Representation of a horned helmet from a Danish toy.

European Iron Age helmets with horns are known from a few depictions, and even fewer actual finds. They were probably used for religious ceremonial or ritual purposes. Image File history File links Horned_Helmet. ... Image File history File links Horned_Helmet. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Pith helmet of Harry S. Truman For information about the band Helmet, see Helmet (band) Pickelhaube of a Swedish Royal Guard soldier A helmet (a 15th century loan from Middle French, a diminutive of Frankish helm, from Proto-Germanic *khelmaz, PIE *kelmo- a cover) is a form of protective clothing... For other types of horns, see horn (disambiguation). ... A ceremony is an activity, infused with ritual significance, performed on a certain occasion. ... A ritual is a formalised, predetermined set of symbolic actions generally performed in a particular environment at a regular, recurring interval. ...

An early find dating to the ca. 800 BC, is a figurine of a man with a horned helmet, found in Zeland, Denmark. One find of a bronze horned helmet, possibly of Celtic origin (dating to ca. 800-400 BC) was found near Vikso, Denmark. This article is about the European people. ...

A pre-Roman Celtic bronze helmet, dating to ca. 100 BC, was found in the Thames River, 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. The Thames River is the name of a river in Ontario, Canada and one in Connecticut, United States of America. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... Gaulish is name given to the now-extinct Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Romans, the Franks and the British Celts invaded. ... A photo of the Gundestrup cauldron. ... Roman theatre at Orange, France Orange (Arenjo in Provençal) is a city in the département of Vaucluse, in the south of France. ...

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 similar to horns. A decorative plate of the Sutton Hoo helmet (ca. 600 AD) showed a depiction of a similar helmet. This strange 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. Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ... â–¶(?) is an island in the Baltic Sea, located off the coast of SmÃ¥land. ... Sutton Hoo parade helmet (British Museum, restored). ... The Viking Age is the name of the period between 793 and 1066 AD in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). ... Uppland ( â–¶) is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden. ...

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

Thus, 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. There is some evidence that they featured in viking mythology, however. Odin's chosen warriors, the einherjar, reputedly wore helmets horned like bulls and beaked like eagles. The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Norse or Scandinavian mythology refers to the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... In Norse mythology, Einherjar (or Einheriar) referred to the spirits of warriors who had died bravely in battle. ...

plate C of the Gundestrup cauldron

During the High Middle Ages, fantastical headgear became popular among knights, in particular for tournaments (see, for example, the depiction of Wolfram von Eschenbach and others in the Codex Manesse). Some coats of arms, for example that of Lazar Hrebeljanovic depict them. It is sometimes argued that Iron Age helmets would not have been worn in battle due to the impediment to their wearer, however, unpractical adornments have been worn on battlefields throughout history, so that this is not a compelling argument. The bottom line is, still, that there are very few finds, and the depictions of warriors could represent ritual war dances as well as actual combat, so that the most likely explanation is that the helmet type originated in Celtic religion, possibly related to Cernunnos, and that the 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. Plate C of the Gundestrup cauldron taken from http://www. ... Plate C of the Gundestrup cauldron taken from http://www. ... A photo of the Gundestrup cauldron. ... Portrait of Wolfram from the Codex Manesse. ... Folio 371r shows Johannes Hadlaub Folio 149v shows a portrait of Wolfram von Eschenbach The Manesse Codex or Grosse Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg Library, Cod. ... A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ... Prince Lazar, Photo courtesy of [http://www. ... Celtic Religion Celtic religion refers the pre-Christian religious beliefs and practices of the Celtic speaking peoples. ... Depiction of Cernunnos from the Pilier des nautes, Paris Cernunnos in Celtic polytheism is the deified spirit of horned male animals, especially of stags, a nature god associated with produce and fertility. ...

See also

• Gundestrup cauldron
• Horned God
• golden hat
• pointy hat

A photo of the Gundestrup cauldron. ... The Pashupati-like figure on the Gundestrup cauldron The Horned God is a modern syncretic term, invented to link together numerous male nature gods out of such widely-dispersed and historically unconnected mythologies as the Celtic Cernunnos, the Welsh Caerwiden, the English Herne the Hunter, the Hindu Pashupati, the Greek... Four tall conical golden hats dating to between 1400 BC and 800 BC, have been found in Central Europe: one find in 1835 near Schifferstadt near Speyer dated to 1400-1300, one fragmentary find in 1844 near Avanton near Poitiers, one at Ezelsdorf near Nurnberg in 1953, dated to 1000... The Jewish poet Süßkind von Trimberg wearing a Judenhut (Codex Manesse, 14th century) Pointy hats were a distinctive feature of a wide range of people during history, in particular suggesting an ancient Indo-European tradition, but they were also traditionally worn by women of Lapland, the Mikmaw people...

External links

• The Viking Horned Helmet: Myth or Legend?
• Did Vikings really wear horns on their helmets?

• British Museum Iron Age horned helmet, ca. 1st century BC.