Viking Age Helmets

Whats the evidence for
Viking Age Helmets

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Last updated 09th August 2011
Introduction
Britain has yet to produce any archaeological finds of helmets from the 9th to
11th Centuries so we are forced to look across the water to the continent for
examples of construction. Unfortunately the archaeological record there is
hardly any better than here with only four published helms nominally dating
from between 950AD and 1050AD.
o
o
o
o
Gjermundbu, Norway 980AD

Great Polish, Poland 1000AD 1100AD
Metropolitan, England/France? 1000AD?
Wenceslas, Czech 800AD 1000AD
As you can see only the Gjermundbu helm can be accurately provenanced to
the period but would appear to have been made in an old fashioned manner.
The Great Polish and Metropolitan helms are dated purely by style both being
obtained from private collections and now located far from their original possible find location. The Wenceslas helm offers little better information, seeming
to have an antique nasal attached to a latter single-piece helm in a unique
style.
So in summary we have four helms of which none of them would seem to reliably typify the helmets of the period. In light of this we must look at additional
sources:
o Archeological finds before or after the 9th to 11th centuries.
o Pictorial evidence.
o Written sources
The situation is made worse when one asks the questions such as How many
warriors wore helmets? and Were helmets made from other materials other
than iron?
To try and calculate the percentage or kind of warriors that would have worn
helmets from written sources and illustrated manuscripts is neigh on impossible. Having said this a few brave people have tried to do just that. Andrew
Thompson states in his article that Early English warriors usually went into
battle with sword / spear and shield alone and only the privileged few who
could ride to the field of battle wore helm and byrnie.
Gavin Archer 9 August 2011 www.gav.org.uk
Viking Age Helmets

The Standard Reenactment Saxon / Norman Helmet
Most depictions of helmets from the 11th centuries show warriors wearing some
sort of conical helm. This has been interpreted by re-enactors as a four part
riveted spangen style of helmet (Fig. 2). True spangen helmets, which derive
from late Roman style helms, disappear from the archeological record by the
end of the 7th Century (Fig. 1).
Helms from the 9th and 10th centuries seem to have been domed in shape, not
conical. This means that the continuation of the spangen style of helm from the
Roman era to that of the Normans seems unlikely.
Fig.1 True Spangan

Morken Helm, 600AD
Fig. 2
Reenactment Helm
1000AD
Fig.3 Single-piece
Wenceslas Helm, 800AD1100AD
The Phygian Style of Helmet
Fig.3 Phrygian Helm

C4th BC
(Hermann Historica
Munich Auction House,
Lot. xxx)
Spectacle
Domed
12th Century
1200
11th Century
1150
1100
1050
10th Century
1000
950
900
850
800
9th Century
Viking Age Helmets
Period 1: Pre Viking Age Helms 600-800AD
Helms from Britain
Sutton Hoo Helm

?, Suffolk
Early 7th (600 650AD
Benty Grange Helm

?, ?
Mid 7th (625 675AD)
Coppergate Helm
York Late 7th Early 8th
(650 750AD)
Staffordshire Hoard
Gold Cheek Flap
7th Century
Pioneer Helm
Wollaston, Northamptonshire Late 7th

Helms from Scandanavia
Ulltuna Helm
?, Sweden
600 800AD
Vendel 1
Vendel 6
Vendel 14 Helm
?, Sweden
Vendel 12 Helm
?, Sweden
600 800AD
Broa Helmet
Gotland, Sweden
600 800AD
Valsgarde 5
Valsgarde 7
Valsgarde 8
Viking Age Helmets
Period 2: Viking Period Helms 800-1100AD

Gjermundbu Style
Gjermundbu Helm
Gjermundbu, Norway
970AD
Tjele, Denmark
(TWEDDLE 1992)
Kiev, Ukraine
(TWEDDLE 1992)
Metropolitan Style
Metropolitan Helm
From the River Thames
or possibly north France.
1000AD (by style)
Reconstructed nasal
Private collection (A)
Great Polish Helm

?, Poland
1000AD 1100AD
Private collection (B)

(Hermann Historica Munich Auction House, Lot. 3350)

