Viking horned helms, yep I went there.

[Sir Vander Linde]

So yeah the topic of Viking horned helms for discussion, Why? Well I got to thinking and well, helm toppers. What if high ranking members had helm toppers? It makes sense to me; almost every European nation at one point in time had helm toppers, Rome, the Celts, etc.  So what if Viking chieftains had such toppers for their helms, or just high ranking society figures? If we look at what we know there is a gap in the helm topper time frame that fits this, Rome had crests, and then early medieval knights had helm toppers. See the gap? It is my explanation of the spike found on Gjermundbu style helmets. These toppers could have had a wood base with the rest leather. These could be affixed to the helm via the spike and tie points, these would not survive very well form a archaeological stand point. SO what do you guys think?
Thank you for putting up with my nonsense.

[Ian]

I don't think the logic that "because there's a gap in a common practice during the viking era, that they probably did it too" is sound.  A lot of common practices were lost during the 'Dark Ages,' so the omission of something that was common before and after does not mean that it necessarily should have existed in between.

[Sir Vander Linde]

Very true.

However this practice would not have been lost in the north where the fall of western Rome would not have any real effect on society and its practices. Other than a loss of trade for the lower areas.

[Ian]

From what little I know, the only actual finds of decorative helmets predate the Viking era heyday.  But even if some did survive, the nature of wings or horns on a helmet would make them very unsuitable for ground combat from a practicality standpoint.  Big horns on your head are great for an opponent to crank your neck with.  I subscribe to the thought that any decorative Viking helmets were exclusively for ceremonial use.  Medieval helmet decorations and crests are typically found on tournament helms for tilting where the practical combat disadvantage of the decorative elements wouldn't really matter.  This could almost be called 'ceremonial' as well. 

[Sir Vander Linde]

100% agree. Perhaps they, if they did exist, were used in a similar fashion to that of the tournament helms, on horsed riders at tournaments.  As for Ceremonial use I have no doubt that they would have been used, TYR, is almost always depicted with such a helm. If they did exist on the battle fielded I don't see them being used on anything other than horse warriors, who would not be "Vikings" but rather a warrior/knight of the same culture. I use the term "Viking" as a general encompassment of that culture.

[Sir Wolf]

i wrote a thesis paper in college about the myths of the vikings. horned helmets no go there. lol. best guess where the colorful depictions from the monks saying the horned devils exaggerations and maybe possibly cheek plates tied up. i cant remember all of the other reasons but heraldry was just not there.

[Sir Vander Linde]

Thank you both for your replies.

Sir Wolf, I have heard many times from others as well that "heraldry" was not there. Any idea where that view point comes from? I'm of Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Northern German Sorbs decent and know of my families heraldry from that time, of course it evolved  an got more complicated but it was there.

Any ideas? (asking because you guys are a pool of knowledge)

[Sir William]

Vander, I've often wondered this myself.  True, we can thank Hollywood for the visuals and its likely that it never actually existed, at least not for what we term the 'Vikings' but we have no real way of knowing despite all of the documentation currently available.

There's alot about history which we cannot know as we weren't around back then and not everyone prescribed to keeping written records about basically everything for future generations to take a gander at.

So, its unlikely so far as we know, but that doesn't equate to 'absolutely not' - no one alive can say that with any sort of real guarantee.

[Sir James A]

As was covered, "helmet toppers" for the medieval period were heraldic in nature. Mostly used in tournaments, they probably saw some use on the battlefield, but I'd wager not a whole lot - it's excess weight and target with little practical purpose. The more wealthy may have worn it for show and authority, but the common soldier probably did not.

Romans, I don't really know much about. Taking a complete guess, would they have a "team color" where the soldiers of the same army all have blue, or red, or something? Again, completely guessing.

I doubt the vikings had horns. Their armor wasn't very advanced, and attaching horns that don't serve any purpose other than confusion/intimidation seems like something they wouldn't care for at a practical level. As with crests, it's an extra "target" of sorts, and probably more liability than usefulness.

[Lord Dane]

Romans wore helmet crests to signify their title and position amongst their ranks. Their color typically signified their house (i.e. House of Julii was red) but only Roman Consorts could wear their house signet on campaign. Auxillaries could not bear any crests (not Roman citizens) and even Legionaries (Roman citizens) could only bear it if they had significant importance in rank, title or office and it had to bear the color of their Cohort Commander. So I am told at least....

[Sir Vander Linde]

I would not say that their armor skills were not advanced. Their helms were quite decorated, along with fittings on swords, etc.
Examples of helms:

[Sir Vander Linde]

Also found this, from the bronze age Scandinavia/Russia. This example specifically is from Denmark.

[Sir Vander Linde]

Thanks for all the info and opinions on this subject!!!

Also the above picture of bronze age helms, we see toppers like this on the royal Danish helm when heraldry is "used" or better said recorded.

[Sir William]

Well...if I didn't know any better, I'd say those look like horns on those helms there. 

[Ian]

There are lots of fancy helmet adornments from the bronze age, but even those are suspected to be ceremonial in use, and of course the bronze age pre-dates the Vikings by about 2000 years

Artists also began depicting the Germanic Barbarian tribes wearing horns long before artists began putting horns on Viking helmets in artwork.  Then it just kind of carried over in to paintings, but these were all depictions from at the earliest, the 17th century.