Astrid had a bedroom to herself, while Randalin and Gunnhild slept in another room. Their beds were built along the walls, and between them was a large closet of the same depth as the width of the beds; heavy home-made woollen curtains of bright color were hung to hide the beds, and were very ornamental. Two steps led into each bed. Tables, carved chairs, cupboards, movable closets with elaborate carvings, made up the furniture of these bedrooms.
Several smaller rooms on this floor were entirely devoted to the wardrobe of the three sisters, and contained several large wooden, painted chests to store many different articles in.
One room contained their dresses. Here hung their “slœdurs,” or festive gowns, with their long trains; these were worn only at great feasts. Many of them were of brocade or costly woollens, and gold- and silver-embroidered. These festive dresses were made very wide, and the sleeves reached to the wrists. When worn, the waist was generally adorned by a beautiful belt of gold, from which a bag, often gold-embroidered, was suspended for rings or other precious ornaments.
Opposite these hung their kirtles, or every-day dresses, which were much shorter than the festive ones, and were generally of linen or wool, and of varied patterns.
The mantles were of many kinds. The finest ones were called “skikkja” and “mottul.” These, like the cloaks of the men, could only be worn by women of high birth. They were without sleeves, usually fastened at the neck by a beautiful and costly brooch, or valuable hooks. They were of different colors—red, brown, purple, blue—and ornamented with wide braid or with lace on their edges. There were other cloaks, used for winter, lined with different varieties of fur. In a smaller room was their linen and silk underwear.
Exquisite small boxes, with hinges of gold, were for their jewels; some of these boxes were of box-wood, and beautifully carved, and contained long hair-pins, to fasten the hair when arranged in a large knot on the back of the head. Some of these pins were of gold, others of silver, ornamented with gold tops of various designs; there were also diadems of gold, some with the ends ending in snake-heads, on which the names of the owners were written in runic letters; numerous necklaces of gold, some of gold rods, ornamented with crescents. Gold Roman coins, with loops attached, were fastened to gold chains to be worn round the neck. There were also other pendants of gold of exquisite filigree work. The bracelets were many, and of various patterns, some so graceful that even to-day no jeweler could excel them. Many of these were spiral in shape. Two of these bracelets on account of their beauty were called “sviagris” and “hnitud,” and no goldsmith had been able to rival them. They had been heirlooms in the family for generations. The collection of gold and mosaic beads was something extraordinary. The mosaics were lovely and of most skilled workmanship. Besides these were crystal balls of wonderful clearness, with Greek inscriptions upon them, and amber beads. Gold buttons for sleeves, and hooks of varied patterns, were together in a large bowl.
The brooches were most remarkable; some of them were very old, and had been in the family for generations. Among these were cruciform fibulæ of bronze, ending with heads of horses, or other animals; circular ones, and others in the shape of the “Svastica,” a peculiar cross, a sign seen among the relics of Troy, and to-day on the foot of the image of Buddha, in India. Many others were circular, of bronze, covered over with a sheet of repoussé work of gold, upon which were lovely designs. There were other brooches entirely of gold, or silver gilt, and of various patterns.
But the finest of all the jewels were the gold “bracteates.” These were worn hanging on the breast. They were round in shape, and varied very much in size, from one inch in diameter to seven and eight inches, and were of the purest gold, very thin, and remarkable for the originality and peculiarity of their designs.