Why did only Anglo-Saxon kings wear helmets?











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According to this article on the BBC news website only Anglo-Saxon kings wore helmets. Here is the full quote:




"Only Anglo-Saxon kings wore helmets and this is one of a very small number ever to be found."




The BBC attribute the quote to a Dr Ellen McAdam from the Birmingham trust.



Do we have any understanding of the cultural reasons that led to a universal abandonment of head protection?










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  • 5




    Is it possible they misquoted her, and she meant "wore helmets [of this quality]"?
    – Charlie Tizzard Ó Kevlahan
    yesterday






  • 3




    @CharlieTizzardÓKevlahan I suspect that is more likely (or perhaps she just mis-spoke).
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday















up vote
11
down vote

favorite












According to this article on the BBC news website only Anglo-Saxon kings wore helmets. Here is the full quote:




"Only Anglo-Saxon kings wore helmets and this is one of a very small number ever to be found."




The BBC attribute the quote to a Dr Ellen McAdam from the Birmingham trust.



Do we have any understanding of the cultural reasons that led to a universal abandonment of head protection?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Racheet is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 5




    Is it possible they misquoted her, and she meant "wore helmets [of this quality]"?
    – Charlie Tizzard Ó Kevlahan
    yesterday






  • 3




    @CharlieTizzardÓKevlahan I suspect that is more likely (or perhaps she just mis-spoke).
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday













up vote
11
down vote

favorite









up vote
11
down vote

favorite











According to this article on the BBC news website only Anglo-Saxon kings wore helmets. Here is the full quote:




"Only Anglo-Saxon kings wore helmets and this is one of a very small number ever to be found."




The BBC attribute the quote to a Dr Ellen McAdam from the Birmingham trust.



Do we have any understanding of the cultural reasons that led to a universal abandonment of head protection?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Racheet is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











According to this article on the BBC news website only Anglo-Saxon kings wore helmets. Here is the full quote:




"Only Anglo-Saxon kings wore helmets and this is one of a very small number ever to be found."




The BBC attribute the quote to a Dr Ellen McAdam from the Birmingham trust.



Do we have any understanding of the cultural reasons that led to a universal abandonment of head protection?







military england armour anglo-saxons






share|improve this question









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Racheet is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question









New contributor




Racheet is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited yesterday





















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asked yesterday









Racheet

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1566




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Racheet is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Racheet is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Racheet is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 5




    Is it possible they misquoted her, and she meant "wore helmets [of this quality]"?
    – Charlie Tizzard Ó Kevlahan
    yesterday






  • 3




    @CharlieTizzardÓKevlahan I suspect that is more likely (or perhaps she just mis-spoke).
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday














  • 5




    Is it possible they misquoted her, and she meant "wore helmets [of this quality]"?
    – Charlie Tizzard Ó Kevlahan
    yesterday






  • 3




    @CharlieTizzardÓKevlahan I suspect that is more likely (or perhaps she just mis-spoke).
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday








5




5




Is it possible they misquoted her, and she meant "wore helmets [of this quality]"?
– Charlie Tizzard Ó Kevlahan
yesterday




Is it possible they misquoted her, and she meant "wore helmets [of this quality]"?
– Charlie Tizzard Ó Kevlahan
yesterday




3




3




@CharlieTizzardÓKevlahan I suspect that is more likely (or perhaps she just mis-spoke).
– sempaiscuba
yesterday




@CharlieTizzardÓKevlahan I suspect that is more likely (or perhaps she just mis-spoke).
– sempaiscuba
yesterday










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
15
down vote













With all due respect to Dr McAdam, I don't think that is correct.



To give just one example, we have depictions of Anglo Saxon cavalry wearing helmets on Pictish stones like the one in the churchyard at Aberlemno Parish Church:



Pictish stone




  • Image source Wikimedia


This particular stone is often referred to as Aberlemno II, and the battle scene depicted is generally accepted to be that of the Battle of Nechtansmere in 685. It seems unlikely that all Anglo Saxon cavalry were kings!





The helmets in that depiction bear a striking similarity to the helmet found at Coppergate in York in 1982:



Coppergate Helmet




  • image source Wikimedia


This helmet is of a type known as "crested helmets", which as Wikipedia notes:




... flourished in England and Scandinavia from the sixth through to the eleventh centuries.




The Coppergate helmet is now on display in the collection of the Yorkshire Museum.





The Staffordshire Helmet is of the same type as the Coppergate Helmet, but is much more richly decorated. I suspect that Dr McAdam may have mis-spoken (or, perhaps more likely, been misquoted in the article), and that she perhaps meant that only Anglo-Saxon kings would have worn such richly decorated helmets as the ones found in the Staffordshire hoard, and at Sutton Hoo.





EDIT



People may also find the Twitter broadcast discussing the Staffordshire Helmet by Dr Janina Ramirez on 23 November 2018 from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery of interest. (She does not repeat the claim).






share|improve this answer























  • One other possible reading (which is how I first read it) was that amongst kings only anglo saxon ones wore helmets. I have no idea if this is any more true but I was briefly confused when you started talking about cavalry as I thought "Why is that relevant? They aren't kings..."
    – Chris
    yesterday






  • 3




    That is an alternate reading, but that doesn't work either. We have representations of Frankish and Norse kings wearing helmets.
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday










  • I thought that might be the case but figured it was worth raising. Thanks for the response. :)
    – Chris
    16 hours ago


















up vote
7
down vote













This is not true, certainly for the later period and probably for the earlier period too.



Covering the early period (and bearing in mind that it is heroic fiction), we have references in Beowulf to the 'grimhelmas' worn by the warriors of Beowulf's company on arrival at Heorot (line 334)
and before the fight with Grendel (line 1245); none of whom were kings. While this isn't really strong evidence that helmets were worn regularly by warriors, it is a strong indication that there was no cultural reason stopping them from doing so.



Later, in the 11th century, we have good written evidence of helmet wearing in an edict from 1008 that requires every eight hides of land to provide a helmet and mail coat, written account of a gift from Earl Godwine to Harthacanute of a ship manned by eighty warriors 'of whom each one had on each arm a golden arm-ring weighing sixteen ounces, a triple corselet, on the head a helmet in part overlaid with gold;', and of course the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the majority of the Anglo-Saxon warriors wearing helmets.



Reasons for thinking only kings wore helmets



While there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that only kings wore helmets in this period, what we do have is a paucity of evidence of helmet wearing, and of the six relatively complete Anglo-Saxon helmets we do have, two are almost certainly of kingly origin (the Staffordshire hoard helm and the Sutton Hoo helm), and the others are from high-status graves (of note is the fact that the Coppergate helm is inscribed with the name 'Oshere', which is almost certainly not the name of a king).



It's probably true that in the earlier Anglo-Saxon period few people apart from kings could afford helmets, this doesn't imply that helmet wearing was ever restricted solely to kings.






share|improve this answer





















  • I've been struggling to find a translation of that edict (I think it's Aethelred's 1008 Enham edict), so I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of one.
    – walrus
    yesterday






  • 1




    Not a translation, but I think this is the original manuscript
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday






  • 2




    Re "...few people apart from kings could afford helmets...", perhaps it would be better to say that few apart from kings could afford gold-ornamented helmets, which would make them valuable enough to bury as treasure or grave goods, for later finding. The plain helmets of low-ranking soldiers perhaps were used until they wore out, then were tossed into the scrap pile.
    – jamesqf
    yesterday










  • @jamesqf that's an interpretation I agree with, but it isn't really evidence one way or another, just a different way of looking at the evidence and in this answer I was looking to disprove Dr McAdam's hypothesis rather than put forward an alternative.
    – walrus
    17 hours ago











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2 Answers
2






active

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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

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active

oldest

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active

oldest

votes








up vote
15
down vote













With all due respect to Dr McAdam, I don't think that is correct.



To give just one example, we have depictions of Anglo Saxon cavalry wearing helmets on Pictish stones like the one in the churchyard at Aberlemno Parish Church:



Pictish stone




  • Image source Wikimedia


This particular stone is often referred to as Aberlemno II, and the battle scene depicted is generally accepted to be that of the Battle of Nechtansmere in 685. It seems unlikely that all Anglo Saxon cavalry were kings!





The helmets in that depiction bear a striking similarity to the helmet found at Coppergate in York in 1982:



Coppergate Helmet




  • image source Wikimedia


This helmet is of a type known as "crested helmets", which as Wikipedia notes:




... flourished in England and Scandinavia from the sixth through to the eleventh centuries.




The Coppergate helmet is now on display in the collection of the Yorkshire Museum.





The Staffordshire Helmet is of the same type as the Coppergate Helmet, but is much more richly decorated. I suspect that Dr McAdam may have mis-spoken (or, perhaps more likely, been misquoted in the article), and that she perhaps meant that only Anglo-Saxon kings would have worn such richly decorated helmets as the ones found in the Staffordshire hoard, and at Sutton Hoo.





EDIT



People may also find the Twitter broadcast discussing the Staffordshire Helmet by Dr Janina Ramirez on 23 November 2018 from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery of interest. (She does not repeat the claim).






share|improve this answer























  • One other possible reading (which is how I first read it) was that amongst kings only anglo saxon ones wore helmets. I have no idea if this is any more true but I was briefly confused when you started talking about cavalry as I thought "Why is that relevant? They aren't kings..."
    – Chris
    yesterday






  • 3




    That is an alternate reading, but that doesn't work either. We have representations of Frankish and Norse kings wearing helmets.
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday










  • I thought that might be the case but figured it was worth raising. Thanks for the response. :)
    – Chris
    16 hours ago















up vote
15
down vote













With all due respect to Dr McAdam, I don't think that is correct.



To give just one example, we have depictions of Anglo Saxon cavalry wearing helmets on Pictish stones like the one in the churchyard at Aberlemno Parish Church:



Pictish stone




  • Image source Wikimedia


This particular stone is often referred to as Aberlemno II, and the battle scene depicted is generally accepted to be that of the Battle of Nechtansmere in 685. It seems unlikely that all Anglo Saxon cavalry were kings!





The helmets in that depiction bear a striking similarity to the helmet found at Coppergate in York in 1982:



Coppergate Helmet




  • image source Wikimedia


This helmet is of a type known as "crested helmets", which as Wikipedia notes:




... flourished in England and Scandinavia from the sixth through to the eleventh centuries.




The Coppergate helmet is now on display in the collection of the Yorkshire Museum.





The Staffordshire Helmet is of the same type as the Coppergate Helmet, but is much more richly decorated. I suspect that Dr McAdam may have mis-spoken (or, perhaps more likely, been misquoted in the article), and that she perhaps meant that only Anglo-Saxon kings would have worn such richly decorated helmets as the ones found in the Staffordshire hoard, and at Sutton Hoo.





EDIT



People may also find the Twitter broadcast discussing the Staffordshire Helmet by Dr Janina Ramirez on 23 November 2018 from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery of interest. (She does not repeat the claim).






share|improve this answer























  • One other possible reading (which is how I first read it) was that amongst kings only anglo saxon ones wore helmets. I have no idea if this is any more true but I was briefly confused when you started talking about cavalry as I thought "Why is that relevant? They aren't kings..."
    – Chris
    yesterday






  • 3




    That is an alternate reading, but that doesn't work either. We have representations of Frankish and Norse kings wearing helmets.
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday










  • I thought that might be the case but figured it was worth raising. Thanks for the response. :)
    – Chris
    16 hours ago













up vote
15
down vote










up vote
15
down vote









With all due respect to Dr McAdam, I don't think that is correct.



To give just one example, we have depictions of Anglo Saxon cavalry wearing helmets on Pictish stones like the one in the churchyard at Aberlemno Parish Church:



Pictish stone




  • Image source Wikimedia


This particular stone is often referred to as Aberlemno II, and the battle scene depicted is generally accepted to be that of the Battle of Nechtansmere in 685. It seems unlikely that all Anglo Saxon cavalry were kings!





