Woodworking in the Viking Age

Overview

Scandinavia has always been a perfect location for craftsmen working in wood. "The soft woods of northern Scandinavia and the hard woods of Denmark and south Sweden provided an inexhaustible source of raw material for the carpenter's craft" (Foote and Wilson, The Viking Achievement , p. 178).

Woodworking would have been a common skill at least at the level of being able to execute simple repairs, as even modern homeowners know today. Some more skilled craftsmen, as with the Mästermyr artisan, would have been more of a general "handyman" and perhaps were itinerant craftsmen at times. Specialists in various wood arts did exist, however, for the Old Norse literature records specialized boat-builders as well as expert homebuilders and carpenters.

The woodworker's art spans a variety of related disciplines. In the Viking Age, wood was used for homes, for ships, for barns and other buildings, as well as for farming implements and household objects, and many other uses. Some woodwork was very plain, others enormously complex with decoration carved and painted on.

The character and nature of any type of handicraft is profoundly affected by the tools the craftsman has available. To start our examination of Viking Age woodworking, let us look first at the tools of the Viking wood crafter.

Evidence

Evidence for the tools of the Viking Age woodcrafter come from a variety of sources. Perhaps the best source of evidence comes from archaeological finds of the actual tools themselves. An excellent example of this type of find comes from Gotland, Sweden, where an entire tool chest was found at Mästermyr, containing both blacksmith's tools and tools for woodwork. The Mästermyr find is very important, as it is the only example of a comprehensive collection of tools found in a single context for Viking Age Scandinavia. It is not uncommon to find a tool or two in an individual grave. Occasionally, but much less often, home or farm sites will yield an individual tool.

The second type of evidence for Viking Age woodworking comes from examination of surviving wooden items, especially close attention to tool marks, ornamentation, construction details. The items themselves are not the only good source, however, since waste and scraps produced by the crafter in making a wooden item often give extremely valuable insights into woodworking technique and the tools in use.

The third type of evidence comes from artistic representations showing woodworking tools in use in early northern Europe. The most notable of these is perhaps the Bayeux Tapestry, which shows ship builders at their work, utilizing a range of tools that are identical to the ones found in Viking Age Scandinavia, particularly the tool assemblage from Mästermyr.

Types of Tools - A Look at the Mästermyr Woodcrafting Tools

In 1936, on an island off the coast of Sweden, a farmer plowing a recently drained swampland was stopped by something buried in the ground. He found his plowshare entangled in an old chain. As he dug deeper he found the chain wrapped around a chest that contained many old tools. Subsequent investigation by Sweden's archaeologists revealed that it was a tool chest from the Viking Age and, though a millenium old, these tools would not have been out of place in any modern smith's forge or carpenter's workshop.



Mästermyr Tools Shown with Modern Wood Hafts

Axes

(22.0 cm long. Cutting edge 6.7 cm wide. Butt 2.0 × 4.5 cm) (15.0 × 4.6 × 2.9 cm; butt 3.0 × 2.3 cm)







Scenes of Timber-Felling

from the Bayeux Tapestry



Logs Were Radially Split into Planks

Axes of the type found at Mästermyr differ in many details from axes designed to be used as weapons. These axes were used for felling trees, as seen in the Bayeux Tapestry (right, above) and also at times as wedges used to split logs radially, producing planks.

Adzes

(15.5 × 5.9 × 1.4 cm) (19.8 × 17.0 × 1.7cm)



Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry Showing

Wood Shaping with Axes

Adzes are uncommon in Viking Age finds, but certainly would have been a common tool. The T-shaped adze (top left, above) with its curved blade was used to smooth planks that had been created by splitting logs with a wedge. This type of smoothing remained in use in northern Europe until the introduction of pit saws made it possible to cut smooth planks. Adzes were also used in coopering, being used to smooth the insides of casks.

Saws



(61.4 × 4.8 × 0.4 cm;

handle 12.5 × 3.4 cm)





(34.5 × 2.0 × 0.4 cm)





(24.0 × 3.6 cm.

Frame 0.25 cm thick. Blade 0.15 cm thick.)

