Herjolfsnes errors: Norlund 88 (Museum No. D10613)

Following discussion on the Herjolfsnes Challenge, it was agreed that it would be useful to have a repository of the errors, inconsistencies and unclear statements in Woven Into the Earth and Medieval Garments Reconstructed, the two reference books about garments from Herjolfsnes, Greenland. These have been collated by members of the Herjolfsnes Challenge.

This blog post deals with errors that directly relate to Norlund 88 (aka D10613). As more errors are found, they will be added to this repository. If you have noticed any, please let us know and we will add them.

All page numbers refer to the English-language versions of either Woven Into the Earth (WitE-E) or Medieval Garments Reconstructed (MGR-E). When the Danish-language versions are referred to, they will be denoted as WitE-D (i.e. Som syet til jorden) and MGR-D (i.e. Nordbomønstre).

For the full repository of Herjolfsnes errors, see this page.

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Page 163 MGR - errors in scale drawing of original pattern.

Found by Miriam Griffiths.

The description of this garments says: "The stocking foot consists of six pieces, the two longest of which continue from midway below the foot around the heel up into the leg. Three pieces start from one and the same point under the sole. The fourth is a 'heel'." (WitE-E, p. 223-224). It also refers to the scale-drawing in this book on p. 297. This drawing clearly shows the six foot pieces. Two (the "two longest" from the description) consist of what would have been the two sides of the lower section of the leg piece, wrapping around the heel. Three (the "three pieces start from one") consist of a pieced foot-piece; one is cut on-grain rather than bias. The last is a slim oval-shape associated with the heel-area, which prevents the usual late medieval hose issue of having a seam running dead-centre on the underside of the foot. It did not extend into the foot-piece.

In contrast, the corresponding diagram on p. 136 of MGR-E is different. The three pieced bits that make up the foot-piece are shown as three separate pieces here, as in the WitE-E diagram. However, all three are shown as bias-cut. Additionally, the oval "heel" is depicted as being part of one side of the lower foot piece. In doing this, the cut of this piece has also been changed - in WitE-E it is bias-cut but in MGR-E it is almost on-grain.