Depictions of the Berserkers, for example - fearsome warriors known for taking drugs and fighting nude - date back to 400 B.C.E. Other depictions of horned headgear in Nordic history predate the Vikings. Museum of Cultural History, Oslo The horned figures in the Oseberg tapestry (this is a watercolor reproduction) may be Norse gods like Odin. Though parts of them have been discovered in places like Denmark, archaeologists have found just one preserved such helmet. In fact, hardly any Viking helmets - horned or otherwise - have ever been found. But other times they’re shown as bareheaded - and not wearing a helmet at all. In contemporaneous depictions, Vikings often are depicted as wearing simple round headgear. Stories quickly spread of their violence, their lack of “civilization,” and their flagrant disregard for Christianity.Īccounts of the first recorded Viking attack in 793, for example, describe how a monastery in Lindisfarne was “spattered with the blood of the priests of God despoiled of all its ornaments,” and how the Vikings “trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God, like dung in the street.”Ĭlearly, the invaders were something to be feared - but did they wear horned Viking helmets? Then, disparate groups of Nordic warriors started attacking cities and towns in Europe. The Viking era lasted from about 800 until around 1050 C.E. Notably, they do not have horned helmets. Public Domain A twelfth-century depiction of Nordic warriors invading England.
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