Did the Vikings Wear Helmets? Revisited
Uncovering the Mystery of Viking Helmets: Legends, Evidence, and the Gaps in History
When I first tackled the question, “Did the Vikings wear helmets?” in a previous article over ten years ago, I explored whether Vikings wore helmets at all, given the surprising scarcity of Viking helmets in the archaeological record. The quick and easy answer from academia as to why there are so few helmets is and has been that they must have been items reserved for the elite. However, that proposition raises a significant question: if helmets were indeed reserved for elites, why are they so poorly represented when other elite items, like swords and ornate jewelry, are relatively abundant? Even among weapons, we have evidence of over 100 Ulfberht swords, allegedly forged by a single person and renowned for their advanced crucible steel construction. Yet, only two near-complete helmets from the entire Viking Age have survived. This striking disparity continues to challenge our understanding of Viking material culture, prompting debates about the near absence of helmets compared to the wealth of other war-related artifacts.
Two divergent camps have formed over whether the Vikings wore helmets. Some believe the Vikings did wear helmets and that the gap in the archeological record is a fluke. The other camp finds the lack of evidence in the archeological record telling. Perhaps the Vikings—the early Vikings, at least—wore no helmets. This article revisits the topic in light of renewed discussions and explores whether our understanding of Viking helmets has changed in the past decade.