You might have thought of down bedding as a modern concept, which admittedly only became available for common folk in recent times. The down bedding in the graves at Valsgärde are the oldest known ones from Scandinavia and indicate that the two buried men belonged to the top strata of society. Berglund explains that according to Nordic folklore, the type of feathers contained in the bedding of the dying person was important.1 … These are well-known folk traditions that have been collected from the 18th century onwards. But they may have their roots in prehistoric times.
In the Icelandic Erik the Red saga, a pillow stuffed with feathers from domestic hens was placed on the throne at Heriólfsnes in Greenland, where a visiting female shaman was to sit. The saga is considered to have been written down in the 13th century, but deals with events around the year 1000, says Berglund.2
- 1. “For example, people believed that using feathers from domestic chickens, owls and other birds of prey, pigeons, crows and squirrels would prolong the death struggle. In some Scandinavian areas, goose feathers were considered best to enable the soul to be released from the body.
- 2. “The examples show that that feathers in the bedding from Valsgärde most likely also had a deeper meaning than just serving as a filler. It’s also well known that birds could hold special importance for obtaining information in shamanism – think of Odin’s two ravens Hugin and Munin.
Birgitta Berglund, Jørgen Rosvold. Microscopic identification of feathers from 7th century boat burials at Valsgärde in Central Sweden: Specialized long-distance feather trade or local bird use? Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 36, April 2021, 102828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102828
The warriors in the well-equipped, high-rank 7th–8th century boat burials at Valsgärde in Central Sweden were lying in feather stuffed beds. Feathers, especially from Common Eider, are known as trade commodities from the coast of North Norway from the 15th century onwards, but written sources indicate that it started much earlier. The main goal of this investigation was thus to see if the feathers from two of the boat burials, Valsgärde 7 and 8, showed any indications of such specialized long-distance trade of certain bird species. Various levels of bird identifications were obtained through microscopic analysis of the ancient feathers. Some of these identifications were corroborated with avian bones in the two burials and from a contemporary farm close to the burials. In this way a remarkably large variety of birds, among them Eagle Owl, was identified. The birds are likely to have been present in the surrounding areas including the nearby coast of the Baltic Sea. Therefore, the feathers do not suggest long-distance trade, but appear as a new source of knowledge of local bird fauna in archaeological sites. Scandinavian folklore and Islandic Sagas indicated that the feathers had a special meaning, in connection with death and shamanism. The investigations could not confirm long-distance trade with feathers, but gave new perspectives on the use and cultural significance of birds in the Late Iron Age in Scandinavia.