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Cleanliness was highly valued by Northfolk. It was
thought that ones appearance was a token of the person, a reflection of their
inner worth. To allow oneself to be dirty or unkept was on a par to laziness.
It is no surprise that modern scientific studies have proven now, what our ancestors
already knew. Cleanliness has a positive affect on a person. One of the first
things that was offered to a traveler was a place to clean up.
4. Fire he needs who with frozen knees
Has come from the cold without;
Food and clothes must the farer have,
The man from the mountains come.
5. Water and towels and welcoming speech
Should he find who comes to the feast;
If renown he would get, and again be greeted,
Wisely and well must he act. (Havamal 4-5)
Northfolk bathed regularly and men normally wore beards that were
carefully combed and trimmed. The Old Norse word for Saturday was Laugardagr
which meant, literally, 'wash day'. Even if one's clothing was not of the finest
quality and patched, one could always be clean. In Havamal it says:
61. Washed and fed to the council fare,So it is easy to see that even if one was not so well to do, they still could be clean. That Northfolk placed a high value on cleanliness can be seen by John of Wallingfords's complaint about the Danes in England. His complaint was that they:
But care not too much for thy clothes;
Let none be ashamed of his shoes and hose,
Less still of the steed he rides,
(Though poor be the horse he has.) (Havamal 61)
“...combed their hair, took a bath on Saturdays, and changed their woollens at reasonable intervals to ensnare by these novelties our high-born English ladies” – (Jones, p. 177)
In Rigsmal, when describing the difference between the class of
Karls (freemen) and that of Thralls (slaves), the aspects that are concentrated
on primarily, were the Karl's cleanliness.
14. Forward went Rig, his road was straight,
To a hall he came, and a door there hung;
In did he fare, on the floor was a fire:
Afi and Amma owned the house.
15. There sat the twain, and worked at their tasks;
The man hewed wood for the weaver's beam;
His beard was trimmed, o'er his brow a curl,
His clothes fitted close; in the corner a chest. (Rigsmal 14-15)
One could say that filth and an unkept nature is the reflection
of a thrall. To be a thrall is not so much an outward condition but a mindset.
More than a few stories exist in the lore where a person high born was taken
into thralldom and because of how they kept themselves it was noticed and the
truth of their station was made known. This may seem like a controversial ideal
to put forth but I would ask the reader to think what their first reactions
are to someone they first come upon who is dirty and unkept. It is Othinn himself,
in his guise as Hnikar, he counsels the following for warriors:
25. “Combed and washed shall the wise man go,'"I shall rule here," said Bergthora. After that Thorhalla sat down, and Bergthora went round the table with water to wash the guests' hands.' (Njal's Saga, c.35)
And a meal at morn shall take;
For unknown it is where at eve he may be;
It is ill thy luck to lose.” (Reginsmal 25)
“After that the board was laid, and Flosi and his band washed their hands. Flosi looked hard at the towel and saw that it was all in rags, and had one end torn off. He threw it down on the bench and would not wipe himself with it, but tore off a piece of the tablecloth, and wiped himself with that, and then threw it to his men.” (Njal's Saga, c.115)
“Thorbjorn Slowcoach arrived on the beach late in the day, when the men were going on board and were washing their hands outside near their booths. When he rode up to the rows of booths they greeted him and asked what news there was.” (GS, c.37)
“At this house they spent the night. In the morning when Cormac rose up, he went to a trough and washed himself; then he went into the ladies' bower and saw nobody there, but heard folk talking in the inner room, and he turned and entered.” (KS, c.3)
“They then went up to Karl the bonde's farm, and it was then beginning to be light. They went into the room where Karl had just put on his clothes. The earl's men told him their message and Karl said they must first take some food; and he set a table before them and gave them water to wash with.” (SHH, c.66)
“The moment they rise from sleep, which they generally prolong till late in the day, they bathe, most frequently in warm water; as in a country where the winter is very long and severe. From bathing, they sit down to meat; every man apart, upon a particular seat, and at a separate table.” (G, c.22)
“There was a wealthy farmer called Rennir who lived on what came to be called Rennis Island, off Jæderen in Norway. He had been a great viking before he settled down on his farm. Rennir was married and had one son, called Ref. When he was young Ref used to lie in the kitchen and eat twigs and tree bark. He was an exceptionally big man, but never bothered to wash the filth off his body, nor would he ever give anyone a helping hand. His father was a very thrifty man and took a very poor view of his son's shiftless behaviour. So Ref didn't earn his fame by any wisdom or bravery but rather by making himself the laughing stock of all his sturdy kinsmen. His father thought it unlikely that Ref would ever do anything worth while, as was expected at that time of other young men.” (GA, c.6)
“Ref let go of the ox and went into the house. The earl asked someone to bring Ref some clothes to make him look more decent, and when Ref had washed himself, he seemed a very handsome man.” (GA, c.9)
“Early one morning old Thorbjorn woke up. He roused Sam and asked him to get up. 'I can't sleep,' he said.
Sam got up and dressed. They went outside and down to Oxar River below the bridge, and there they washed themselves.” (HR, c.9)
“'In that case you'd better fit yourself out properly,' said Thord. 'Get the best in weapons and clothes. That's not only the right thing to do, we can afford it. Most people seem to improve a lot when they put on fine clothes, and it is even more important to dress well in a royal house than anywhere else. And then the retainers would be less likely to make fun of you.' ...... When Thord's suggestion had been carried out and Hreidar had put on proper clothing of homespun cloth and cleaned himself thoroughly, he looked a different man. He was still ugly, with a wry face, but now there was something valiant about him.” (HF)
Maintaining cleanliness and good dress were both part of keeping
ones dignity, for which a person was often praised. There were many aspects
to this of course, cleanliness, good dress with what was available to one, courteous
behavior as well as others. Our ancestors believed that ones bearing said a
lot about what kind of person they were. As was mentioned above, there were
times when those of high bearing, through some misfortune, found themselves
becoming thralls (slaves) and always, even in their misfortune, maintained their
dignity such that the truth of their character was found out simply through
their actions. They did not need to say one word about their former lives in
a high station. It was simply seen in the way they conducted themselves. So
it is easy to see that thralldom as well as jarldom (jarls were ruling chiefs)
were mindsets. Though we do not have thralls or jarls in our modern culture,
the mindsets of these two positions in our ancestor's society exist today and
shall always do so. The have the mindset of a thrall is to live as a thrall
no matter what one would call it today. Praises for the maintaining of dignity
are not few in the sagas.
“After that Unn stood up and said she would go to the bower where she was wont
to sleep, but bade every one have for pastime whatever was most to his mind,
and that ale should be the cheer of the common folk. So the tale goes, that
Unn was a woman both tall and portly. She walked at a quick step out along the
hall, and people could not help saying to each other how stately the lady was
yet. They feasted that evening till they thought it time to go to bed. But the
day after Olaf went to the sleeping bower of Unn, his grandmother, and when
he came into the chamber there was Unn sitting up against her pillow, and she
was dead. Olaf went into the hall after that and told these tidings. Every one
thought it a wonderful thing, how Unn had upheld her dignity to the day of her
death.” (Laxdaela Saga, c.7)
“Every one clearly saw that there was something betokening high birth in the
way she bore herself, and that she was no fool.” (Laxdaela Saga, c.13)
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