Did the Vikings have horned helmets

The word “Viking” has a very specific picture in our head: a huge bearded northerner dressed in skins and armed with an ax (or even two). But the main attribute is a helmet with two horns. This image is very ingrained in our heads, but with the "horned" Vikings is not so simple. Let's figure it out!

Thanks Wagner

First and foremost: today there is no actual historical evidence that the Viking helmets were horned. Few helmets are preserved after burial, and even surviving details do not always shed light on their original appearance. To date, only one X-century Viking helmet has been discovered intact, and it has no hint of horns.

So where did this idea come from? Just as we represent pirates today from drawings from fiction books, the romanticized concept of Viking horned helmets is probably related to how artists interpreted Scandinavian history. In the 1800s, Swedish artist Gustav Malmström painted Viking raids in horned helmets. In the 1870s, the costume designer Carl Emil Doppler “cemented” the image. He created costumes for Richard Wagner's popular opera The Ring of the Nibelungen, which was popular in those years, where all the Vikings appeared on the stage in horned helmets.

Useless horns

But let's be fair to the artists. They, although creative people, still did not get the idea out of their heads to put horns on their helmets. Many of the ancient helmets of the "Pre-Viking" era were adorned with horns and animal wings. Some of these details are depicted on stone bas-reliefs and sculptures, as well as on several bronze helmets found in Scandinavia and dating to about 900 AD.

Nevertheless, the bronze horned helmets were not very convenient for battle: the shape of the helmet was just made cone-shaped so that the sword slid over it. But how will he slip if he pokes his helmet with horns? Such adornment would end with the quick death of the "mod". This led researchers to the idea that horned helmets were used primarily for ceremonies and ceremonies.

Be that as it may, the Vikings now don’t seem to get rid of the horns on their helmets anyway.

Watch the video: Vikings never wore horned helmets. Here's why people thought they did. (May 2024).