Two woodsaws, plus a hacksaw thought to have been used for cutting metal or bone, were among the items in the Mästermyr find. The hacksaw is shown here because this same shape is used in some types of wood saw today, and it gives an idea of the range of saw types available. The wood saws pictured above resemble serrated knives, though larger than a typical knife. On the left is a fine-toothed saw, while the saw blade on the right I a very coarse saw, with the teeth set alternately left and right.

Augers

(Auger bits range from 44.2 cm to 16.6 cm in length and would drill holes between 3 to 5 cm in diameter) Drill bit and spoon bit found at York. Simple Auger Handle

Modern Breast Auger Scene from Bayeux Tapestry

Showing Breast Auger in Use.

Draw Knife and Moulding Iron

Draw Knife (6.7 × 7.8 cm) Suggested handle reconstruction. Modern Draw Knife Example of molding (modern).

Augers, what we would recognize as a spoon bit drilling tool, came in a variety of forms in the Viking Age. Some had a loop at the end through which a wooden handle could be inserted. The Mästermyr augers are thought to have been breast augers, in which the spoon bit is attached to a rotating shaft with a cross handle for turning the tool, but at the far end the whole tool spins in a curved cross piece. The craftsman using a breast auger would lean his chest against the curved brace to apply downwards pressure against the bit while turning the tool using the lower crosspiece. An example of this tool in use can be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry, where ship-builders are boring rivet holes to clench down the strake planks on the sides of the ship.

A draw knife is used for smoothing wood in a manner similar to using a modern wood plane, but the amount of wood being removed can be altered by varying the angle of the blade as it is drawn up the wood. The woodworker pulls the knife towards him, shaving wood with fine control. The Viking Age draw knife could also be used as a gouge to remove wood from the inside of a trough or bowl, for instance.



Moulding Iron from Lund, Sweden,

Found with Original Wood Handles.

Moulding Iron (8.1 × 9.2 × 0.3 cm)

Moulding irons are very similar to a draw knife, but instead of shaving a thin, flat piece from the wood, the moulding iron is used to cut decorative grooves (think of modern "crown molding"). Viking ships often had decoration produced by use of a moulding iron on the gunwale. The boat found at Årby, Upland, had very complex moulding, and complex mouldings also appear on furniture and buildings.

Gouges and Chisels

(26.0 × 4.7× 0.9 cm) Modern Woodcarving Chisel (16.4 × 0.9× 0.6 cm) Modern Bent Gouge

Gouges and chisels were used to cut rabbets, for example, the joints between the sides and bottom of a chest. They were also used to make mortices into which a tenon would fit, usually by drilling two holes with the auger and enlarging these to the rectangular shape using a gouge and/or chisel.

Files and Rasps

A selection of files Two rasps

While the Mästermyr files and rasps have been interpreted as being used for filing metal, certainly similar tools have been and continue to be used in shaping wood up through the present day. There is one round file and three flat ones, plus two rasps in the Mästermyr tool assemblage. All have single-graded cuts which were probably produced by use of a chisel and then hardened using powdered antler or horn, a practice described by Theophilus.

Other Types of Tools

There are a few types of tools for which we do not have surviving examples in the archaeological record. However, workshop debris and literary references provide additional clues.

Pole Lathe

Diagram of a Pole Lathe

We know that the Viking Age woodcrafter had access to a medieval type of "power tool" which is known today as a pole lathe. A pole lathe is a simple wood turning lathe which is itself made of wood. The tool is powered by the springiness of the "pole" or green limb, and the action of a person's foot on the treadle. "The lathe is used to rotate a material, allowing the use of a tool to shape the material. The motive power is a foot, with a return spring (the pole) to counter rotate the work. The piece of material is placed between two metal points, with one end of the lathe being adjustable. The cord is wrapped around the work in such a way as to make the work rotate towards the user when the treadle is pressed down. The tool, a chisel, is rested on the tool rest, with the point near the work. As the treadle is pressed down, the cutting edge is pushed against the work. As the treadle is released, and the pole rises, the work rotates in the opposite direction, and the chisel is pulled back away from the work. A rhythm is built up, with a cut on the down, and a pull on the up. By moving the chisel around, the material is shaped" (David Freeman, "Pole Lathe: What a Turn Around.").

