Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2004, Page 196

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NALBINDING IN THE FAROE ISLANDS?
technique is probably from AD 300 to 500
(Schinnerer, 1895: 22-25). This particular
sock has erroneously been described as an
example of early knitting in many popular
books. Analysis of other Coptic collections
from Egypt conilrms that the found fabrics
were produced in a nalbinding technique
(Turnau, 1983: 369).Otherexamplesoftex-
tile items made in the nalbinding technique
are also found in the Middle East, e.g. tex-
tile fragments excavated at Dura-Europos
in Syria in 1922, dated to the year AD 256
(Rutt, 1987: 28-29). Fragments made in
this technique are also found in Novgorod
in Russia. One of them dates from the 10th
century, while the others are from the Mid-
dle Ages. The so-called Coppergate sock
from York was also made in a nalbinding
technique (Walton, 1989: 342).
Viking and medieval textiles clearly in
the nalbinding technique are found at vari-
ous archaeological sites of Iceland, S weden,
Finland and Denmark. The oldest examples
of nalbinding in the Nordic countries are tex-
tile fragments of plant fíbres from Bolkilde
bog on Als and the settlement Tybrind Vig
in Denmark dating from BC 3,400 and BC
4,200 respectively, i.e. the Neolithic period
(Bender Jørgensen, 1987: 65). A mitten
from Arnheiðarstaðir in Iceland might be
from the 10th century (Hald, 1951). Medi-
eval mittens have also been found in Lund,
Copenhagen and Oslo (Hald, 1945; 1950:
309; Nordland, 1961: 43). Medieval socks
in the nalbinding technique were found
in Uppsala and Soderkoping in Sweden
(Franzen, 1963: 44). An almost intact mit-
ten was discovered 1918 by a farmer in
the Ásle bog, in the Swedish province of
Vastergðtland (Arbman and Strðmberg,
1934). It has for a long time been dated to
Iron Age, but newer investigation shows
that it is much younger (Nockert and Pos-
snert, 2002: 65-66). A mitten found in Tu-
ukkala, Finland is supposed to date from the
14th century (Ahlbiick, 1943: 138; Kauko-
nen, 1960: 44). A fillet at Mammen, Bjer-
ringhøj, in Denmark, has been dated to the
10th century; with inlaid golden centres, the
lillet was made in a nalbinding technique
(Hald, 1950: 109-111; Hansen, 1992).
Nalbinding is probably al$o mentioned
in two Norse texts. The word bandvetlin-
gar in the sentence Móðir mín, segir hann,
fá Pu mer út krókstaf minn ok bandvetlinga,
reproduced in Fornmannasøgur, might, ac-
cording to Hoffman (1967: 427), refer to
mittens made in a nalbinding technique.
Another text is found from a bone needle
excavated in Lund. It is written with runes
and says tofana • skefniG, i.e. ‘the skavning
of Anna Tove’ (Blomquist and Mártensson,
1963: 176). Skdvning is probably a name of
the nalbinding technique.
We may therefore state that there is an
ancient textile technique, which requires
needles of the size and shape that were
found in Tjørnuvík, Faroe Islands.
Recent Use of Nalbinding
The nalbinding technique has survived in
some regions of Sweden, Finland and Nor-
way, where it has been used to make small
garments, suited for the cold climate in the
North (Ahlbáck, 1943; Hald, 1950: 313-
314; Kaukonen, 1960; Danielson, 1981;
Westman, 1986; Liby etal., 2003). It is also
known from Karelia, Ingermanland and