Vendelhelm

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The Vendelhelm or spectacle helmet, also called Nordic helmet, is a helmet form of the Vendel Period (550 to 800 AD). The spectacle helmet appears after the Spangenhelme and was common in the Vendel Period in Scandinavia and the British Isles. From Buskerud in Norway, the Gjermundbu helmet from the time around the year 900, i.e. the Viking Age, is known.

Structure
The basic structure of the spectacle helmet consists of three iron bands riveted together, each forming a forehead ripening, an apex band and a band from ear to ear. A face protector and sometimes cheek flaps as well as a neck or neck umbrella made of chain braid or iron sheet are attached to it. The spaces between the iron strips are filled with iron plates. The helmets are staffed with a comb and characteristic eye arc fittings, each ending in animal heads. The entire surface of the helmet is also clad with sheet metal or bronze and is often decorated. The significantly younger Gjermundbu helmet deviates greatly from this typical design.

Finds and distribution
In total, over 30 of these helmets were found in Scandinavia and England. The best preserved eyeglass helmets come from the rich boat graves of Valsgärde, Vendel and the King’s Necropolis of Uppsala in Uppland. Less well-preserved such helmets are known from burn graves on Gotland and other parts of Scandinavia.

In addition to some fragments, three well-preserved specimens from England, which do not have the typical eyeglasses, but correspond in the basic construction to the Nordic helmets. The oldest, the helmet of Sutton Hoo, comes from the tomb of Sutton Hoo, which is attributed to King Rædwald († around 625). However, the helmet could also be significantly older and should be from the early 6. century or the time around 500. The other two are the York-born Coppergate helmet and the Benty Range helmet from Derbyshire, which is decorated by a boar figure on the crest. Such boar helmets are also mentioned in the Beowulf.

Due to similarities in construction, it is believed that the helmet type of Roman-Imperial Guard Helmets (Late Antique Crest Helmets) dates from around 400 n. Chr. derives. Only the three helmets from England can be brought into a Christian context, so the one from the tomb of Benty Grange wears a silver cross on the nose plate. All others are connected to pagan symbols.

Eyeglass helmets of the Vendelzeit

Related helmets

Horn helmet

The spectacle helmet is generally referred to as the Viking helmet.

The once popular image of the Viking with horn helmet is not historical.

The few finds of horn helmets and statuettes with horn helmets from the Nordic Bronze Age show that they were rather ritual objects. Horn helmets are already figuratively transferred to the seafaring Schardana