Viking Styled Rigid Heddle Loom

This type of loom was used by many cultures. In Europe, rigid heddle looms were already used by the Romans and are also documented for the Middle Ages.

At least two of such simple looms from the 12th to 13th and 13th to 14th centuries were found during excavations. There is also a grave find dating to the middle of the late 11th century,, in which the clothing has been preserved and in which the borders were partially woven with a weaving frame.

A rigid heddle loom is ideal for getting familiar with the technique of weaving borders or ribbons, as it is inexpensive and easy to obtain and much easier to use than tablet or card weaving. However, unlike the tablet weaving loom, with a heddle loom you can only weave borders with not very complicated reticular patterns.

The loom which we presented here was inspired by a native north-american loom which has amazing similarities with some daily- life Scandinavian Viking Age artifacts, as the “ironing” boards with dragon heads made of bone. The resemblance was so great that we mixed the designs looking for an authentic look for a hypothetical loom from the Viking Age.

This rigid heddle loom is made of acacia wood and has 12 heddles and 13 holes.

Dimensions of the Viking rigid heddle loom:

Length 19.5 cm,

width 12.5 cm,

Thickness: 5 mm

Hole size: 3 mm

Heddle size: 10 cm x 4 mm