And Pat's report...............
The Vikings are coming!Our meeting on Thursday, 18th November was certainly interesting. We were awaiting a guest speaker for the afternoon, so spent the morning swapping yet more fabric for bags, and discussing, demonstrating techniques, and admiring BAGS. Some of us carried on stitching, and a very relaxed morning passed quickly. After lunch, we trouped down to our normal meeting room, to be greeted by a fully kitted out Viking - Mr Ian Uzzell, a man totally immersed in the Viking period, and whose Norse name was Snorri. He looked magnificent (and huge) with his chain mail, helmet, sword and knives, etc, and he started proceedings by blowing a very long blast on a horn. It was almost ear-splitting, but gradually became strangely evocative of vast fiords and all we think we know about the Vikings. Ian then proceeded to divest himself of his layers, explaining carefully the various materials used, transforming himself from a wealthy warrior to an upper class gentleman. Snorri’s wife was represented by a tailor’s dummy and, again, we learnt about the various garments she wore, and her embellishments in the form of jewellery, etc, and the arrangements surrounding dowries around the time of marriage. We were shown weaving and embroidery which had been closely copied from well-researched items in museums, and the equipment upon which it had been made. We were lucky to be able to handle a lot of the items and, although I haven’t a chance of remembering everything we were told, I feel I now have a broader background of information, which has somehow brought alive that period. It was interesting to note that so little is known about the Vikings’ normal lives because they had no written record of their own, but all the bad press was written by the monasteries they sacked, so was bound to portray them as warlike thugs. We all thoroughly enjoyed the talk, and it made a real change from our normal workshops.
