While the ancient humans would have had no idea about the mechanisms of bacteria, the cause and effect of applying kohl likely encouraged its adoption into religious rituals and cosmetic habits. Using kohl eyeliner has also been noted as having antimicrobial effects that likely played into its adoption. The sooty look of kohl has bolstered its appeal as a makeup for millennia, and so it’s easy to see why this also formed a key part of the Viking makeup worn at the time. As I’ll get into a bit further below, Vikings did take care of their personal appearances. That is, it’s believed to have been done for both aesthetic and antibacterial purposes.įirst, and most obviously, they painted their eyes black for cosmetic enhancement. The available writing does not detail why the early Scandinavians would use kohl to paint their eyes, but there is enough evidence from other cultures to generate a working hypothesis. You may also be interested in: Did Vikings Have Dreadlocks? Why did Vikings paint their eyes black? His expanding the design to Norse runes on his forehead is a potential embellishment, but it’s not outlandish enough to call it ahistorical. This means that the depictions of Floki’s darkened eyes in the Vikings series are a reasonable interpretation of known Viking face painting traditions. While there were still disparities between the rights and privileges, this coincides with other shared traits across the genders in Viking society. In the writings of Ibrahim ibn Ya’qub, he noted the widespread use of darkened makeup around the eyes by all Vikings, meaning that it seems clear that both female and male Vikings wore face paint in addition to his writings about the fact that Vikings had tattoos.īut given the coloring, descriptions of what Vikings looked like, and era, these references to make up most likely refer to kohl-based cosmetics. Face paint would give them a temporary way to extend those tattoos. In Ibn Fadlan’s account, Viking men were tattooed across nearly the entirety of their bodies, up to the neck. Vikings did wear face paint for a variety of confirmed reasons, primarily cosmetic and ritualistic. What are the best written sources of Viking face painting history?.How much do we know about Viking cosmetic traditions?.Why did Vikings put blood on their faces?.What other face paints did Vikings use?. Was Viking face paint influenced by others?.Why did Vikings paint their eyes black?.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |