[Paul Mortimer]

Well, who would have thought that such a discussion would have produced so large a response. It all goes to show how much interest there is in this period.

Actually, I believe that there is evidence in the literary sources that such helmets were worn in times of war:

Beowulf (lines 1030-4):

Ymb þæs helmes hrof hēafodbeorge
Wīrum bewunden wala ūtan hēold,
Þaet him fēl lāf frēcne ne meahtē
Scūrheard sceþðan, þonne scyldfreca
Ongēan gramum gangan scolde

Round the helmet’s crown a ridge bound with wires protected the head from without so that the sword, hard in battle, might not cause too grave an injury when the shield warrior went forth against his enemy.
Now this descrition admirably describes the sort of crest (walu) on the Sutton Hoo helmet - which is of iron with inlaid lines of silver. This is not the only quote from Beowulf that could be used here. Other AS poems, such as Elene and Genesis II, also refer to helmets that have features that appear to be similar to the Sutton Hoo.

Another quote from Beowulf:

…..Eoforlīc scionon
ofer hlēorbergan gehroden golde

Above the cheek guards shone the boar images adorned with gold

The Sutton Hoo helm has gilded bronze boars' heads above each cheek guard. The point with these quotes is that they are describing battle helmets worn by the heros when fighting!

The pressbleche have been referred to several times on this thread. It is true that no-one knows exactly what they are a refernce to; they are symbolic and probably have a protectic and amuletic function. The walus too are protective in both a practical and a symbolic sense. Why would the wearer need protection if these hats are purely ritual.
The pressbleche in now way interfere with the fighting qualities of the helmets - they are ornate and decorative - they can be repaired if they get damaged (this appears to have happened on the right side of the Sutton Hoo). It seems, too, that the plates were, often, backed with pitch or some other sticky substance which would have increased their durability.

Then there are the pictures of helmets on the plates -- they are always crested with either a boar or a bird -- these symbols are depicted overlarge, I believe, so that this feature is clearly seen. However, all of the Swedish helmets (including SH) found so far have wyrm (serpent) crests or walus. The only contemporary helmets with boar's heads - the Benty Grange and the Pioneer have been found in England where several detached boars or components have also been found-- one detached boar has been discovered in Uppakra in Sweden.
If you take the helmets from the pressbleche and look at them carefully they could actually be some of the Swedish helmets apart from the crests -- we have also, as an experiment, drawn the SH and other Swedish helmets in the same style; the results look very much like the pictures on the plates. One of the pressbleche helms (Vendel XIV) even has a face plate a bit like that on the SH.

Incidentally, there are only ten different figurative themes discovered so far, on all the known pressbleches.

Personally, I have no doubt that these were battle helms, worn by important warriors, who wanted to be seen and known by both their own side and by their enemies.

However, as Ville says, some of us will have to agree to differ.


Paul

[Chris Gilman]

On one of the pressbleches is an image of a man being ridden down by a rider and the horse is being speared. There is almost this exact scene depicted on a roman relief of much finer detail. But if memory serves, the dominance of the scene is reversed from footman to rider. Perhaps a depiction of a specific fight with specific fighters? But with the Roman relief depicting Romans crushing a "barbarian" and a pressbleches depicting the oppressed "Barbarian" defeating a Roman with his last breath?
I will have to find these two images; they were quite striking in their similarity.
The friend I made the silver helmet for had told me he found evidence that the panels on the Vendel 14 helm where in reference to a specific conflict. I will ask him the details of his research.
C. Gadda,
I must agree with all of your points. Well said.

[David Huggins]

Hi Chris,
Spiedal's book 'Germanic Warrior styles etc' if memory serves me correct also discusses this pressblech plate and the Roman funeral memorial motif as evidence for his theory that certain germanic tribes utilised specific foot warriors in conjunction with their own mounted warriors to run underneath the enemy cavalry and slash at the horse's underbelly with a weapon specifically for this task!!
best
Dave

[Grzegorz Kulig]

This is going to be a long post, so please prepare.

[Anders Nilsson]

Hmm...

I still would like suggestions on what helmets where in use.

Did they use helmets like the Vendel/Valsgarde finds?

Did they use helmets like the Vendel/Valsgarde finds, but with sturdier built and not so much "Bling"?

Did they use another sort of helmet, in that case wich type?

