Nalbinding.pdf

190

NALBINDING IN THE FAROE ISLANDS?

Nalbinding in the Faroe Islands?

Nálabinding í Føroyum?

Osva Olsen 1 and Ingvar Svanberg 2

1 Føroya Fornminnissavn, FO-110 Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. Email: osvaolsen@yahoo.se

2 Department of East European Studies, Box 514, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden.

Email: Ingvar.Svanberg@east.uu.se

Úrtak

Á goymsluni á Føroya Fornminnissavni eru varðveittar

nálir, sum fornfrøðingar hava funnið í grevstrum í

Kvívík og Tjørnuvík. Hesar nálir kunnu bera prógv um

at føroyingar nálabundu áðrenn teir lærdu at binda í

16. øld. At bundnar vørur vóru høvuðsútflutningsvøra

Føroyinga í 17. og 18. øld er kanska orsøkin til at

nálabinding, sum er ein meira tíðarkrevjandi tekstilur

teknikkur, doyði út. Ein tulking av Tarnovius ber kanska

prógv um at fólk nálabundu í Føroyum í 17. øld. Eingir

nálabundnir gripir eru varðveittir, sum kunna prógva at

so er, og próvføri í kelduni er eisini veikt.

Sjálvt um nálirnar til nálabinding eru einfaldar eru

tær eyðkendar. Nálirnar úr Kvívík og Tjørnuvík bera

kanska haldgott prógv um at føroyingar nálabundu,

áðrenn teir lærdu at binda.

Although the needles for nalbinding are simple

in their construction, they do have a specific and

recognisable form. The needles in the collection of

Føroya Fornminnissavn from Kvívík and Tjørnuvík

may confirm the conclusion that nalbinding was known

earlier in the Faroes.

Introduction

Sheep have probably existed as domesti-

cated animals in the Faroe Islands for as

long as there have been human settlements.

Shepherding was one of the main economic

activities in the pre-industrial Faroe Islands.

Some scholars believe that sheep have ac-

tually bestowed their name to the islands

– ‘Sheep Islands’. Sheep may be viewed as

a key symbol of the traditional local culture

(Ortner, 1973). They yield mutton, intes-

tines, blood, horn, bone, lard and manure,

but wool and skin have always been signifi-

cant products. The usage of wool and skin

was probably the main reason, why human

beings domesticated sheep (Hjärpe and

Olsen, 2001). Being able to manufacture

leather from sheepskin for clothing, such as

shoes and outdoor jackets and trousers, was

Abstract

Archaeological findings of needles, now in the collection

of Føroya Fornminnissavn, from Kvívík and Tjørnuvík,

may indicate that nalbinding did exist as a textile

technique in pre-modern Faroe Islands before knitting

was introduced in the 16 th century. Large-scale knitting

dominated the export from the Faroes during the 17 th

and 18 th centuries and may be the reason why the more

time-consuming nalbinding technique did not survive.

An interpretation of a passage in Tarnovius might,

however, indicate that nalbinding was still used in the

Faroes in the 17 th century. No textile artefacts support

this conclusion, and the evidence in the source is weak,

so the passage in Tarnovious must be treated with much

care.

Fróðskaparrit 51. bók 2004: 190-199

NÁLABINDING Í FØROYUM?

191

important for the inhabitants of the Faroes

in the pre-industrial period (Olsen and

Svanberg, 1998). Our viewpoint is that the

human being has always been able to man-

age resources for economic purposes, and

has constantly been adapting to changes

wrought by external conditions (Svanberg

2001a; b). We shall demonstrate the viabil-

ity of this idea through examining the lo-

cal textile techniques, which have changed

during the centuries.

Thanks to archaeological discoveries of

various implements, such as spindle-whorls

and warp weights, we know that spinning

and weaving on warp-weighted looms

were techniques during the Viking age of

the Faroe Islands. Findings from the Viking

site of Kvívík for instance support this con-

clusion (Dahl, 1951). Spindle-whorls made

of e.g. lead, steatite and a local red tuff have

also been unearthed at a medieval site at

Leirvík (Arge, 1997: 32). But it is beyond

our power to fully ascertain how the textile

techniques were used in the Faroes during

the Viking and Middle Ages. Few textile

fragments have been found which could be

analysed (Diklev, 1980: 24; Arge and Øster-

gaard, 2002). Knitting was probably not in-

troduced to the islands until the early 16 th

century. Sverri Dahl mentions, however, in

his report on the findings from the excava-

tion at the Viking settlement in Kvívík, two

needles of wood, which attract our interest

(Dahl, 1951: 87). There are unfortunately

no further descriptions and details available

on the needles, but in July 1966, another

ten wooden needles were found in the site

‘Á Grundini’ at Tjørnuvík (Fmnr 4601), see

fig. 1.

Although forests have been absent for

as long as human beings existed on the

islands, the inhabitants have always man-

aged to construct buildings and manufac-

ture tools and domestic utensils by relying

on wood brought from abroad or driftwood,

cast ashore by the ocean currents (Jóhansen,

1985; Malmros, 1994; Arge, 1997: 35;

Svanberg, 1998a: 86).

Regarding the needles from Kvívík, Dahl

did not provide any interpretation of their

possible use, and other scholars have yet to

examine them more closely. Dahl only re-

ports that similar needles are known from

Norse settlements in Greenland. No writ-

ten analyses of the needles from Tjørnuvík

have so far been published.

Needles in Archaeological Records

Occurrence of needles is known from exca-

vations of Viking and medieval settlements

and graves in other Nordic countries. Sew-

ing needles made of iron or bronze are usu-

ally between 2 and 6.5 centimetres, but it

is difficult to decide the difference between

sewing needles and pieces of jewellery.

Other materials used for needles are bone,

elk antler and wood (Slomann, 1967; Nor-

berg, 1967; Westman, 1986: 55; Anders-

son, 2003: 83–87, 127–130). A report from

an excavation in central Lund in Sweden,

with findings from around year 1000, dis-

cusses various kinds of needles. Around

thirty needles were then discovered in the

soil. Most of them were made of bone. The

authors state, that it is hardly possible to

determine the use of the needles, but they

suggest three conceivable fields of applica-

tions. A large kind of needle with widening

192

NALBINDING IN THE FAROE ISLANDS?

handles was probably used as shuttle for

weaving in warp-weighted looms. Needles

lesser in the size – around 10 centimetres –

might have been used for making a pattern

in the texture. A third way of using the need-

les has been to make textiles in a special

technique known as nalbinding (Blomqvist

and Mårtensson, 1963: 176). Commenting

on needles in archaeological context, a tex-

tile historian suggests a fourth use for nee-

dles with a sharp point and a round cross

section; until recently Shetland fishermen

used such needles to repair their woollen

sails (Andersson, 1996: 17). As Andersson

(2003: 87) in a recent study points out, a

needle with an eye need not to have been

used as a textile tool at all. They could, for

instance, have been used as stylus.

Nalbinding needles seem to be prevalent

at Nordic excavations. Lindström (1976)

describes 44 needles with eyes, found at

another excavation in Lund. These needles

were made of bone and antler. The author

states, despite the fact they vary in shape

and design, that most of them are prob-

ably used for nalbinding. Some of them

were made of fibula from swine, which

is a material used until recently for such

needles in both Sweden and Norway. The

bone needles are polished slightly and have

a flat and in some cases round cross-sec-

tion: some of them have decorations. Need-

les have also been found in early medieval

sites in Uppsala, Sweden. Franzén (1963:

40) describes two such needles, one of bone

and the other of wood. These needles are 8

to 10 centimetres in length. A pointed stick

with a hole in the end from the Viking set-

tlement of Elisenhof (southern Jylland) in

Fig. 1. Needles from Tjørnuvík discovered in July 1966

(Fmnr 4601). The needles are of two different kinds.

