Horned helmets came from Bronze Age artists, not Vikings
Horny Vikings are revisionist history.
BY PHILIP KIEFER | PUBLISHED JAN 18, 2022 7:54 AM
The Veksø helmets, discovered near Copenhagen in the 1940s, are part of a larger mythology in Bronze Age western Europe. Roberto Fortuna and Kira Ursem, Courtesy National Museum, Denmark
Picture some Viking warriors. What are they wearing on their heads?
Probably a helmet, right? Does it look like the one below?
A Viking helmet found in Gjermundbu, Norway. Ove Holst.
The first thing that probably jumps out to you here is that there are no horns. The helmet, discovered at a Norwegian farm in the 1940s, is one of the few complete Viking helmets ever discovered. Crucially, none of them have horns.
The idea that Viking helmets ever even had horns is surprisingly recent, despite the fact that the culture is well-documented in written history. According to historian Roberta Frank’s summary of the horned-helmet myth, Vikings were first given their horns in an 1876 German production of a Wagner opera. Within 25 years of the show, horned helmets were synonymous with the Scandinavian raiders that colonized the British Isles and sailed to North America around 1000 CE.
The thing is, horned helmets did exist in northern Europe—but they predated the Vikings by at least 2,000 years. They’re products of a Bronze Age culture that predates written records in the region.
The Viksø helmets, as the pair is called, were discovered in 1942, buried in a peat bog near Copenhagen. They’re made entirely of bronze, including the twisted, bull-like horns. They’re probably not objects meant to be worn into battle, but are closer to religious gear, intricately decorated with a curling beak and two bulging eyes around the forehead. Recesses in the crown of the helmet likely held a horsehair crest, and a pair of long feathers.
More:
https://www.popsci.com/science/viking-horns-truth/
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