What colours for Anglo-Saxon Fyrd

[Jiron]

Hey,
so I am building a retinue for Lion Rampant. I decided for Anglo-Saxon Fyrd dated about 800-1066 A.D.
I have bought an Anglo-Saxon box of Gripping Beasts but now I face a problem. I am not sure how to paint these guys. I would like them to have some colour scheme or one a single pallet to make them look coherent. I'm mostly in for dark brown with green. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

[cram]

They would have been dressed in their day to day clothing in a wide range of colours. If you want to go with a colour scheme then you can go with whatever colours you like best. I wouldn't go with bright and rich colours for fryd, I would keep the colours fairly muted. Browns and greens sound like a good choice. If you include red and blue at all mix in a bit of brown to mute them.

[Atheling]

Hey,
so I am building a retinue for Lion Rampant. I decided for Anglo-Saxon Fyrd dated about 800-1066 A.D.
I have bought an Anglo-Saxon box of Gripping Beasts but now I face a problem. I am not sure how to paint these guys. I would like them to have some colour scheme or one a single pallet to make them look coherent. I'm mostly in for dark brown with green. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

It's a good question. The colours from what I have gathered from a reenactor mate could be surprisingly varied and bright (though they probably didn't see the washer all that often!   ). The wealth and status of the Greater and Lesser Fyrd could vary so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that a rich farmer could be better turned out for battle than a Thegn; also dependant on geographical locations too.

Go with your gut feeling, they're your mini's after all.

That's pretty much what I've done for my Hastings project.

If you're interested take a peek here:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=82137.0

I'll try to get in touch with my mate and ask him for the pics that he sent me many a moon ago featuring actual threads etc that were produced as authentically as possoble using vegetable dyes.

Darrell.

[Mr.J]

Common colours for your average Joe would include greens, browns and yellows which could all be produced reasonably cheaply and in many hues. Beiges and creams can be used to represent undyed fabric and also could be fairly common, particularly in under tunics which were less fancy. In certain areas reds and orange were also fairly common, blue less so as it was slightly more difficult and more expensive to produce. As Atheling said fairly bright colours could be produced quite easily although dyes were less colourfast so may not look so good for long and could wash out to paler versions of the original unless treated correctly when being dyed. Atheling's look pretty bang on from the fairly limited evidence that we have. Trims, panels etc. could all be added to highlight the more wealthy.

[Major Weenie]

Years a go I was in a hobby shop and asked the same question.

And the guy behind the counter said, "Why don't you get that copy of National Geographic Magazine that has photos of the Bayeux Tapestry?  Wouldn't the colors used on the tapestry, made in England, soon after the battle, be a good indication of what color dyes were available?"

Sounded like a good idea to me.
MW

[Atheling]

Years a go I was in a hobby shop and asked the same question.

And the guy behind the counter said, "Why don't you get that copy of National Geographic Magazine that has photos of the Bayeux Tapestry?

You can buy a full mini version Bayeux Tapestry. I plan on cutting and pasting (as in real cutting and pasting!) selected scenes to go around the Hastings demo next year..... I'll have a think as to where I bought it..... 

There's also a book available, The Bayeux Tapestry and the Norman Invasion (with an introduction and translation by Lewis Thorpe) that has an excellent running commentary with the images taken from the Tapestry- cheap on Amazon too 

Darrell.

[julesav]

You could just Google 'Bayeux Tapestry' and follow the colours on there?

[Atheling]

You could just Google 'Bayeux Tapestry' and follow the colours on there?

Ah, now that's not as good as having a good quality print in one's hands as colours on a computer screen don't necessarily comply with the actual colours of an object in 'real life'

Anyway, the book I suggested is pennies on Amazon

Still awaiting a answer from my mate re: 'Dark Ages' (Hate that term!) fibres.

Darrell.

[Johnno]

I had some Anglo-Saxons painted for me. Muted read "faded" colours. Nothing too bright except for Things/Leaders.
I used the shield transfers to tie them together. I took a selection of transfers with yellow. Halved, quartered, full etc as long as there was yellow the other colours didn't really matter the yellow unified the force.

[Dr. Zombie]

The hardest colours to create are Black, blue, pure white and bright red. So as long as you limit those I think anything goes.

[emosbur]

All you need is here:

http://1000footgeneral.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/dark-ages-color-palettes.html



Emilio.

[Atheling]

All you need is here:

http://1000footgeneral.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/dark-ages-color-palettes.html



Emilio.

Emilio, you've saved me a job so thanks

That about sums it up.

As I said earlier, do take into account that for some Saxon England was more egalitarian then say France and Normandy when choosing your colour pallette. I find that it's always a good idea to mute the colours slightly too- just gives the right 'feel'.

Darrell.

[Jiron]

Thank you all for helpful comments. I have my copy of mini-Tapestry of Bayeux. But there is a great Idea in unifying the troop via shields. Thanks a lot. Will probably try something out today evening.

[rumacara]

If you search in google for Hastings reenactors you can find lots of inspiring pictures with a reasonable accuracy.

[Atheling]

If you search in google for Hastings reenactors you can find lots of inspiring pictures with a reasonable accuracy.

I have no idea why I didn't think of that! 

I've done quite an extensive search before if you want to see the pics?

Darrell.