Not initially, as I realized I knew next to nothing factual about the Vikings. I started by reading the sagas. Then I broke down the script and started asking questions. Robert filled me in on massive amounts of Viking history, as well as the character backstories. I started working months before the start of official preparation. I sent emails into the ether asking everyone and anyone about the material, asking the weavers for hand woven patterned wools that would be a good representation of what the Vikings would have used . Then there was an endless supply of fabrics. I learned about medieval cuts and tried to understand from archaeological finds on costume construction. Other than the Orkney hood, which we based parts of Heimir’s (Willem Dafoe) costume on, there isn’t really a complete Viking garment. There are pieces of different things. I familiarized myself as much as possible with different artifacts.

Then our actual preparation began in Belfast. I gave all my information to the costume department team, answered their questions and showed sketches. The aesthetic that Robert has developed is very unique. Preconceived notions of Viking costume involve lots of leather, lots of fur and feathers. That was not what we were trying to create. We were really embracing the hand-sewn costumes and trimmings.

Yes to all three. That was exactly one of my first questions to [historian] Neil Price. There was a very long pause before he said, “Nobody’s ever asked me that before.” Specifically, I wanted to know how Queen Gudrún, Nicole Kidman’s character, would have expressed her sexiness. Price was fantastic in helping me figure out what she would have worn and why. If you wanted to show high status, excess really meant you had the wealth of having people who weave really hot wools or having people who use these crazy multiple tablets to make these beautiful trimmings that could incorporate wrapped gold or gold thread. They often sewed precious metals into the outfits. Tiny pieces of silk, either near the metal of brooches or on clothing, have been found in Viking clothing. These were not used for a flowing silk dress, but used in very small pieces that served as trim. The pieces of silk would have caught the light and reflected the light differently than very thick wool used only to keep people warm.

More than anything, we believe color denotes high status. To get really rich dense colors from plant-based dyes, you had to continually over-dye. Each of the woman’s costumes began with a change, usually linen worn against the skin. For the character of Nicole, we made twenty of the same linen shifts to accommodate all the different aspects of filming (like changing the color for the night). They all had hand sewn details. If next to your linen shirt you had a woolen dress, that was great. If you have two woolen dresses and a woolen apron and a fur-lined coat, that was really something.

We see both the character of Nicole and Fjölnir in two different time periods. First in 895 AD, then 20 years later under very different circumstances. Starting off, she’s a queen, so there’s color and excess in her clothes. And there are a lot of accessories. She has beautiful red thigh-high socks that you see when she gets dressed. She has pleated linen that would have taken a long time to create. In part one, she is literally a trophy wife of King Aurvandil. At Fjölnir’s farm, decades later, she is a safe and happy farmer, so her clothes are different. Her clothes are now practical and well-made. But it’s still beautiful and has a certain degree of high status.

Slavic clothing was incredibly fascinating to research. The various tribes all around the region which is now unfortunately Ukraine and were embroidering male and female clothing. Women’s clothing was embroidered at the cuff, hem, and neckline with different designs that all had different meanings. The word for embroidery back then was the same for writing. They wrote on their clothes their wishes for their family and for themselves, be it prosperity, children, health, good harvests, etc. Initially, Olga’s clothes reflected the culture of her village. Women wore a form of time ring which is a large earring type thing that hangs from their headband. Unmarried women wore a tunic overgarment called a zapona. When Olga makes the trip to Iceland with Amleth and the other slaves, we’ve created two different versions of distressed clothing to mark her progress. As a slave, his costume is crudely made of hemp and wool. With her, I needed to keep the line appropriate both to her leadership role and to the time and position. Because of the cold, I created barefoot shoes for slaves, which were basically shoes with toes painted to look like flesh. Anya was so ready for the role that she often went barefoot despite the weather.

By writing exactly what happened at that particular time, Robert really allows people to see historic women, both in the iniquity they suffered and in their historic accomplishments. With the Valkyrie, we looked at examples from the sagas. I also thought a lot about Norns [ancient Viking women who control fate]. They do not weave threads, but intestines to determine the fate of people. It’s gory and visceral. I was thrilled that Robert imbued the Valkyrie with ferocity. My first sense for dressing her came from finding tiny metal plates in a drawer in Rome. His armor is not the heavy lamellar that some warriors wore. He is delicate and gold with a swan relief on his helmet. We created the red cape so she could capture her greatness. We’ve lined the inside with three different sizes of feathers, giving her that amazingly beautiful heft as she rides through the skies.

While we were developing her look, several important things came to light at once. Authorities confirmed by DNA that grave BJ 581 in Birka, Sweden, contained a female Viking warrior, which was unheard of. Also, a recent book came out that describes how bodies found around Gotland, Sweden had their teeth filed down. When Robert came back with the idea of ​​incorporating filed teeth for the Valkyrie, I was, “Oh yeah!”