[Ansteorra] Catskin linings

[C.L. Ward]

Colete said:
>Switching gears here... Common sense tells me
>that if the cat was skinned then the fur might
>have been used for lining tunics, cloaks, and
>various other parts of clothing. How true is
>this? (I've always imagine lining as bunny fur.)

Eiríks saga Rauða (The Saga of Erik the Red) says in Chapter 4, describing
the völva or prophetess:

Hon hafði á höfði lambskinns-kofra suartan ok við innan kattarskinn huítt...
(She had on her head a black lambskin hood with white catskin inside...)

Looking at the Cleasby-Vigfusson Old Icelandic Dictionary:

kofri "a hood or bonnet of fur."  Apparently the term also occurs in a
couple of other places other than Eiríks saga.

Eiríks saga dates to around 1264, describing happenings 200-300 years
earlier, so I find it implausible that the saga is accurately describing the
exact costume of the völva.  I suspect that the author is describing her
either in terms of the most outlandish outfit he could envision, or else the
description might be influenced by something of his own time.

::GUNNORA::