Backes & Dolling
Art of the Dark Ages, Abrams, 1969 (TT)
Bailey, Richard
Viking Age Sculpture, Collins 1980 (TT)
Bugge, Anders
Norwegian Stave Churches, Dreyers Forlag, 1953 (TT)
Hauglid, Roar
Norway - a thousand years of native arts & crafts. Mittet & Co 1956 (TT)
Kendrick, T D
Late Saxon and Viking Art, Methuen, 1974 (TT)
Laing, Lloyd & Jennifer
Early English Art & Architecture
Philpott, Fiona
A Silver Saga, Viking Treasure from the North West, Nat.Mus of Merseyside 1990
Roesdahl, E
From Viking to Crusader, (with D Wilson), Rizzoli International Pub1992 (TT)
Neil Stratford,
The Lewis Chessmen, British Museum Press 1997 (TT)
Wilson, David M
Anglo-Saxon Art, Thames and Hudson 1984 (TT)
Wilson, Eva
Early Medieval Designs, British Museum Press, 1983 (TT)
These are books recommended to anyone wanting to try out Dark Age textile techniques. Most will be out of print but you may be able to find them via your local library. They are listed in order of relevance to the period.
Spinning is the art of turning loose fibres such as fleece or flax into thread by pulling and twisting. The tools used in this period were the drop spindle, the distaff and wool combs. (Spinning wheels and carding combs were not used until the fourteenth century.) There is an article on spinning in The Wain Issue 2
Spinning Wheels, Spinners & Spinning, Patricia Baines, Batsford 1977.(TT)
Hand Woolcombing & Spinning, Peter Teal, Blandford, 1976.(TT)
Linen Hand Spinning and Weaving, Patricia Baines, Batsford, 1989.(TT)
Cloth for general use was made on a warp-weighted loom and was produced in the home by the housewife.
The Warp -Weighted Loom, Marta Hoffman, Robin & Russ Handweavers 1964.
Studies in Primitive Looms, H Ling Roth, Ruth Bean, 1977 (reprint 1950)
Bought cloth was expensive so the housewife would make her family's everyday clothing from scratch. The quality of her work was a status symbol, especially the dyes which would be made up from local plants
Growing Herbs and Plants for Dyeing, Betty E M Jacobs, Select Books 1977.
This is a braid technique that was very popular among the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. Tablet woven braid was another symbol of status and was even made as gold or silver brocade.
Tablet Weaving, History, Techniques,Colours, Patterns, Egon Hansen, Hovedland Publishers 1990 (very relevent but not for the beginner! Contains the complex brocade patterns)
The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, Peter Collingwood, Faber & Faber 1982.
A netting technique producing either openwork for hairnets or tightly meshed work for general clothing.
The Techniques of Sprang, Peter Collingwood, Faber & Faber 1974.
Sprang, Hella Skowronski & Mary Read, Studio Vista, 1974.
Decorative picture weaving. Viking woman used the Soumak technique to create long narrow murals.
Tapestry Weaving, Nancy Harvey, Interweave Press 1991.
The Anglo-Saxons were famous for their embroiderys hence its Medieval name Opus Anglicanum
The Bayeux Tapestry, N Denny & J Filmer-Sankey, Book Club Associates, 1984.
Opus Anglicanum, The Arts Council, 1963
Woodcarving in the Scandinavian Style, Harley Refsal, Sterling 1992
Russian Folkart, Alison Hilton, Indiana 1995
Celtic Design Colouring Book, Ed Sibbett Jnr, Dover Pub Inc 1979
Story of the Vikings Colouring Book, A G Smith, Dover Pub Inc 1988