For over 20 years, Kaia Severeide from Rørvik worked with the creation of a woman’s costume from the Namdalen district in Central Norway. In 1950, her draft was approved by the The National Council of Folk Costumes.
The material of the Bunad skirt was found at Paul Woxeng’s home in Rørvik, Vikna Municipality, which today holds a museum. It was made from green wool with black prints of acanthus leafs. The color of the skirt is called ‘Gjæsling-green’ because the wool was dyed with kelp from the fishing village of South Gjæslingan in Vikna.
The red vest is woven damask with a lining of linen and comes from Overhalla Municipality. The white linen shirt originates from Grong with white embroidery on the collar and the cuffs.
The hat is made from black velvet with long ribbons on both sides and comes from Lierne Municipality, and the bag is made from the same materials as the vest and the hat.
Women should preferably receive the shawl as gifts from their husband or boyfriend. According to traditions, the embroidery on the shawl told your marital status: Black shawl with colored embroidery symbolized a single woman, white embroidery symbolized a married woman, and a whole black shawl symbolized a widow. Today, it is common to wear all black shawls made from silk damask. Later, it was also designed a cape made from black wool.
The silver jewelry contains of two brooches, cufflinks, earrings and two hooks on the vest.
Male Costume
The male costume from Namdalen is a model of an old costume tradition from the late 1700’s.
In the 1970s, Naumdøla Youth Society made a record of old costumes from Namdalen Municipality. Based on their results, a male costume for Namdalen was created.
The jacket and pants are made of black wadmal, inspired by an ancient leather costume from Overhalla.
The vest is made from glossy red woolen fabric in front, and white wool in the back based on a model of an old west from Nordli in Lierne Municipality. The shirt is in white linen from Namdalseid Municipality.
The male accessories are white stockings with ‘flammaband’, braided ribbons, a silk scarf and a ‘raubremhuv’, which is a black knitted hat with red border. There are brass buttons on the jacket, pants and vest.
All of the costume design, material and old sewing techniques are approved by The National Council of Folk Costumes in Norway.
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Text by: Anette Broteng Christiansen
Photo on top: ThorNews, below: Norsk Bunadleksikon
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