The evidence for Viking Age pole lathes is in their products: turned bowls and vessels, and the "turning cores" left when producing these items. A number of turned wood finds have been found in Anglo-Scandinavian contexts in the York excavations, ranging from wide-mouthed bowls to closed cups, most in various unidentified soft woods, others in field maple (Acer campestre) or oak (Arthur MacGregor, Anglo-Scandinavian Finds from Lloyd's Bank, Pavement, and Other Sites , pp. 145-147, 155).

Lathe-Turned Bowl and Discarded Turning Cores from York.

Planes

Wood planes, used for shaving and smoothing wood, are well known from European contexts contemporary with the Viking Age. Scholars deduce that the plane was in use by the Viking Age peoples as well, since the Old Norse word for this tool, lokarr, appears as a loan-word from Old English and was used in a 10th century Icelandic poem (Foote and Wilson, The Viking Achievement , p. 178; Cleasby & Vigfússon, An Icelandic-English Dictionary , p. 397 s.v. lokarr). A plane is essentially a chisel held in a wooden block, and may be used for several functions, including smoothing flat surfaces and squaring edges.

Wood

Viking Age craftsmen made use of a wide variety of woods in their work. "These included not only evergreen species, such as fir, yew, spruce, and pine, but also deciduous hardwoods such as ash, oak, alder, birch, and beech. The consistent use of specific woods for particular applications, as in shipbuilding or chests, shows that skillful Viking Age woodcrafters would choose wood appropriate to the project, just as modern woodworkers do" (Ross Johnson, "A Brief Introduction to Woodworking in the Viking Age").

Looking at just a few furniture finds from Dublin, this range of wood types can be plainly seen (James T. Lang, Viking Age Decorated Wood ):

Alder - DW12, an elaborately carved animal head chair terminal

- DW12, an elaborately carved animal head chair terminal Beechwood - the boarded beechwood chair from the Oseberg find -one of the legs from a 10th century stool found at Winchester

- the boarded beechwood chair from the Oseberg find -one of the legs from a 10th century stool found at Winchester Maple - 8945, a squared maple baulk that was originally part of the back or side of a chair, bench or rack

- 8945, a squared maple baulk that was originally part of the back or side of a chair, bench or rack Oak - 8946, 8947 and 8948, "D" shaped seats for 3-legged stools - 8949, 8950, and 9176, privy seats, made of thick radially-split oak planks - Exeter privy seat, ca. 950AD - 8684, 8689 offcuts from privy seat construction

- 8946, 8947 and 8948, "D" shaped seats for 3-legged stools - 8949, 8950, and 9176, privy seats, made of thick radially-split oak planks - Exeter privy seat, ca. 950AD - 8684, 8689 offcuts from privy seat construction Sweet Chestnut - another one of the legs from a 10th century stool found at Winchester

- another one of the legs from a 10th century stool found at Winchester Willow - DW11, an unidentified furniture piece carved as an openwork knot -DW39, a plank bench-end

Looking at wooden remains from York (Carole A. Morris, Wood and Woodworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York ):

Alder - spouts and spigots for casks or buckets (p. 2258-2260); wooden stoppers or bungs (p. 2265); troughs (p. 2273-2274); wooden pins (p. 2309)

- spouts and spigots for casks or buckets (p. 2258-2260); wooden stoppers or bungs (p. 2265); troughs (p. 2273-2274); wooden pins (p. 2309) Aspen - rakes (p. 2319)

- rakes (p. 2319) Ash - wooden stoppers or bungs (p. 2265); knife handles (p. 2283); rakes (p. 2319)

- wooden stoppers or bungs (p. 2265); knife handles (p. 2283); rakes (p. 2319) Birch - knife handles (p. 2283)

- knife handles (p. 2283) Boxwood - knife handles (p. 2283)

- knife handles (p. 2283) Elder - spouts and spigots for casks or buckets (p. 2258-2260)