The helmets in that depiction bear a striking similarity to the helmet found at Coppergate in York in 1982:



Coppergate Helmet




  • image source Wikimedia


This helmet is of a type known as "crested helmets", which as Wikipedia notes:




... flourished in England and Scandinavia from the sixth through to the eleventh centuries.




The Coppergate helmet is now on display in the collection of the Yorkshire Museum.





The Staffordshire Helmet is of the same type as the Coppergate Helmet, but is much more richly decorated. I suspect that Dr McAdam may have mis-spoken (or, perhaps more likely, been misquoted in the article), and that she perhaps meant that only Anglo-Saxon kings would have worn such richly decorated helmets as the ones found in the Staffordshire hoard, and at Sutton Hoo.





EDIT



People may also find the Twitter broadcast discussing the Staffordshire Helmet by Dr Janina Ramirez on 23 November 2018 from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery of interest. (She does not repeat the claim).






share|improve this answer














With all due respect to Dr McAdam, I don't think that is correct.



To give just one example, we have depictions of Anglo Saxon cavalry wearing helmets on Pictish stones like the one in the churchyard at Aberlemno Parish Church:



Pictish stone




  • Image source Wikimedia


This particular stone is often referred to as Aberlemno II, and the battle scene depicted is generally accepted to be that of the Battle of Nechtansmere in 685. It seems unlikely that all Anglo Saxon cavalry were kings!





The helmets in that depiction bear a striking similarity to the helmet found at Coppergate in York in 1982:



Coppergate Helmet




  • image source Wikimedia


This helmet is of a type known as "crested helmets", which as Wikipedia notes:




... flourished in England and Scandinavia from the sixth through to the eleventh centuries.




The Coppergate helmet is now on display in the collection of the Yorkshire Museum.





The Staffordshire Helmet is of the same type as the Coppergate Helmet, but is much more richly decorated. I suspect that Dr McAdam may have mis-spoken (or, perhaps more likely, been misquoted in the article), and that she perhaps meant that only Anglo-Saxon kings would have worn such richly decorated helmets as the ones found in the Staffordshire hoard, and at Sutton Hoo.





EDIT



People may also find the Twitter broadcast discussing the Staffordshire Helmet by Dr Janina Ramirez on 23 November 2018 from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery of interest. (She does not repeat the claim).







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 9 hours ago

























answered yesterday









sempaiscuba

45.4k5157202




45.4k5157202












  • One other possible reading (which is how I first read it) was that amongst kings only anglo saxon ones wore helmets. I have no idea if this is any more true but I was briefly confused when you started talking about cavalry as I thought "Why is that relevant? They aren't kings..."
    – Chris
    yesterday






  • 3




    That is an alternate reading, but that doesn't work either. We have representations of Frankish and Norse kings wearing helmets.
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday










  • I thought that might be the case but figured it was worth raising. Thanks for the response. :)
    – Chris
    16 hours ago


















  • One other possible reading (which is how I first read it) was that amongst kings only anglo saxon ones wore helmets. I have no idea if this is any more true but I was briefly confused when you started talking about cavalry as I thought "Why is that relevant? They aren't kings..."
    – Chris
    yesterday






  • 3




    That is an alternate reading, but that doesn't work either. We have representations of Frankish and Norse kings wearing helmets.
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday










  • I thought that might be the case but figured it was worth raising. Thanks for the response. :)
    – Chris
    16 hours ago
















One other possible reading (which is how I first read it) was that amongst kings only anglo saxon ones wore helmets. I have no idea if this is any more true but I was briefly confused when you started talking about cavalry as I thought "Why is that relevant? They aren't kings..."
– Chris
yesterday




One other possible reading (which is how I first read it) was that amongst kings only anglo saxon ones wore helmets. I have no idea if this is any more true but I was briefly confused when you started talking about cavalry as I thought "Why is that relevant? They aren't kings..."
– Chris
yesterday




3




3




That is an alternate reading, but that doesn't work either. We have representations of Frankish and Norse kings wearing helmets.
– sempaiscuba
yesterday




That is an alternate reading, but that doesn't work either. We have representations of Frankish and Norse kings wearing helmets.
– sempaiscuba
yesterday












I thought that might be the case but figured it was worth raising. Thanks for the response. :)
– Chris
16 hours ago




I thought that might be the case but figured it was worth raising. Thanks for the response. :)
– Chris
16 hours ago










up vote
7
down vote













This is not true, certainly for the later period and probably for the earlier period too.