Bremen Style
Bremen Helm
Bremen, Germany
800-900 AD
Groningen, Netherlands
800-900 AD
Probably Frisian helmet
Early Single Piece
Wenceslas Helm
Czech Republic
800AD 1000AD
Prague Museum
MS Cotton
11th
Cleopatra
CVIII
Private collection (A)

Extremely Rare Norman 'Four-Plate' Rivetted Spangenhelm Helmet
Iron, 1.71 Kg, 39 cm high inc stand; helmet only 210 mm rim to apex. circa 175 mm
diameter at base. Circa 11th century AD. The present helmet is fabricated from four
triangular iron plates skillfully made to accommodate the curvature of the human head
and with a slight point at the apex. The plates are contoured so that the front and back
plates overlap the side-plates by 1-2 cm; iron rivets pass through this overlap to secure them in position. The rivets are worked flat into the surface of the helmet, and
are almost invsible from the outside but can be detected on the inner surface. The inverted lower rim is furnished with an additional series of rivets, probably to accommodate a lining. There are two empty rivet-holes at the base of the side-plates, where the
cheek-plates were originally attached. The plate-junction at the apex is left slightly
open, allowing a plume or horsehair streamer to be inserted or a covering plate to be
attached. Helmets of this general profile and with some form of conical crest are a
long-lived military fashion in the Black Sea region and appear in designs on the bone
facing of a Khazar saddle of 7th-8th century date from the Shilovskiy gravefield (Sa-
Viking Age Helmets

mara region). A similar helmet (of presumed 5th century AD date) is housed in the St.
Petersburg Musum (inventory reference PA72), previously in the MVF Berlin until 1945
under inventory ref.IIId 1789i. The rivetted-plate construction is known across Europe
from the Migration Period through to the 12th century: it is this form which appears on
the heads of English and Norman warriors in the Bayeux tapestry. Reference: Curtis,
H. M., 2,500 Years of European Helmets, North Hollywood, 1978; Denny, N. & FilmerSankey, J., The Bayeux Tapestry, London, 1966; Kirpicnikow, A. N., Russische Helme
aus dem Frhen Mittelalter, Waffen- und Kostmkunde, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, pt. 2,
1973; Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period - Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007,
p.326-7 item I.34.4. Professionally cleaned and stabilized and in very fine condition,
including a custom made display stand. Ex an old private collection. A full report from
I. Eaves, Arms and Armour Consultant, and an XRF ancient metal test certificate from
Oxford X-ray Fluorescence Ltd accompanies the piece.
http://time-lines.co.uk/norman-four-plate-rivetted-spangenhelm-helmet-01057225032-0.html
Private B
Antique Arms & Armour, Hunting Antiques, Arts and Crafts
Lot Nr.3350
An Eastern Europe four plate helmet,
11th century. Iron skull of conical form, made of four overlapping riveted plates.
Pierced holes for chin strap fastening on either side. The surface with encrustations and signs of corrosion, restored and secured condition. Height 17 cm.
Helmet of high quality, a similar piece is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York (Acc. No. 29.158.32).
With an expertise by Ian Eaves, F.S.A. from 11.11.2001.
http://www.hermann-historica.com/
Period 3:
1200AD
Norman
Period
Helms
1000-
Olmtz Helm
Czech Republic 1050
1150AD Prague Museum
Possibly also had a hook like
the Augsburg Helm
Augsburger
Axel Guttmann Helm

Central Europe
1000 1300AD
(Hermann Historica Munich
Auction House, Lot. 204)
Maas
Poznan
Kiev Helm
Kiev, Ukraine
Orchowskie Helm
Orchowskie Lake, Poland
1050 1150AD
Hradsko
?, ?
1100AD 1200AD
Viking Age Helmets