- spouts and spigots for casks or buckets (p. 2258-2260) Fruitwood (Prunus sp., probably cherry or blackthorn) - spoons (p. 2268)

(Prunus sp., probably cherry or blackthorn) - spoons (p. 2268) Fruitwood (Pomoidae family, incl. apple, pear, hawthorne, etc.) - knife handles (p. 2283)

(Pomoidae family, incl. apple, pear, hawthorne, etc.) - knife handles (p. 2283) Hazel - wooden stoppers or bungs (p. 2265); spoons (p. 2268); wooden pins (p. 2309)

- wooden stoppers or bungs (p. 2265); spoons (p. 2268); wooden pins (p. 2309) Maple - spouts and spigots for casks or buckets (p. 2258-2260); spoons (p. 2268)

- spouts and spigots for casks or buckets (p. 2258-2260); spoons (p. 2268) Oak - buckets (p. 2226); pot lids (p. 2262); spoons (p. 2268); spatulas (p. 2269-2270); shovels, spades, manure fork, mattocks (p. 2313-2319); rakes (p. 2319)

- buckets (p. 2226); pot lids (p. 2262); spoons (p. 2268); spatulas (p. 2269-2270); shovels, spades, manure fork, mattocks (p. 2313-2319); rakes (p. 2319) Poplar - troughs (p. 2273-2274); rakes (p. 2319)

- troughs (p. 2273-2274); rakes (p. 2319) Scots Pine - wooden pins (p. 2309)

- wooden pins (p. 2309) Spindlewood (Euonymus europaeus) - knife handles (p. 2283)

(Euonymus europaeus) - knife handles (p. 2283) Willow - buckets (p. 2226)

- buckets (p. 2226) Yew - buckets (p. 2226); spoons (p. 2268); spatulas (p. 2269-2270); wooden pins (p. 2309)

"To a large extent, woodworkers used the woods that were available locally. Schöttmuller notes the following hierarchy of furniture woods during the Italian Renaissance: Chestnut, Elm, and Poplar for simple furniture; Spruce, Pine, Cypress, Yew, and Ash for mid-level pieces; and Walnut for the high end. Kolchin's work on medieval Novgorod, on the other hand, finds large quantities of native Pine and Spruce, although there is a significant amount of imported wood. Altogether, the woodworkers of Novgorod made use of 27 kinds of wood of which 19 were obtained locally and eight imported" (Gary R. Halstead, "Woods in Use in the Middle Ages & Renaissance").

Joinery

Glue, like surface finishes, does not survive well in archaeological contexts, though it was certainly very well known throughout Europe during the Viking Age. Still there is some evidence suggesting glue manufacture, for example small rolls of birch bark found in the York digs is thought by archaeologists to have had "some connection with the manufacture of glue" (Arthur MacGregor, Anglo-Scandinavian Finds from Lloyd's Bank, Pavement, and Other Sites , pp. 145-147, 155). Even so, glue is labor intensive to make, as can be seen by the methods described by Theophilus:

Cheese Glue The individual pieces for altar and door panels... should be stuck together with cheese glue, which is made in this way. Cut soft cheese into small pieces and wash it with hot water in a mortar with a pestle, repeatedly pouring water over it until it comes out clear. Thin the cheese by hand and put it into cold water until it becomes hard. Then it should be rubbed into very small pieces on a smooth wooden board with another piece of wood, and put back into the mortar and pounded carefully with the pestle, and water mixed with quicklime should be added until it becomes as thick as lees. When panels have been glued together with this glue, they stick together so well when they are dry that they cannot be separated by dampness or by heat.

Glue from Hide and Stag Horns When this has been carefully dried out, take some cuttings of the same hide [horse, ass, or cow-hide], similarly dried, and cut them up into pieces. Then take stag horns and break them into small pieces with a smith's hammer on an anvil. Put these together in a new pot until it is half full and fill it up with water. Cook it on the fire without letting it boil until a third of the water has evaporated. Then test it like this. Wet your fingers in the water and if they stick together when they are cold, the glue is good; if not, go on cooking it until your fingers do stick together. Then pour this glue into a clean vessel, fill the pot again with water, and cook as before. Do this four times.

