I mentioned that I’d be doing a Nordic Music Festival this past Saturday. This I did, along with other members of the Viking Age Club & Society. The day was perversely hot for September, perhaps to make up for the perversely cold days we had in spring. We ended up doing two, rather than three, fight shows, and I didn’t wear my armor. They tell me I won a couple fights, but I actually have no memory of it. I remember the losses, of course. At one point I grew concerned that I’d dehydrated myself, in spite of drinking water pretty steadily all day. I went and got some french fries from a vendor, just for the salt.

But what I remember most of all is a gift I was given, a delayed birthday present. It (or they) came from Kelsey Patton, proprietress of Spindle, Shuttle, & Needle, your best source for historical costumes of any era (You think free gifts don’t buy a plug from me? Try me. I’m for sale).

The gift was the pair of socks shown above. These are no common socks, not in our century. They’re made by an ancient process called nålebinding, which goes back to the misty dawn of antiquity. It’s a method of knitting that uses only one needle, and it was how the Vikings made their socks.

I’ve yearned for a pair of nålebinding socks for years now. They’re an important part of a really authentic Viking costume, but not the sort of thing I was in a position to spend money on (they don’t come cheap, and let’s face it, they’re socks. I can sneak by with dark ankle socks, if no one looks too close). So this gift delighted me beyond all decent proportion. My Viking costume would now be almost entirely passable in a fairly tolerant reenactors’ encampment, except for my underwear, which I tend to keep to myself anyway.

So thanks, Kelsey (and Philip, her husband). You have the blessing of an ancient sage.