In the Sagas we have only partial descriptions of the dress worn by men and women, and though many names of pieces of clothing are mentioned, very little light is otherwise thrown upon the subject. The material used for clothing seems to have been the same for both sexes—linen, wool, silk, skins, and furs. Among the costly materials mentioned is “_pell_” which is supposed to be like velvet. The materials were sometimes seamed with gold and silver thread, or embroidered. It was the custom to have a border on many of the clothes called _hlad_, which was either a band, ribbon, or a kind of lace. Blue, red, green, scarlet, and purple, were the colours most in favour; grey was the colour for everyday use, and white _vadmal_, a coarse or thick woollen stuff, was the distinctive clothing for slaves. The trousers were worn at a very early time, as we have seen from the Bog finds, and were kept in their proper place by a belt round the waist, and had the socks knitted on to them, over which were shoes. Over the linen and woollen shirts was the coat of mail. Over the shoulders a cloak was worn, resembling that of the Romans or Greeks, with a fringe or border at the sides. These cloaks were fastened by fibulæ. The costumes of the Bayeux tapestry agree with the descriptions of the Sagas. The everyday dress of Geirmund is thus described:— “He usually dressed thus. He wore a red scarlet kirtle, and over it a grey cloak (feld), and on his head a bearskin cap (húfa). He wore in his hand a large sword. It was not adorned with silver, and its blade was keen and broad and no rust on it. He called the sword Fótbít (foot-cutter), and never let it go out of his hand” (Laxdæla, c. 29). [Illustration: Fig. 1144.—Cloth with representation of lion or leopard. ⅓ real size.—Mammen find. ] Vigaskúta saw “that a large man in a green cloak rode from Thverá (a farm), and knew that it was Glúm. He alighted from his horse. He had on a cloak of two colours, black and white” (Viga Glum’s Saga, c. 16). “Hrút started up in a shirt and linen breeches, and threw over himself a grey cloak, and had in his hand a halberd adorned with gold, which King Harald had given him” (Laxdæla, c. 37). “The king had on a red cloak (möttul)[205] with bands, and a spear in his hand. He twisted the cloak-pin off, and leaned upon the blade of his spear. When Heming came down he took hold of the king’s cloak, but the king bowed down his head, and let go the cloak, so that Heming flew down off the rock” (Flateyjarbok, iii. 409). [Illustration: Fig. 1145.—Piece of cloth found in Bjerringhoi mound at Mammen, near Viborg.—⅓ real size. ] [Illustration: Fig. 1146.—Fragment of woollen cloth, ornamented with hands and human faces. ⅓ real size.—Mammen find. ] Helgi, a Norwegian trader, was invited to stay with Gudmund the powerful, on Mödruvellir, a whole winter. When he left he said to him:—