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can't speak for scandinavia.
scotland used brogues or something of that nature. i think it was intended to get wet fast and dry fast. probably a lot of them went barefoot and just had good circulation so didn't need much. you can also see their use of a kilt. wool with lanolin (oil) in the sheep hair so the water just rolled off. you need good wool for it though to remain hydrophobic. not mixed with synthetics and the right weave.
i imagine it would be like wearing shorts and crocs/birkenstocks today but having though feet with good circulation. cork, eva foam (crocs), wool, and guessing that straw material in pic are all heat retardant meaning that the coldness won't radiate to your body like other materials will (leather, cotton, rubber, etc.)
>picrel
one of the earliest shoes found in austria mountains. honestly looks pretty comfy. guessing was used in more dry snow than slushy wet, but i think the mentality was more like, "you will be wet so lets have something that dries fast than the whole goretex and plastic bag approach today. unironically it is funny when people talk about using polycotton like fjallravens and wanting to wax them. It defeats the purpose because the polyester makes the garment dry fast. I use dickies and the british cs-95 jacket fishing. They get wet, but dry fast easily. The dickies are loose enough that they aren't even touching my skin when wet either. The jacket did not fare as well in the neck but something like a cowl would have allowed the heavy water droplets to run off easier as that what would get wet. or maybe the right wool top like a swanndri.
