Medieval spindle with clay whorl

Medieval spindle with clay whorl from Birka.

Here you can buy a medieval spindle with a conical spindle staff and a clay spindle whorl after a Viking Age model.

The model for this medieval spindle was a Viking Age find from Birka / Sweden, which was made in the typical conical shape of Viking Age clay spindle whorls. However, the Vikings also used more round-shaped spindle whorls.

Link to the original Viking spindle whorl...

The spindle rod is made of carefully polished acacia wood and is tapered. The spindle whorl is attached to the spindle rod from below. There is a notch for the thread at the upper end. The spindle whorl is made from red clay.

The medieval hand spindle has the following dimensions:
Spindle rod approx. 25 x 1.2 cm.
Spinning whorl approx. 4 x 2.5 cm.

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The earliest finds of spindle whorls date back to around 6000 B.C. From the Neolithic Age to the High Middle Ages, spinning was done exclusively with the hand spindle, as the first primitive hand spinning wheels did not appear until the 13th century.

There are many differences between modern spinning with the hand spindle and the medieval version. Unlike most modern spindles, medieval spindles did not have the rod and whorl firmly attached to each other.

In the Middle Ages, the whorl was usually made of clay, antler, bone or soapstone and was simply attached to the tapered rod from below. The advantage of this was that as the amount of yarn on the spindle increased, the weight could simply be reduced by using a smaller whorl or, if the spindle was full, the whorl could be removed completely.