
Heynes fragments were indicated among the earliest known pile fabrics
in the world. The pile knot used in the Heynes fragments was found to
be most closely related to the Spanish knot, although no knot completely
identical to that from Heynes was found. Shaggy garments and textiles
were found used through ancient and mediaeval times somewhere or
other in the area of south west Asia, north Africa and Europe.
Although pile woven mantles were one of the main exports of Iceland
from the lOth through the 12th c. evidence indicated that the Frisians and
the Irish as well traded in shaggy textiles, the Frisians perhaps at a some-
what earlier date, the Irish possibly at an earlier and, mainly, a later
date but perhaps also contemporaneously with the Icelanders.
The specific origin of tlie Icelandic shaggy pile weaving technique
has not been determined. It would seem most natural if the Norwegian
settlers of Iceland had brought with them the knowledge of the teclinique.
Another possibility would seem to be that it had been brought to Ice-
land with settlers or slaves from the British Isles. Still, as long as examples
of it are found nowhere else it seems that the pile knot of the Heynes
textiles might be considered a special Icelandic technique.