WITHOUT A WORD VI: BUTTER
Monastic sign language has been used in Europe from at least the tenth century by monks of the Benedictine Order because “silence is a virtue.” It was a method using a hand lexicon to name certain commonplace things without speaking aloud. It is not a language, per sé, like ASL, though very useful. This article was inspired by Debby Banham’s The Anglo-Saxon Monastic Sign Language.
If you would like butter or fat, stroke with your three fingers on the inside of your hand.
ESSENTIALS
For living in the Viking Age, what would be the essential goods owned by a person?
I would suggest the following:
Tunic and Undertunic (or dress and apron/hangeroc and underdress)
Braises or stockings (unless you are warm)
Some kind of socks if the braises or stockings had no sock feet
Shoes
Cloak
A knife
A bowl
A cup
(unless, of course, you want to be a þrall or þraell)
Beyond that, it becomes two different matters. And even some of these—such as the shoes or the cloaks—are dependent on the weather in most instances.
Most would have a belt or sash of some sort, possibly just a length of rope or fabric If you are rich, there is no end of what someone would own. If you were literate—probably a cleric—you would have a Bible and perhaps other books relating to religious thought. Even the poorest of people—even the þralls—might have a religious pendant, a game of some sort and perhaps a souvenir, just a stone that attracted his fancy. Workmen had the necessary tools to do their trade.
The important thing is that all items owned by a person would be from the same culture and of the same cost. There might be an exception—a souvenir or gift—but here I am talking about a single item, and if the item was very expensive, the chances are that it would not be often flaunted!
But not everyone would have such an item. I might well vary from person to person according to taste and what is necessary.
What is the point of these observation? Merely this…
When you are starting reenactment, take pains that everything should be of the same class. Your first outfit might very well be rather primitive. As long as it is accurate in its composition, color and style, it does not matter how sophisticated it is. In fact, having a sophisticated piece of clothing that is cheaply done is often more comical than accurate. When you are acquiring your first set of period clothing—and all subsequent sets as well—you must carefully research and recreate. When determining what your clothing should look like, you should carefully avoid almost every film, most comic books and books by authors such as Iris Brooks, Herbert Norris and Ruth Turner Wilcox. Instead, consult such books as the various Textiles and Clothing books, Þor Ewing’s Viking Costume or Gale R. Owen-Crocker’s Dress in Anglo-Saxon England. Good luck, work hard and have a good but accurate time!
WITHOUT A WORD XI: GIMME A BOOK!
Actually give me a bible, but I just did this as a cover for the Folump catalog and really liked it!
Monastic sign language has been used in Europe from at least the tenth century by monks of the Benedictine Order because “silence is a virtue.” It was a method using a hand lexicon to name certain commonplace things without speaking aloud. It is not a language, per sé, like ASL, though very useful. This article was inspired by Debby Banham’s The Anglo-Saxon Monastic Sign Language.
If you would have a book, move your hand back and forth, raise up your thumb and set your hand flat against your chest.
folo1
The Anglo-Scandinavian Chronicles 