A very few of you may know that I am part of the crew of a non-profit Viking ship that does public events all over the United States, and sometimes in far flung places around the world (Nova Scotia and St. Petersburg, Russia being two more recent examples). I've sort of been in the background but I'm taking a more active role this season and need to come up with some period viking garb.

I know there are some really smart kilt historians here that might already have a good understanding of just what it is I need to pull off here.

You see, there is this Norwegian king from the Viking age named "Magnus Barelegs" who earned that name for wearing an unbifurcated garment "in the Scottish style". The literature I've found is very vague about this but it seems to me that he wore some sort of ancient predecessor to the kilt that came out of Scotland. He ruled from 1093 to 1103, AD and was born in 1073.

OK not exactly Scotland... but it's said that his taste in clothes was picked up on an expedition to the Hebrides. This was probably some sort of tunic that barely reached the knees (which is about the same length as the modern kilt).

I'd like to have some more expert advice on the construction and appearance of this garment so that I might find a local seamstress to put one together for me. Any of the historians have some good knowhow on what the Scots were wearing around the turn of the 12th century?