Itt Gammeltt Sønder Reffuit Altarklæde: Bildentekstilet - et tapt antependium fra norsk middelalder?

This master thesis looks at a now lost textile from a small stave church from Hadeland, Norway. The author argues that this textile was de facto an antependium, a textile alter frontal, from the 12th – 13th century. The motifs are not immediately associated with Christian imagery. Therefore, previous research has suggested secular contexts for function and meaning. At the same time, hunting scenes appear in a considerable amount of Christian imagery from the same period, especially in saint’s vitae. This thesis looks at saints and power symbolic in the textile, and connects these findings to and a European elite culture. Another important aspect with this investigation is the reevaluation of the textiles per se, both in medieval churches and society and in modern research and discourse.