Viking spangenhelm Bjarni, 2 mm (battle-ready)

Product description

A spangenhelm was a type of helmet that originated in Central Asia and was introduced into Europe in the 6th century AD, remaining popular throughout the early Middle Ages. Metal strips – called spangen in German – connected three to six metal plates that met at the top. Spangenhelms often featured a nasal guard.

This spangenhelm is the nasal helmet type. Helmets like this saw use across Europe from the 9th century onward, remaining in service at least until shortly after 1066. Around that time, both Norman and Anglo-Saxon warriors wore them on the famous Bayeux Tapestry. Vikings used these helmets, as did other Germanic peoples. From this style of spangenhelm, the well-known nasal helmet eventually evolved.
Unlike later nasal helmets, early spangenhelms were originally made from multiple parts connected by spangen. This cheaper production method was introduced during the Late Roman period.

The nasal guard protects the entire face while still providing an optimal field of vision. An added advantage: these helmets could be repaired in the field during military campaigns. This spangenhelm features a conical bowl. The nasal guard attaches over the central and lower metal bands, with decorative eyebrows mounted on top. These eyebrows also reinforce this vulnerable part of the helmet. The eyebrow motif draws from a Germanic–Roman tradition in which semi-ritual facial expressions contributed to the persona or spiritual identity of the wearer — an expression of the pagan warrior class that associated warfare with ecstatic fury unleashed upon the enemy.

The helmet is battle-ready, lined with leather on the inside, and fitted with a leather suspension system and chin strap. The nasal guard is leather-covered as well. Made from 2 mm thick steel, it fits a maximum head circumference of up to 62 cm and weighs about 2.7 kg.

Dragons were the mythical counterparts of serpents, woven into the earliest myths of humankind. As humans spread across the globe, dragon mythology spread with them. Among many Indo-European peoples, dragons played a prominent role in their mythologies. In Germanic and later Norse mythology, dragons were seen as all-devouring monsters, yet they also symbolized the evil beast that must be slain by a hero. These two archetypes — the destroyer and the hero's adversary — reinforce one another.