- Aimee Levitt
- The first Norsemen to wear horned helmets were characters in Wagnerian opera in the 19th century. The horned helmet became a patriotic symbol of Scandinavia after Germany invaded Denmark in 1864. It was adopted by heavy metal enthusiasts in the 1970s.
Vikings did not wear helmets with horns on them. They probably bathed and combed their hair—or at least, the archaeological record shows they were very attached to their combs. They did other things besides sail around Europe and rape and pillage and set things on fire. And they did not call themselves Vikings: “viking” is an Old Norse term for going on a trading trip or raid (sometimes it was hard to distinguish the two), which came to be applied to all medieval Scandinavians who showed up in places that were not Scandinavia.
Technically, since “viking” refers to a journey, women could be vikings, too, but, like the men, they mostly stayed home. They had no legal power—though they could request divorces and get their dowries back—but aristocratic women were said to have mystical powers to control fate. They also carried lots of keys. Locks were an important part of life in Scandinavia and regularly used.
- Swedish History Museum
- Clockwise from left: A sword hilt and pommel, a comb made of antler, a silver coated spearhead that says (in runes) “Rane owns this spearhead. Botfus carved it.”
