In public presentations, I am frequently asked why people think that Viking age helmets had horns. I used to joke that it was the fault of a costume designer for a 19^th century Wagnerian opera until I recently learned that there may be a germ of truth to that notion.

However, there is a more likely explanation. Good evidence exists for horned helmets in Scandinavia during the Bronze and early Iron Ages, well before the start of the Viking era. Stone carvings and sculpture (right) survive, showing these helmets, and bronze helmets found at Viksø in Denmark date from around the year 900 BCE (left), about 1500 years before the Viking age.

These ancient bronze helmets are thin and far too fragile for battle. Almost certainly, they were used only for ceremonial purposes. In contrast, surviving Viking-age iron helmets and helmet fragments are robust, and show clear signs of damage from weapons.

Perhaps during the Romantic 19^th century Viking revival, this early evidence was misinterpreted, and the notion that Vikings all wore horned helmets became established.

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