Let’s talk about sheep. They (and goats) are said to be the first domesticated animals, dating back about 10,000 years or more for humans around the Mediterranean. By 6000 years ago, the “primitive” or ancestral breeds including Mouflon, Orkney, Soay and Nordic short-tailed sheep had spread north from the Mediterranean throughout prehistoric Europe, into Britain, Scandinavia, and south and east into North Africa and central Asia (1). Many of the heritage breeds I’ve been looking at in Sweden are descended from these early immigrants, including Swedish Landrace (Gute, Dala Fur, Värmland Forest, and Roslag) and Swedish Finewool (Svenskt finulfår). They were (and are) hearty creatures, whose meat and wool are inseparable from the economic and cultural history of the region.
Old Norwegian Sheep Photo By Thomas Bjørkan
We often hear the phrase, “history is doomed to repeat itself,” and I have recently been struck by the role of sheep in society and the correspondence between some disturbing elements of the past and our present condition. Right now there is so much discussion of economic inequity and the need for economic justice. Crime begins with need, but quickly escalates to greed once the immediate need has been fulfilled. So, what does this have to do with sheep?
In Thomas More’s Utopia, Book I, (1516) the economic disparity between rich and poor, and the destruction of rural peasant society is laid at the feet of the extremely lucrative wool market and England’s ruling elite. The value of wool had so increased through the Middle Ages that land-owners had pushed small farmers off the land, fenced it, and turned that land into pastures for raising sheep. Only a few of these peasant farmers could be absorbed into the wool industry or other trades (in England most of the wool was exported to Flanders for processing and weaving), thus leaving many in poverty. It is the same story we see played out 600 years later in our society where post-industrial automation has significantly reduced the number of jobs available, and corporate greed (today’s version of the land-owner) has caused the middle-class (today’s peasants) to descend into poverty. We long for rescue…we long for that always-elusive “Utopia,”(2) where there is fairness and justice. But we must be the creators of change!
[Note: it is not intended that this be a political blog. These comparable situations just serve as a good point of illustration.]
The wool market in Sweden collapsed long ago. With a worldwide move toward non-agrarian economies, it shouldn’t surprise us that the very sheep that once formed the basis of the economy would begin to disappear. In 2015, people in Sweden were surprised to learn that because there no longer is a market, farmers were composting or burning 75% of their wool. Many of those involved in handcraft had long been watching this with dismay. Fortunately it has resulted in a group of people dedicated to helping farmers, producers and consumers see and find new value for heritage breeds and the need to conserve and preserve this element of history and tradition. Two organizations: Svenska Fåravelsförbundet and Föreningen Svenska Allmogefår (sheep breeders associations) are helping small farmers reverse the trend. But it will take decades to rebuild the flocks of the sheep breeds that are endangered. Further, it will take some time to build a market both inside and outside of Sweden for these products.
Elin Dahllöv founded Swedish Fibre to bring attention to endangered sheep, and the website, now owned and managed by Sandy Zetterlund provides raw fleece, roving and yarn from these breeds as they are available through Etsy . Please visit both parts of the site to see what initially got me excited about Swedish sheep and wool. I had the great good fortune to meet with both of these extraordinary women in June to talk about sheep, fleece, and working with Swedish wools.
The big challenge for Sandy these days is connecting not only with the farmers who raise the sheep, but finding those willing to invest in the cost of proper shearing and processing. She talks about the heartbreaking sight of a beautiful fleece that is ruined by double cuts, and the fact that there are few shearers available to create a useable fleece. In addition, the cost of shearing often exceeds the return on the finished yarn. That makes the current situation more of a labor of love than a profitable (or even break-even) business.
Among the other things that Sandy is working on is connecting the small farmers with processors and spinners in a growing network. There are others working in this direction as well. The online digital wool market Ullförmedlingen lists both sheep farmers selling wool and spinning mills accepting fleece for production. They also sponsor a Facebook page to help with direct marketing. The Ullförmedlingen site is being updated frequently, and also features a Patreon link for those who would like to support their effort. The well-known spinner and teacher Josefin Waltin is another person promoting Swedish wools. She offers both information and courses from her website, including topics like picking a supported spindle and bowl, and video-based spinning courses for intermediate to advanced spinners. She also is a contributor to Spin Off magazine and her in-depth review of Gute and Gotland in the Spring 2019 issue is well worth reading. She has as a goal to produce videos on spinning more of the conservation breeds in the future, so you may want to follow her blog for updates.
So Sweden may not be Utopia, but there is something very important going on there. For a start, traditional handicraft continues to be taught as a basic part of public school curriculum. That program is constantly under threat of being cut back, but many Swedes are standing fast to insure that it continues. In these times challenged by political, economic and social changes, an acknowledgement of and appreciation for tradition is a significant statement against threats to our values. When we share those values and traditions with others, they learn to understand who we are. When we listen to the values and traditions of others, we learn as well. What we understand, we do not fear.
Notes:
(1) Chessa, B., et al, “Revealing the History of Sheep Domestication Using Retrovirus Integrations,” Science, 2009, April 24: 324(5926): 532-536.
(2) Utopia is derived from the Greek prefix “ou-” for “not” and “topus” (place), meaning nowhere. It was later confused with the prefix “eu” (good), giving the version we now think of as “Eutopie” or “Utopy” a place of felicity (literally a good place). Thomas More contrasted 16th century English society with the fictional Utopia to illustrate a model that was a strong contrast of principled behavior to the amorality of England’s noble and priestly classes. His purposeful use of Utopia was a tongue-in-cheek poke at the idea of a “good place,” versus “nowhere.”(2)
Thoroughly enjoyed this post, thank you! I’m very interested in the preservation of heritage sheep breeds globally.
Thank you so much. This has been a very interesting project for me, and I hope to have it all written up soon for my book Knit (spin) Sweden! I will continue to write about the sheep as I get new information.