A good modern version of these early glues is rabbit skin sizing glue, available from many art supply stores. Rabbit skin sizing is used to prepare a fabric canvas for oil painting, but has also been used as a glue in traditional woodworking for centuries.

Without strong adhesives, wood construction for furniture, chests, houses, and other objects and structures had to be secured by the joinery in its design or by fasteners. A number of technologically complex wood joinery methods were in use during the Viking Age, evidenced by their presence in surviving artifacts, as described by Ross Johnson:

Tongue and Groove Joints: In which a small groove is cut in one side of one of the parts being joined, and a small tenon (called the tongue) is inserted into it. This technique was used in the Mastermyr chest to join the [bottom] of the chest to the ends. Another use of this technique appears in a carved box from a Viking site in Ireland, in which the lid slides in a groove cut in the body of the box.





Carved Wooden Box With Sliding Lid, Dublin



Mortise and Tenon Joints: where a square or rectangular pin is placed into a square or rectangular hole. In some cases, such as the Mastermyr chest, or the bedslats of the Oseberg bed, a short section of a horizontal plank might extend through a mortise hole cut in another plank to which it is being joined.



Wedged Tusk Tenon: In this joint the mortise is cut all the way through one panel, and the tenon extends through and out the opposite side. Small openings are cut in the tenon and wedges or wooden pegs are used to lock the joint together. This joint is of particular interest since it is capable of being tightened almost indefinitely in response to wood movement, yet may be easily disassembled. Examples of this joint may be found in the bed frames found in the Oseberg burial (Graham-Campbell, 1994) and in a child's chair from Lund, Sweden. Tent frames such as those found in the Oseberg burial are also of some interest, since they make use of a combination of wedged tusk tenon joints to secure the structural parts in place (Shetelig & Falk 1917).



Compound Joints: A common feature of the trapezoidal Viking Age chests was the use of a notched joint between the angled sides and ends of the chest. Such a joint, in combination with wooden pegs or iron nails, helps the sides and ends support each other. Because the joint is made between two angled pieces, both pieces have to be cut at an angle which is a combination of the two intersecting angles in order to fit tightly.



Dovetail Joints: These joints require careful preparation and considerable skill to make, but are extremely strong. In a dovetail joint, the end of one piece (the dovetail) is cut so that it is wider towards its end than at the point where it intersects its partner. The other piece is cut with chisels and gouges so as to form an exact socket for the dovetail. An example of the use of the dovetail joint is in one of the weaving frames from the Oseberg ship burial (Shetelig & Falk 1917).



Other: Iron nails were used in the construction of the Mastermyr chest; three nails were found still in the chest. Iron nails were also used as both a decorative feature and as part of the structure in another Oseberg chest. Iron rivets were used in ship-building, particularly on larger vessels (Shetelig & Falk 1978). Wooden pegs were also widely used" (Ross Johnson, "A Brief Introduction to Woodworking in the Viking Age.")

Wood Carving

Viking Age wood carving seems ubiquitous in the "coffee table" type glossy photo books about the Northmen and their possessions. Since wood typically does not survive well in archaeological contexts, it would seem all the more surprising to find many highly decorated examples of the Viking wood carver's art. However, a single find, that of the Oseberg Ship in Norway, conveniently provided us with many highly carved items at the start of the modern era of archaeology, and later excavations in wet locations where wood is most likely to survive, such as York, Dublin, and Novgorod, have also preserved a large number of carved artifacts.

The Viking Age carver's tools, as with the carpentry tools discussed above, were quite similar to those used today, and would have consisted primarily of knives, chisels, gouges, and files or rasps. It should be noted that the V-shaped gouge was absent, not having been developed until after the Viking Age (Else Roesdahl, From Viking to Crusader , p. 206). Mostly wood carving is a simple pattern in relief on two horizontal planes, but some examples can be in extremely complex, high relief, such as the "Baroque Master" carvings from the Oseberg ship. Examples of carving as reliefs, sculpture in the round, incised carving, and openwork are all found among the Viking Age works in wood (Ellen Marie Magerøy and Lennart Karlsson. "Woodcarving," p. 725). Interestingly, chip carving, which most people assume today to be primarily a Scandinavian art, was apparently not practiced during the Viking Age (Roesdahl, p. 206).

