{"id":1426,"date":"2026-03-11T15:20:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2026-03-11T15:20:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:20:44","slug":"two-crafts-hand-in-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/2026\/03\/11\/two-crafts-hand-in-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Crafts Hand in Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meticulous work at the loom \u2013 and precision woodworking in miniature \u2013 both play a role in recreating parts of the remarkable Oseberg tapestry.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Einar Chr. Erlingsen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Bente
Bente P. Skogsaas beside the replica of the small weaving frame from Oseberg. The photograph was taken at the Borre Viking Market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Among the many treasures from the Oseberg burial, the textiles rank among the most extraordinary. At the same time, they remain among the least studied in terms of how they were actually woven. The surviving tapestry fragments offer glimpses into a mysterious and mythological world that was barely recognised when the burial was excavated in 1904.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, archaeologists concentrated mainly on preserving and documenting the many objects made of wood and metal. Even so, the young scientific illustrator Sofie Krafft made a remarkable contribution from 1907 onwards, carefully drawing both textiles and artefacts and recording colours wherever traces remained. Her work has since become an invaluable source for researchers seeking to understand the weaving techniques used in both the tapestry fragments and the many tablet-woven bands from the grave.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The starting point \u2013 as it appears today.
(Photo: Eirik Irgen Johnsen)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The foundation Oseberg Viking Heritage<\/strong> aims not only to build archaeological replicas of Vestfold\u2019s Viking ships, but also to recreate other artefacts from the find \u2013 including textiles. The project draws on the expertise of a number of highly skilled craftspeople.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The original weaving fork from the Oseberg find (Photo: Alexis Pantos \/ Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo), <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The
The weaving fork replica made by our boatbuilder B\u00e5rd Kj\u00f8lsr\u00f8d for the reconstruction of the two \u201cWagon Procession\u201d fragments.
(Photo: Bente Skogsaas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One of them is Bente Skogsaas, who has written a dissertation on the tablet-woven bands from the Oseberg find. She recently received confirmation from the University of Oslo that her dissertation has been accepted as the basis for a public defence for the degree of dr. philos.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy interest began when I attended an introductory course in tablet weaving in 2014,\u201d Bente recalls. \u201cDuring the course I saw an old watercolour of one of the bands from the Oseberg find, labelled 34D. I immediately felt I wanted to try weaving it myself.\u201d The project eventually became her master\u2019s thesis in Traditional Arts.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Fragment
Fragment 2 of the \u201cWagon Procession\u201d \u2013 Bente\u2019s reconstruction.
(Photo: Bente Skogsaas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Fragment
Fragment 1 \u2013 also in Bente\u2019s reconstruction.
(Photo: Bente Skogsaas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the years since, she has painstakingly reconstructed several of the tablet-woven bands from Oseberg. She has now embarked on an even more ambitious undertaking: recreating tapestry fragments 1 and 2 of the so-called \u201cWagon Procession\u201d<\/strong>, depicting a sequence of men and women, horses, birds and wagons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Tool Recreated<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small weaving fork was discovered in the Oseberg grave. Bente has been able to test the tool using an exact replica made by B\u00e5rd Kj\u00f8lsr\u00f8d, one of the permanent boatbuilders at Oseberg Viking Heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original section of tapestry shown here (Wagon Procession 1\u20132) measures only 19 \u00d7 45 cm, excluding the tablet-woven borders above and below. Even so, it has required almost half a year of intermittent work at the loom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The explanation lies in the extraordinary level of detail: up to 10\u201312 threads per centimetre \u2013 reflected in the spacing of the teeth on the weaving fork (10 per 2 cm). The yarn is hand-spun and dyed with plant-based dyes, just as in the Viking Age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sheer amount of work involved also suggests that the tapestry cannot have been produced specifically for the burial of the two Oseberg women. It must have been older \u2013 and originally far longer than the section reconstructed so far.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Detail
Detail from the reconstruction.
(Photo: Bente Skogsaas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI would also like to thank the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo,\u201d Bente adds. \u201cThey have been extremely helpful, giving me access both to the original material and to a large number of very high-resolution photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She now looks forward to the completion of the new workshop building at Vikingodden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce it is ready, I would very much like to continue my work there \u2013 and to do it in full view of the public. For me, the most important aim is to share the remarkable craft heritage preserved in the Oseberg find.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The reconstructed tablet-woven band 34D.
(Photo: Bente Skogsaas)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/div>

Want to learn more?<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>

Read Bente\u2019s latest book:\u00a0\u201cTapestry-Woven Bands from the Oseberg Grave.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Earlier booklets are sold out but are available as PDFs. The dissertation submitted to the University of Oslo may also be published later this year.
See also the articles on our website:
2025 \/ December \/ 3 \u2013\u00a0Learn \u201cOseberg Weaving\u201d<\/em><\/a>
2005 \/ December \/ 3 \u2013\u00a0Exploring and Practising the Weaving of a Section of the Oseberg Tapestry and Band 26C<\/em><\/a>
Bente has also published an article in the journal\u00a0Viking<\/strong>\u00a0(November 2025):
Exploring and Practising the Weaving of a Section of the Oseberg Tapestry and Band 26C.<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\"en_GB\"\/<\/a>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meticulous work at the loom \u2013 and precision woodworking in miniature \u2013 both play a role in recreating parts of the remarkable Oseberg tapestry. By Einar Chr. Erlingsen Among the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oseberg","category-research"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/OSEBERGVEVENN-2-04.jpg",1532,1263,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/OSEBERGVEVENN-2-04-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/OSEBERGVEVENN-2-04-300x247.jpg",300,247,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/OSEBERGVEVENN-2-04-768x633.jpg",768,633,true],"large":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/OSEBERGVEVENN-2-04-1024x844.jpg",1024,844,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/OSEBERGVEVENN-2-04.jpg",1532,1263,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/OSEBERGVEVENN-2-04.jpg",1532,1263,false],"gg_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/OSEBERGVEVENN-2-04-450x250.jpg",450,250,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ole Harald","author_link":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/author\/ole-harald\/"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"Meticulous work at the loom \u2013 and precision woodworking in miniature \u2013 both play a role in recreating parts of the remarkable Oseberg tapestry. By Einar Chr. Erlingsen Among the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1435,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions\/1435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}