Axel Guttmann Helm
1000 1300AD
Low iron cone helmet with one-piece bowl and nasal, the latter with traces of a reinforcement or decoration (five traces of rivets, at the rear emnants of a washer), the
quite low central ridge tapering off at the forehead and the neck. Around the lower
border 16 lining holes, of which three are still closed by rivets.
A few holes at the crest caused by corrosion or damage have been closed. The lower
edge and the nasal have been straightened out slightly, before the helmet was approx.
5 mm higher. Extraordinary good general condition. Height without nasal 14 cm, nasal
5 cm, diameter 21.5 cm, weight 958 grams.
An extremely rare type of helmet which exists only in few numbers today, although it
was the standard head protection of the European knight over an amazingly long period up to the Crusades. The low form, the so-called Byzantine type, was mainly found
in Bohemia, Poland and the Czech Republic, always as a single piece without any accompanying find which could be dated. Therefore it is assumed that it spread from
here over all of Europe. Comparable pieces are known in a German private collection,
two further examples were found in the earth wall of Castle Hradsko in Bohemia, another one in Melnik, Czechia and one in Ostrow-Lednicki in Poland.
Compare Guy Francis Laking, European Armour and Arms, Vol. 1, Fig. 58, 59, collection Wilczwek Kreuzenstein Castle and Dr. Bashford Dean. Dagmar Hejdv, Der sogenannte St-Wenzels-Helm. Zeitschrift fr Historische Waffen- und Kostmkunde 1968, p.
15 ff. Ortwin Gamber, Geschichte der mittelalterlichen Bewaffnung, ZHWK 1994, pp.
94, 95, 96.
An extensive expertise by Frank Unrath, Neckarsulm, is included.
from online auction catalog - Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005
Lot Nr.204
A knightly nasal helmet
http://www.hermannhistorica.de/auktion/hhm49.pl?f=NR&c=41597&t=temartic_1_GB&db=kat49_A.txt
Selected collectors pieces - antique arms and Armour, works of art including 50 helmets of the famous AXEL GUTTMANN Collection
Kiev Helm
National Museum of the History of the Ukraine
This feature occurs also on the intact helmet from Kiev (Figs.563-4), which is made of
subtriangular plates meeting at the apex where each is fixed by a single rivet to two
oval plates, one inside and one outside the cap. At their lower ends every alternate
subtriangular plate has a bulbous extension to each side with a rivet passing through
it, fixing the plate to its neighbours. Unlike the Gjennundbu helmet, the Kiev helmet
does not even have small concavities in the edge of the cap as pan of the eyeholes,
and there is no evidence for attached facial protection. The only concavities in the cap
edge are for the ears. There was apparently no protection for the neck. 1bis lack of
facial and neck protection suggests that the helmet was worn over a leather or even
mail garment which would have provided this protection. L. c.20Omm. (Tweddle, D.
1992 P.1128).
10
Bibliography
ANDERSON, T. "Cranial Weapon Injuries from Anglo-Saxon Dover."
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology Vol 6, 1996.
Antique Arms & Armour, Hunting Antiques, Arts and Crafts. May 2, 2011.
GRAHAM-CAMPBELL. Viking Artefacts, A Select Catalogue. British Museum
Publications, 1980.
HAMMOND, Brett. "Norman Four-Plate Rivetted Spangenhelm Helmet
010572." http://time-lines.co.uk/norman-four-plate-rivettedspangenhelm-helmet-010572-25032-0.html. 2009.
Hermann Historica Munich Auction House. n.d.
Selected collector's pieces - antique arms and armour, works of art including
50 helmets of the famous Axel Guttmann collection. October 19, 2005.
http://www.hermannhistorica.de/auktion/hhm49.pl?f=KAPITEL&c=SCHUTZWAFFEN&t=tem
group_1_GB&start=1&dif=20&db=kat49_A.txt.
SKODELL, Henry. "Schutzausrstung zur zeit der Schlacht von Hastings
(Protective Equipment Present at the Battle of Hastings)."
http://www.reenactment.de/reenactment_start/reenactment_startseit
e/diverses/kitguide/kitguide.html. 2008.
Stephenson, I. P. The Late Anglo-Saxon Army. Tempus, 2007.
THOMPSON, Andrew. "Why is Anglo-Saxon armour so rare?" http://www.thaengliscan-gesithas.org.uk/archives/why-is-anglo-saxon-armour-sorare. 2010.
TWEDDLE, Dominic. The Anglian Helmet from Coppergate. YAT, 1992.
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