In Robert Eggers’s jaw-dropping new Viking epic, 'The Northman,' the costumes are the jewel in its (historically accurate) crown.
what was it about the project that excited you?Well, first of all, it’s just a fantastic script. It’s not just an epic—the characters that Robert and Sjón [Eggers’s cowriter] have created are incredibly well developed. They have motives, ulterior motives; they have what you see on the surface and then something much deeper beneath that.
Along with reading the sagas, I came across a book by a woman called Nille Glæsel, who is Danish but lives in Norway now. And she’s been making Viking clothing for over 20 years. She is a living archaeologist—a contemporary Viking woman. And so I had some questions about very specific designs that I wanted to include, particularly for Queen Gudrún’s costuming. And from Nille’s book, I had gleaned this idea that pleated shifts would go under all her clothing and be used as nightwear.
But in the end, that was actually a very Viking approach—they were incredibly economical. I mean, there really isn’t one complete garment, certainly not a complete outfit, that is available to inspect from that time. But archaeologists and Viking clothing historians have gleaned a certain amount of information from what has been found and their depictions in stories or artwork.
There are plenty of standout costumes, but one of the most striking—and one of my personal favorites—is Björk’s costume as the seeress. What was the story there? Was Björk involved in the development of the outfit at all?