Seven of them are thin, flat and has a semicircular or

a circular hole in one end. Three of the needles are

thinner and evenly cut at the upper end with a small

circular hole. (Courtesy: Føroya Fornminnissavn).

contemporary Germany is construed to be

a wooden needle for nalbinding (Grenander

Nyberg, 1989: 90). One similar needle in

wood was also found during excavations at

the Norse settlement of Sandnes in Green-

land (Roussell, 1936: 135, 189).

Hald (1950: 283) describes and illus-

NÁLABINDING Í FØROYUM?

193

actually are dress pins (Bender Jørgensen,

1991: 67). Some bone pins from Brattahlid

in Greenland, which in shape and size are

similar to modern needles for nalbinding,

are interpreted as hair-pins rather than nee-

dles. However, in the early 1930s, most ar-

chaeologists were hardly aware of nalbind-

ing. It has not been possible to date them,

but they seem to be from the Middle Ages

(Nörlund and Stenberg, 1934: 137).

Fig. 2. Mitten made in

looped needle netting

(From: Collin, 1918).

Nalbinding

Nalbinding is an ancient textile technique,

which requires needles of the same size and

shape as the needles found in Tjørnuvík.

The technique is for producing a looped

fabric, and relies on an eyed needle thread-

ed with a relatively short length of yarn.

There are several different forms of nalbi-

nding known and used in various parts of

the world, see fig. 2. The technique is also

known as looping, needle-knitting , eyed- or

single-needle knitting and knotless netting .

Textile historians have characterised the

technique as simple interconnected looping

or lateral linked looping (Seiler-Baldinger,

1994: 13). Rutt (1987: 8), who has written

an indispensable book on knitting, suggests

nalbinding for a technical term in the Eng-

lish language.

Nalbinding has existed in many differ-

ent parts of the world and the technique

has often been used for producing nets,

string bags and baskets (Danielson, 1981:

9; Seiler-Baldinger, 1994: 13–16). Ancient

garments produced in the nalbinding tech-

nique, mostly socks and mittens, are found

in various archaeological sites. A well-

known Egyptian sock made in a nalbinding

trates needles of bone, which, according to

her, have been used for nalbinding. They

are the same size and shape as those in the

archaeological finds of Sweden and are

even similar to contemporary nalbinding

needles. The needles described by Hald are

dated to the Viking Age, but similar needles

from the Neolithic period have been found

in Denmark. Crude bone needles are also

described amongst the findings from Ribe.

It is suggested that they had been used for

nalbinding. However, another possibility,

according to Bender Jørgensen, is that they

194

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 confirms that the found fabrics

were produced in a nalbinding technique

(Turnau, 1983: 369). Other examples of tex-

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 10 th

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, Sweden,

Finland and Denmark. The oldest examples

of nalbinding in the Nordic countries are tex-

tile fragments of plant fibres 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 10 th 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 Söderköping in Sweden

(Franzén, 1963: 44). An almost intact mit-

ten was discovered 1918 by a farmer in

the Åsle bog, in the Swedish province of

Västergötland (Arbman and Strömberg,

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

14 th century (Ahlbäck, 1943: 138; Kauko-

nen, 1960: 44). A fillet at Mammen, Bjer-

ringhøj, in Denmark, has been dated to the

10 th century; with inlaid golden centres, the

fillet was made in a nalbinding technique

(Hald, 1950: 109–111; Hansen, 1992).

Nalbinding is probably also mentioned

in two Norse texts. The word bandvetlin-

gar in the sentence Móðir mín, segir hann,

fá Þu mér 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 skävning

of Anna Tove’ (Blomquist and Mårtensson,

1963: 176). Skävning 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 (Ahlbäck, 1943; Hald, 1950: 313–

314; Kaukonen, 1960; Danielson, 1981;

Westman, 1986; Liby et al. , 2003). It is also

known from Karelia, Ingermanland and

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