Weaving a Reconstruction - Viking Age Flax Textile

Flax, weights and swords Recreating weaving with the warp weighted loom A Textile Resources in Viking age Landscape (TRiVAL) subproject From Centre for Textile Research Video filmed and edited by Camilla Fraas Rasmussen Project abstract: Within the TRiVAL project, we will conduct a weaving test to better understand which textile tools are suitable for producing linen fabric. Our aim is to gain new insights into how the tools and flax fibers interact and identify the important functional parameters. This new knowledge will undoubtedly provide new perspectives on the use of different fibers, which is essential when interpreting textile production at a specific site. In this new collaborative project, we will challenge the assumption that more tension or weight per thread is necessary when weaving with linen yarns compared to wool. This has been considered common knowledge and viewed as a general fact (Andersson 2003; Mannering 2024). The conclusion has therefore been that heavier loom weights were used to produce linen fabrics and lighter weights for wool fabrics. This assumption is now being questioned by hand weaver Marie Ekstedt Bjersing, who works with linen weaving on an old treadle loom, and Marie Wallenberg, a specialist weaver on the warp-weighted loom (oral information). Both weavers have experience using light tension when weaving linen fabrics. In this project, we aim to test different sizes and weights of loom weights in combination with different types of weaving swords. This has previously been done using wool fibers (Wallenberg & Andersson Strand 2025), but no similar tests have been conducted on flax and linen weaving. The fabric will be made based on a Viking Age original analyzed by textile archaeologist Charlotte Rimstad within the framework of the TRiVAL project. The yarn will be spun from linen fibers prepared using traditional methods. The yarn will be spun on a spinning wheel but will match the original in thread thickness and spin angle. The weaving test will be conducted on a warp-weighted loom, the same type of loom used during the Viking Age. The loom weights are replicas of original loom weights from Hedeby. Three different weight categories, weighing 200 g, 400 g, and 600 g, will be tested together with two different weaving swords. The work will be documented, photographed, and filmed.