This herjolfsnes gown or coat is very similar to the buttoned gown as was worn in Europe. The buttoned gown can be seen as the early version of the houppelande (houpelande) and can be found in contempary source from the mid fourteenth century. The herjolfsnes gown has been radiocarbon dated to AD1280-1400 (p. 253 ¹ ). In the paragraph about this garment(p. 196¹) it is dated c.1350.

The big difference between a buttoned gown and this Herjolfsnes buttoned gown or coat is that the buttoned gown was the outer-layer of a costume, beneath it a doublet and a shirt was worn. The herjolfsnes gown was most likely not worn as the outer-layer. On page 130¹ Østergård says about the herjolfsnes gown/coat: The garment D 10594 has been described as a buttoning coat. This is due to a reading of the words 'kiutell knappadhan'. But the term is a little misleading, since it is associated with outer clothing, and since none of these buttoned garments is made from thick vadmal, we must assume that like all the other garments they are not for outdoor use in a wet or cold climate.

Because of the fact that the european buttoned gown and the herjolfsnes gown are so similar, we will make our reconstruction so that it could be worn as both. When worn as the herjolfsnes gown it has only a shirt underneath it and a simple hat or cap as headwear. For the european buttoned gown costume a doublet will be made to wear beneath it and a chaperon as headwear.

A paper pattern, made directly from the original by the Teko-Center, is for sale at the Nationalmuseet Copenhagen, Denmark. My gown was made with this pattern and was sewn by my wife and given to me as a birthday gift, it is made in red high quality wool. The pewter buttones I have cast myself and I have also sewn all the buttonholes myself, by hand

A must have for everyone interested in medieval costume construction is: Woven into the earth,textiles from the norse greenland written by Else Østergård ¹. It has a wealth of information about the textiles find at herjolfsnes including this buttoned gown.

back to homepage
frames        non-frames