[Kristjan Runarsson]

I'm planning to have a reconstruction made of the type of helmet seen on the Lewis Chessmen and the carving on the 12th century church door from Valþjófsstaðir in Iceland. I was wondering if anybody would have any other references that might cast light on the nature of the rounded cheek and neck guards seen on these helmets (Well, in the caving from Valþjófsstaðir the shape of the neck guard is not visible but the helmet does have a neck guard and I'm assuming it would have been similar to that of the Lewis chess men since they were made around the same time as the Valþjófsstaðir carving and the Lewis chess men probably came from Norway or even Iceland.

I've never seen anything like these helmets which seem to be a peculiarly Scandinavian design. Sturlunga saga calls helmets 'iron caps' which is a description that fits the Lewis figures' helmets. I know there is a limit to the amount of detalis you can extract from 12th century art but I've been looking at the chess figures and have noted some interesting things:

• None of the Lewis chess men except for one of the knights seem to have helmets with a nasal.
  
• From the looks of them they Lewis chess men all have helmets beaten out of a single plate. You'd think the artists would have carved 'spangen' on the helmets the Lewis figures wear if helmets with composite domes were common in this era.
  
• The cheek/neck guards look like they were made of steel but one of the knights seems to have ones meant to look like they were made of leather or cuir bouilli.
  
• The upper knight in the Valþjófsstaðir carving seems to have a 'classic' spangenhelm with a nasal.
  

I've been experimenting with gluing cardboard cheek and neck guards to my nasal helm and I'm pretty sure the cheek and neck guards were suspended with leather hinges from the helmet dome rather than rigidly welded or riveted to the helmet dome. It also makes sense that they were flared outwards at the bottom because otherwise the bottom of the neck guard in particular catches on your clothing. I'm still on the fence about the material these cheek pieces were made of. Generally I am skeptical about leather and I'm going with metal but after conducting some experiments of my own I have concluded that when it comes to things like cheek and neck guards there is something to be said in favour of really tick 5-6mm thick bovine leather (without even hardening it) even if I have never seen any real evidence of such armour.

[Dan Howard]

I'm not sure the Lewis Chessmen can tell us much about fighting equipment; they are pretty heavily stylised. If we interpreted them literally we would conclude that their fighters were all dwarfs with pointy heads.

[Roger Hooper]

I think the rooks are the most interesting/entertaining group in the Lewis chess pieces

[Kristjan Runarsson]

[Bjorn Hagstrom]

[Baard H]

Hi, really nice to see more people finding an interest in the arms and armour on the Lewis pieces. I’m putting together a kit for the Norwegian civil war and have done quite a bit of research into this time and place.

First up is a picture from the portal of Hylestad stave church in Norway, maybe made around 1175. It shows a related type of helmet, although it’s only got the back plate and nasal and no side plates. http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/284ca1485bf144e7b48...ec7rnn.jpg

Further, the term “iron hat” or “steel cap” and variations are normal ways to describe helmets in sagas of the period as well including Sverres saga (1170s-1202) and Håkon Håkonssons saga (1204-1261). A clue to a possible differentiation of steel cap and helmets can be found in the later laws of militias and the royal retinue from the 1270s where steel caps are required of mid-wealth soldiers but helmets are an optional extra for knights and barons, possibly interpreted as the term helmet being reserved for more enclosed headwear like great helms and similar.

On the amount we can read with certainty from the Lewis chessmen, I think we can be pretty damn safe in their designs. Not only with the backing evidence of the contemporary woodcarvings, but the inclusion of surcoats and widespread use of kettle helmets fit with both the sagas and European art and archaeology. Not least we have a trhice proven piece of equipment in the kettle helmet on the second picture. In Sverres saga it’s said that as well as wearing maille, gambeson and surcoat, the king is fitted with “an iron hat of the type the Southerners (Germans) use. See picture three for a helmet found in the ruins of the German castle of Wilnsdorf which was destroyed in 1233



Lastly I attached a picture of my own helmet, co-designed with and fully produced by Jeffrey Hildebrandt at Royal Oak Armoury. You’re quite right in that leather suspension works and that the back should be curved. It works.

[Kristjan Runarsson]

[Gregory J. Liebau]

Here's a better picture of the relief carving c. 1200, housed in the National Museum of Iceland.

http://armourinart.com/317/505/

[Baard H]

Sorry for delayed post. Hard week back at work after too long off.

I have gotten some use from it, although mostly in combat styles without headshots I've participated in a couple of fights where it did get to show its virtues and I'm really happy with it.
In the first two pictures you can see the length and curvature of the lobes on mine. They work very well and I've never had any issues with them. Although they're not fastened hard they also give a fairly good protection, but you'd at the very least be dazed by a full on swing and they're not set up to stand against maces for example, but then again they're from a time and place where maces weren't a big thing for the most part.
The lobes are also sligthly overlapping with the rim so they don't flap about all over the place every time you move your head a bit fast.
The last picture is of the inside, it's more or less as you predicted, but he only used 1,5mm thick leather or so. It's rigid enough but the back plate might need a fix at some point.
No, the lobes doesn't impair the hearing too much, but it does make the sound a bit weird.

A friend of mine is rather convinced this is a quick fix done by norwegians who couldn't afford or saw the need to upgrade their old nasals to the new fighting styles of cavalry and lines of kite shields to completely new equipment and just slapped some plates onto the old ones instead.

[Gregory J. Liebau]

Whether such helmets were actually used or not, that is an excellent ode to the chess pieces, and I think it looks great!

[Baard H]