Birch Bark Drawing
His drawings are a reminder that our understanding of history is intrinsically bound to the items left for us to study. If a perfect combination of environment, weather, and geological forces hadn’t aligned, we never would have known about Onfim or his drawings. They remind us that the viking world was a place where children drew pictures of their fathers and ships in between chores and lessons.
Few birchbark manuscripts have survived to present day due to their fragility. Conditions usually lead to birchbark manuscripts rotting away fairly quickly unless a perfect environment immediately seals the piece away and it remains that way, undisturbed, until careful excavation can take place. Despite this, we have enough evidence to hypothesize from surviving manuscripts that birchbark was a commonly used medium for viking age peoples. It was generally easy to find, cost nothing to remove from a tree, and could be easily marked with a sharp stick, stone, or knife.