A Vararfeldur for Auŏur the Deep Minded - PART 2
This Blog follows on from A Vararfeldur for Auŏur the Deep Minded – PART 1, so if you haven’t already done so you might want to read that Blog HERE which will give you all the background on Auŏur’s saga and the context of a vararfeldur cloak.
My exhibition about Auŏur the Deep Minded opens at Taigh Museum and Art Gallery on Friday 2nd October to find out more details please consult my art website: HERE
Auŏur the Deep Minded lived in the 9th century, yet her story of flight, migration and strong female leadership is still as relevant today as it was then.
Auŏur fled tyranny in Norway and subsequently violence in the Outer Hebrides and the Highlands, before captaining her own vessel and guiding her people to safety and settlement in Iceland. She is one of the most prominent female figure in Icelandic medieval texts with her story written down in the Laxdaela Saga and Landnámabók (Icelandic Book of Settlement).
Auŏur’s story intertwined many aspects of my life, as a woman living in the Hebrides, a shepherdess of North Atlantic sheep and a seafarer, I have been inspired by her bravery, vision and honourable female leadership.
Having spent an artist residency at the Icelandic Textile Centre, in Blönduós, northern Iceland during February 2019 (you can read about this HERE and HERE) I was also intrigued by the strong historic and genetic links between Iceland and the Hebrides. Much of Norse history was swept aside in the Hebrides by the resurgence of Gaelic culture following the rise of the Lord of the Isles in the 13th century. I felt compelled to raise awareness within the Hebridean community of the wealth of their Norse heritage and to share, particularly with my fellow Hebridean women, Auŏur’s engaging and inspiring story.
In honour of Auŏur, I decided to weave a vararfeldur viking cloak. This would twine the various elements of Norse, Hebridean and Icelandic ancestry with aspects of my own life and would be made from fibre from North Atlantic sheep breeds found across the northern periphery.
I had never woven before so was in need of some expert help. This led me to spend three weeks at Osterøy Museum in Norway during February – March 2020. Osterøy Museum are the experts in warp weighted looms and vararfeldurs having recently published The Warp-Weighted Loom (2016) by Hákonardóttir, Johnston and Kløve Juuhl.
In advance of my time in Osterøy, I gathered and processed fleece from my own Hebridean sheep and other North Atlantic sheep breeds from Iceland, the Faeroes, North Ronaldsay, Shetland and the Lofoten islands, Norway. Then once in Osterøy, these were further combined with locally farmed Norwegian Spelsau sheep. The North Atlantic sheep breed have a distinctive double layered fleece with an oily, water shedding outer ‘tog’ layer and an insulating, fluffy ‘phel’ under layer. It was this ‘tog’ outer layer that lent itself to the nature of the vararfeldur piled cloak. The processing of the fleece prior to weaving took around 1 week and involved sorting fibres, separating the ‘tog’, washing and carding.
I arrived in Osterøy mid February and my tutor Monika Ravnanger put me straight to work on one of their warp weighted looms. The weaving took two weeks of long physical work. It is estimated that it takes 35 hours to hand spin enough yarn to weave for one hour, showing the value embedded in a vararfeldur.
The following photos chart the different stages of the weaving process better than words.
After two weeks weaving, I visited Bergen and saw Thomas Inversen’s work making a pencil from scratch, which reframed my thinking about making as embodied knowledge.
His work made me reflect on my own process. I had raised, sheared and processed fleece, sourced fibres across the North Atlantic, and spent weeks weaving. This was a process of “thinking through making” (Ingold 2013).
My journey across Iceland, the Hebrides and Norway mirrored Auŏur’s migration in reverse, forming a process of material and experiential knowledge.
The cloak embodies geography, history, and lived experience, connecting Viking women, North Atlantic sheep, and contemporary craft practice. I intend to share this work with women across the Hebrides and beyond, allowing the cloak to gather new meanings through use and encounter.
Exhibitions: Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum (2020), Osterøy Museum (2021).
Thanks to Osterøy Museum and Creative Scotland for supporting this work.
Bibliography remains as provided in original text.
