Horned helmet

Horned helmet

European Bronze Age and Iron Age helmets with horns are known from a few depictions, and even fewer actual finds. Such helmets mounted with animal horns or replicas of them were probably used for religious ceremonial or ritual purposes.

Early archaeological finds

A pair of bronze horned helmets from the later Bronze Age (dating to ca. 900-1100 BC) were found near Viksø, Denmark in 1942. [ [http://www.stenlose.bibnet.dk/webtop/site.asp?p=232&mode=show&showid=21 Illustration] .] Another early find, dating to ca. 800 BC, is a figurine of a man with a horned helmet, found in Zealand, Denmark.

A pre-Roman Celtic bronze helmet, dating to ca. 100 BC, was found in the River Thames, in England. Its 'horns', different from those of the earlier finds, are straight and conical. Late Gaulish helmets (ca. 55 BC) with small horns and adorned with wheels, reminiscent of the combination of a horned helmet and a wheel on plate C of the Gundestrup cauldron (ca. 100 BC), were found in Orange, France.

Migration Period

A depiction on a Migration Period (5th century) metal die from Öland, Sweden, shows a warrior with a helmet adorned with two snakes or dragons, arranged in a manner similar to horns. A decorative plate of the Sutton Hoo helmet (ca. 600 AD) depicted a similar helmet. This headgear, of which only depictions have survived, seems to have fallen out of use with the end of the Migration period. There is a single depiction on a Viking Age amulet found in Uppland, Sweden that shows a figure with two snakes or dragons on its head.

In Asia, soldiers of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, are depicted wearing helmets with large horns on top.Fact|date=June 2008

Middle Ages

During the High Middle Ages, fantastical headgear became popular among knights, in particular for tournaments [See the depiction of Wolfram von Eschenbach and others in the Codex Manesse.] The "achievements" or representations of some coats of arms, for example that of Lazar Hrebeljanovic, depict them, but they rarely appear as charges depicted within the arms themselves. It is sometimes argued that Iron Age helmets would not have been worn in battle due to the impediment to their wearer. However, impractical adornments have been worn on battlefields throughout history.

Viking Age misconception

Although horned helmets are in popular culture often associated with Vikings, there is no evidence that Viking Age Scandinavians have ever worn them. The attribution probably arose in 19th century Swedish Romanticism. The image was so widespread by the mid-20th century that the helmet logo of the Minnesota Vikings football team is a horn on each side of the helmet.

There is one other instance of a possible depiction of a Viking Age horned helmet, an illustration on a tapestry found in the Viking Age Oseberg ship burial.

Overall, there have been so few discoveries of horned helmets that it appears unlikely that Vikings really wore horned helmets to battle. The depictions of warriors could represent ritual war dances as well as actual combat. The most likely explanation is that this helmet type originated in Celtic religion, possibly related to Cernunnos, and that then it was adopted, changing the horns into snakes, by Germanic tribes during the Migration age, and continued to play a certain role in religious ritual up to the 9th century or so.

Gallery

ee also

*Horned God
*Golden hat
*Pointy hat

External links

* [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhornedhelmet.html Did Vikings really wear horns on their helmets?]
* [http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ1477 British Museum] Iron Age horned helmet, ca. 1st century BC.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Horned God — Horned gods, with horns or antlers, appear in various cultures. The Horned God is a modern syncretic term for a god of disputed historical origins.Ancient religion and folkloreVarious pagan gods and figures from folklore are depicted as having… …   Wikipedia

  • helmet — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ leather, metal, plastic, steel, tin (esp. BrE) ▪ protective ▪ full face, visored …   Collocations dictionary

  • horned — adj. Horned is used with these nouns: ↑helmet …   Collocations dictionary

  • Combat helmet — American Enhanced Combat Helmet A combat helmet or battle helmet is a type of personal armor designed specifically to protect the head during combat. Helmets are among the oldest forms of personal protective equipment and are known to have been… …   Wikipedia

  • Winged helmet — The Winged helmet is a fictional helmet created by Scandinavian nationalists in the 1800s. It was, along with the Horned helmet, extensively used in the romantic depictions of the Vikings and legendary Norse gods and heroes during the 1800s.Today …   Wikipedia

  • Viking — For other uses, see Viking (disambiguation). Danish seamen, painted mid twelfth century …   Wikipedia

  • Death Dealer (painting) — Death Dealer is an iconic 1973 fantasy painting by Frank Frazetta. It depicts a menacing armor clad warrior with a horned helmet, whose facial features are obscured by shadow, atop a horse, holding a bloody axe and shield. The image eventually… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Kururu's inventions — Many of the storylines in both the manga and the anime versions of Sgt. Frog happen thanks to Sgt. Major Kururu s knack for inventing. His twisted nature combined with Keroro s need to conquer Pokopen/Pekopon work fluidly together, as it gives… …   Wikipedia

  • Gundestrup cauldron — The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly decorated silver vessel, thought to date from the La Tène Period in the first century to second century BC. It was found in 1891 in a peat bog near the hamlet of Gundestrup, in the Aars parish in Himmerland,… …   Wikipedia

  • Wōdanaz — The 6th century Vadstena bracteate, showing a horse, a bird and a human head commonly identified as an early form of Scandinavian Odin …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”