Is the imaged on the pressblachs gibing uan any clues on what type of helmet was in use?


What do you guys think? To recreate a warrior from the Vendelperiod, what type of helmet should i choose?

[David Huggins]

Hi Anders,


Hi Anders
What type of helmet to wear? I can only suggest the middle ground that I took for a re-enactment combat helm, where any concerns of damage and cost of repair to the decorative plates was negated.

Basically a helm of the general domed spangenhelm construction, ( but as I'm sure others here will tell you there are a number of different sub pressblech consruction methods on the Vendel/Valsgarde helms) with a half mask; and only the decorative elements of the crest and eyebrows, based on the evidence as Paul stated in the Beowulf epic.

Some times I use the same helm for post migration period Vikingr re-enactment, based on Dominic Tweedle and Kim Siddorn's belief that such crested helms continued in use for longer then what is generally accepted. There does appear to be such evidence on various period artifacts for this.

With the risk of opening a can of worms, given grzegorz aversion to fantasy helms what I would like to see is a conjectural reconstruction of the boar crested helm with halfmask, and the cheek guards and neck protection similar to the Sutton hoo helm, that can be seen on one of the pressblech plates. A fellow re-enactor of the early A-s period has also recently mused on his wish to undertake such a similar reconstruction.

best
Dave

[Paul Mortimer]

Hi Anders,
As I have outlined in all my posts, I believe that the Vendel and Valsgarde helmets were worn for warfare. Poorer warriors may well have worn cheaper versions, but also helmets of the spangenhelm type as Dave says -- parts of such helmets have been found in Sweden amd something very similar in Scotland. They probably also wore helmets like the one in the picture below -- a comparitively cheap and basic iron cap. Then there are helmets like the Pioneer and the Benty Grange. In fact there were many different types of helmet that warriors of this period may have chosen to use.
There was a great variety of helmets available in later medieval times -- some of which only survive in pictures and it must be remembered that in Roman times, too there were many different types around. Why should the period in the middle be different?


Cheers,

Paul

[Bruce Tordoff]

Hi Anders, here is a pic of Dave in the helm he was referring to in his last post. Having worn this myself I can also concur that this is a very comfortable and practical helm to use.

[Anders Nilsson]

Many thanks.

This is the helmet I´m using right now. I intend to replace or rebuild it, hence my questions.

[Paul Mortimer]

Gzergorz many thanks for the kind words.

Paul

[C. Gadda]

[David Huggins]

Hi Mr Gadda & Grzegorz

Thor in his book Viking Clothing, in his discussion on the symbolic colour of wearing ones best clothing with a view to a killing ; does state from the observations of Ibn Fadlan of the funeral of a Russ Chieftain that new clothing had been made for the deceased, Thor however further states that other clothing retrieved from burials does show signs of wear and repair (see page 168)

best
Dave

[Darrin Hughes]

Hello Anders.

As you mentioned possible Anglo-Saxon connections, I wondered whether something like the Wollaston helmet might be of interest. There has been a lot of concentration on the more obviously high-status helmets, but the Wollaston helmet seems to have been a more workmanlike object. It is thought to have been the property of a nobleman, or possibly minor royalty, rather than a chieftain or king, and definitely fits into the whole Valsgarde/Sutton-Hoo timeframe.
I've included pictures of a reproduction and the reconstructed original.

Cheers,
Darrin.

btw, for those who aren't familiar with Wollaston, it is in Northamptonshire, England, and the finds there are dated to the 7th century.

[Lafayette C Curtis]

[Lafayette C Curtis]

[Myles Mulkey]

I have a question about Vendel era helms. Those crests, are they solid or are they hollow? By that I mean at the most curved part of the crest, is there a gap between the helmet and the crest itself? Or is the crest solid and butted down flush with the helm underneath? I think that I can easily make a hollow one, but a solid one would take a lot more man hours (I'm not very experienced at forging but I try) and add alot more weight to the helm. What does everybody think? And if it is the case that they are hollow, how thick should they be? I want something light enough to not add too much weight, but still heavy enough to not be just thrown up there to get bent. I'd appreciate your input, and by the way I'm new to the forum and would like to say hello to everyone officially.

[C. Gadda]

[Myles Mulkey]

[James H.]

Where by chance did you see these, I would love to have a pair.

[Ville Vinje]

Check the very first page of this topic. =)