Helmet from Gjermundby. (History Museum of Norway in Oslo)
In one of the previous articles in this series, it was already told about "helmets with horns" and, in particular, it was noted that the Vikings did not have any horns on their helmets! But what was, how they looked exactly to judge this until a certain time, scientists could only on the basis of indirect facts, finds that could be attributed to the Viking era in their hands were not.
Helmet from Gjermundby. As you can see, the entire left half of the helmet is almost completely absent. (History Museum of Norway in Oslo)
That all changed on March 30, 1943, when the University of Oldsaksamling in Oslo received information that a farmer named Lars Gjermundby had found and excavated a huge mound on his land near his Gjermundby farm, in Buskerud County, southern Norway. Experienced archaeologists went there and indeed discovered a large mound there, 25 meters long, 1.8 meters high, and 8 meters wide at its widest point. Most of the embankment was formed by rocky soil; however, the inside of the middle part was made of large stones. Some stones have even been found on the surface of the embankment. In the middle part, about one meter below the surface and under the stone layer, the first grave was discovered, named Gjermundby I. At 8 meters from Gjermundby I, in the western part of the embankment, a second grave, Gjermundby II, was found. Both graves were burials from the second half of the 10th century and were then described in detail by Sigurd Grieg in a 1947 monograph.
The building of the museum where this helmet is exhibited.
Several dozen artifacts were found in the grave of Gjermundby I, among which the most interesting were such unique items as chain mail and a helmet, which later became very famous and are mentioned or depicted in almost every relevant publication dedicated to the Vikings.
Old helmet reconstruction by Erling Farastad, 1947 (monograph by Sigurd Grieg "Gjermundbufunnet")
The found helmet is often called the only full Viking helmet known to scientists. But this is precisely the inaccuracy that somewhat spoils the whole impression of this unique find. First, the helmet is not complete. When found, it consisted of about 10 metal fragments in a rather miserable state, which is about a third of the whole helmet. Second, there are at least five other published helmet fragments found in Scandinavia and areas of strong Scandinavian influence. There is a fragment of a helmet found in Thiele, Denmark, which is very close to the helmet from Gjermundby. In addition, in the process of its restoration, the shape of the original helmet was not completely reconstructed. That is, according to Norwegian archaeologists, the museum staff involved in its restoration did not assemble it quite correctly. And since the find of a thousand years ago is a very fragile object, they did not begin to alter what was already collected later. That is, the helmet presented to the general public today is not entirely correct. But what does “not quite” mean? "Not quite" is how much? But this is exactly what no one knows. That is, it is correct in general terms, but there may be some inaccuracies in the details. In any case, we can definitely say that the helmet from Gjermundby is the only helmet of the Viking age that we can look at today and the design of which is fully known to us.
The helmet mask is the best preserved due to the thickness of the metal it was made from. (History Museum of Norway in Oslo)
This helmet is also believed to have evolved from the Wendelian helmet and was the dominant type of Scandinavian helmet until AD 1000, when tapered nose-plate helmets became popular.
Helmet, chain mail and other finds from the burial in the Gjermundby mound in the exposition of the Historical Museum of Norway in Oslo.
So, what is this creation of the ancient Scandinavian blacksmiths? This product is oval in shape, the same as a normal human head. The dimensions of the oval are 16.5 by 20 centimeters. The helmet from Gjermundby was forged from iron one and a half millimeters thick, but on a half-mask the thickness of the metal reaches three millimeters, which is not surprising, because tank frontal armor is thicker than in other places. The design options for the helmet today are as follows: the segments that form its dome are riveted under the helmet frame. Option: the segments are riveted over its frame. In this case, the purpose of the convex stiffening rib on the helmet rim becomes clear - this is an additional reinforcement of the segment fastenings. But which one is the most correct? Unknown!
A very good reconstruction of the "helmet from Gjermundby" from the movie "And trees grow on the stones." In fact, today this is one of the best films about the Vikings.
The half-mask, best preserved because of its thickness, was riveted to the helmet with five rivets, and decorated on the outside with some kind of colored, and possibly even precious metal. Since this is the only helmet with a half mask from the Viking era, then all other "reconstructions", no matter how plausible they may look, will be just a creative invention of their authors, nothing more. Interestingly, the half-mask only reaches the upper lip of the warrior and leaves his mouth and teeth open. There is no protection for the cheeks and neck on the helmet. It is known that in the Middle Ages, for this purpose, a chain mail cloth was hung to the helmets - the aventail, which was later replaced by the lamellar cheek pads and the back plate. Moreover, cheek pads were also known on Wendel helmets, but in this case, traces of a chain mail aventail were not found on a Viking helmet from Gjermundby. Found only two rings at a distance of 3 centimeters from each other on its rim and that's it! No further traces of fastening for the remaining rings on the helmet could be found. Not a single hole or sleeve suitable for attaching the aventail! There is, however, an assumption that leather cheek pads were attached to these rings, which, of course, did not survive. But this is all that can still be assumed when looking at the helmet from Gjermundby in the exposition of the Norwegian History Museum in Oslo.
"Fragment from Tiele". (History Museum of Norway in Oslo)
And now about a fragment of a helmet that was found in Thiele, Denmark, which is very close to the helmet from Gjermundby. It is so called "a fragment from Tiele", but it was found not in the ground, not in some ancient grave, but … in the collection of tools of a blacksmith of the 10th century in 1850, but its meaning was not understood until 1984. He was found by a farmer who planted seedlings in Tjele Manor, between Viborg and Randers, and the owner of the estate sent him to the National Museum of Denmark, where he is today. In 1858, the tools of the blacksmith were collected - two anvils, five hammers, three pairs of tongs, two scissors for plates, two files, a chisel, two sprues, two casting ladles, a whetstone, a set of scales with ten weights, five sickles, a wrench, three iron nails, an ax, a tip, a bronze wire, fragments of bronze and iron, as well as the remains of a casket, but this find was attributed as a saddle pad. For about 130 years, this detail, despite being publicly displayed, did not draw attention to itself until it was finally recognized as a remnant of the helmet by Elisabeth Manksgaard, Assistant Curator in the Danish Prehistory Department. Describing the "find" in 1984, she noted that "the best finds are often made not in the field, but in museums."
The leader of the Danes from the movie "And Trees Grow on the Stones" is also wearing a similar helmet, but here the costume designer clearly overdid it. But on the head of his brother there is something fantastic, albeit quite possible - a leather hat with metal discs sewn onto it. Quite a possible design in the era of shortage of craftsmen and metal, why not?
Obviously, although today this fragment only contains "eyebrows and nose from the helmet", it was probably once part of a face mask similar to the one we see on the helmet from Gjermundby, however, what the rest of the helmet might have looked like unknown. The fragment contains no traces of chain mail. However, eight fragments of "thin iron strips, about 1 cm wide and of various lengths" were found, which may have been originally used to join the plates of this helmet. But that's all that scientists can say today based on these findings!
But … this helmet did not help its owner! That's how Sigurd cut him with a sword!
P. S. Well, the image of a bearded Viking in a helmet with horns was entrenched in the public consciousness, after in the 1820s the Swedish artist August Maelstrom illustrated the poem "The Fridtjof Saga" by Esaias Tegner with such images, and later, already in 1876, his colleague Karl Doppler used these drawings to create costumes for Richard Wagner's opera The Ring of the Nibelungen.