A particular point should also be made here about the fact that the Viking Age peoples carved almost every wooden surface if possible, even if only with a shallow, knife-point incised design. Wood was a very important raw material for Scandinavia, and unlike their counterparts on the Continent, Scandinavia did not have the types of visual art on paper or in stone that were found elsewhere until after the introduction of Christianity, so the wood carver was an important and respected craftsman (Ibid.).

In a study of a number of wooden items excavated from Oslo and Trondheim and dating from the late Viking Age (mid 11th-century) to early medieval period (Signe Horn Fuglesang, "Wood Carving from Oslo and Trondheim and Some Reflections on Period Styles"), several useful trends have been discovered:

In comparing the archaeological dating of wooden items to the style of ornamentation, ornamented wooden items follow the broad trends present in Viking Age art, utilizing motifs popular in other forms of surface ornamentation such as metalwork and stone carving. Wooden items reflect the major artistic styles popular at the time when they were made, such as Ringerike and Urnes. Styles are not prolonged much beyond the period when a given style was in fashion. There appears to be a close correlation between styles used in metalwork and woodwork, while in contrast bone crafts tend to be very conservatively carved with ring-and-dot motifs throughout the Viking Age and into the Middle Ages.





A town that was a trade center (kaupang) such as Trondheim was more likely to have artifacts that reflect the work of a professional wood carver, using relief carving and showing evidence of carver's irons.





Amateur graffiti-style decorations scratched or incised with a knife, often found on planks of Viking boats and buildings, rarely include the standard stylistic motifs, but rather appear to be "doodlings" showing scenes of ships, horses, and the hunt. These types of ornament are not found on wooden utensils and objects other than planks.





Amateur work is discernable on objects such as spoons, bowls, and other wooden items. These are always knife-incised and not carved with the irons available to a professional, but follow the general ornamental styles of Viking Art, usually less skillfully executed than those done by professionals.





As explained by Ross Johnson:

"Woodcarving, both for utilitarian purposes and as an art form, was developed to a high degree in Scandinavia going back to the stone age. This is perhaps not surprising when whittling was considered among the forms of solitary recreation enjoyed during the Viking Age. The tools required are also fairly simple: a small, sharp knife, a hammer and chisel, and perhaps files or rasps were all the that were required. Objects could be made through the use of carving and further embellished by the same means. Scandinavians of the Viking Age obviously appreciated ornament and decoration, when even 'everyday' objects such as spoons, boxes, and chests were elaborately carved. Some of the most notable examples of such ornamentation were found among the artifacts of the Oseberg burial (c. 950), which has been suggested to have been the work of several master craftsmen working under royal sponsorship. The main characteristics of the decorative art of the Viking Age seem to have been stylized animal (and sometimes vegetable) forms, usually curving or looping and interwoven with each other, suggesting restless and energetic movement" (Ross Johnson, "A Brief Introduction to Woodworking in the Viking Age").



Incised Decoration on Spoons from Sigtuna, Sweden

Woodcarving in the Viking Age was a rich and well-developed decorative art. The earliest Viking Age find containing a rich trove of carved wood items, the Oseberg Ship Burial, did not suddently appear out of nothing as a full-blown art - instead, it is the result of a long tradition over time.

What makes Viking Age woodcarving so distinctive are the various styles of design that appear throughout Viking art. Viking designs do not much resemble art from anywhere else. Many types of Viking design can be termed "knotwork" but these are not very much like the Celtic knotowrk at all. Viking styles of art, in woodcarving and other media, lack the mathematical regularity of Celtic art, being every bit as intricate, but in many ways much more free-form. There are also elements of style in how various components of designs were typically rendered which locate them in place and time.

When you start looking at information on Viking Age artifacts with surviving woodcarving, the reports rarely reveal anything about the actual technique of the woodworker. Instead, they usually classify the type of design into one of six periods of Viking art: