The spinning of fiber into yarn dates back thousands of years. Many cultures across the globe created ways to do this in parallel to each other over time with similar methods and tools, beginning with simple twisting and twining to complex methods and ritual. This class will be specific to Nordic culture during the Viking Age as suspended spinning with a distaff is a unique art that is enjoyable to learn and excellent for new spinners. This class will cover a brief history of hand spinning, identifying distaff, spindle and whorl in iconography. We will touch on the cultural and magical importance of both distaff and spinning in the Viking age, as well as on gender roles and the groups of people participating in fiber arts during the Viking age. We will look at examples of distaffs and whorls found specific to the period and geography. The class will include hands-on work preparing the fiber for spinning- including combing and dressing the distaff, as well as actual spinning technique, z spinning, s spinning and the occurrence of each in cloth and other textiles. Students will be able to handle multiple fiber types including similar to those from the period to be able to better understand their attributes. *Please note that spinning requires repetitive twisting with fingers *Class price includes materials fee.