Covering the early period (and bearing in mind that it is heroic fiction), we have references in Beowulf to the 'grimhelmas' worn by the warriors of Beowulf's company on arrival at Heorot (line 334)
and before the fight with Grendel (line 1245); none of whom were kings. While this isn't really strong evidence that helmets were worn regularly by warriors, it is a strong indication that there was no cultural reason stopping them from doing so.



Later, in the 11th century, we have good written evidence of helmet wearing in an edict from 1008 that requires every eight hides of land to provide a helmet and mail coat, written account of a gift from Earl Godwine to Harthacanute of a ship manned by eighty warriors 'of whom each one had on each arm a golden arm-ring weighing sixteen ounces, a triple corselet, on the head a helmet in part overlaid with gold;', and of course the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the majority of the Anglo-Saxon warriors wearing helmets.



Reasons for thinking only kings wore helmets



While there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that only kings wore helmets in this period, what we do have is a paucity of evidence of helmet wearing, and of the six relatively complete Anglo-Saxon helmets we do have, two are almost certainly of kingly origin (the Staffordshire hoard helm and the Sutton Hoo helm), and the others are from high-status graves (of note is the fact that the Coppergate helm is inscribed with the name 'Oshere', which is almost certainly not the name of a king).



It's probably true that in the earlier Anglo-Saxon period few people apart from kings could afford helmets, this doesn't imply that helmet wearing was ever restricted solely to kings.






share|improve this answer





















  • I've been struggling to find a translation of that edict (I think it's Aethelred's 1008 Enham edict), so I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of one.
    – walrus
    yesterday






  • 1




    Not a translation, but I think this is the original manuscript
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday






  • 2




    Re "...few people apart from kings could afford helmets...", perhaps it would be better to say that few apart from kings could afford gold-ornamented helmets, which would make them valuable enough to bury as treasure or grave goods, for later finding. The plain helmets of low-ranking soldiers perhaps were used until they wore out, then were tossed into the scrap pile.
    – jamesqf
    yesterday










  • @jamesqf that's an interpretation I agree with, but it isn't really evidence one way or another, just a different way of looking at the evidence and in this answer I was looking to disprove Dr McAdam's hypothesis rather than put forward an alternative.
    – walrus
    17 hours ago















up vote
7
down vote













This is not true, certainly for the later period and probably for the earlier period too.



Covering the early period (and bearing in mind that it is heroic fiction), we have references in Beowulf to the 'grimhelmas' worn by the warriors of Beowulf's company on arrival at Heorot (line 334)
and before the fight with Grendel (line 1245); none of whom were kings. While this isn't really strong evidence that helmets were worn regularly by warriors, it is a strong indication that there was no cultural reason stopping them from doing so.



Later, in the 11th century, we have good written evidence of helmet wearing in an edict from 1008 that requires every eight hides of land to provide a helmet and mail coat, written account of a gift from Earl Godwine to Harthacanute of a ship manned by eighty warriors 'of whom each one had on each arm a golden arm-ring weighing sixteen ounces, a triple corselet, on the head a helmet in part overlaid with gold;', and of course the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the majority of the Anglo-Saxon warriors wearing helmets.



Reasons for thinking only kings wore helmets



While there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that only kings wore helmets in this period, what we do have is a paucity of evidence of helmet wearing, and of the six relatively complete Anglo-Saxon helmets we do have, two are almost certainly of kingly origin (the Staffordshire hoard helm and the Sutton Hoo helm), and the others are from high-status graves (of note is the fact that the Coppergate helm is inscribed with the name 'Oshere', which is almost certainly not the name of a king).



It's probably true that in the earlier Anglo-Saxon period few people apart from kings could afford helmets, this doesn't imply that helmet wearing was ever restricted solely to kings.






share|improve this answer





















  • I've been struggling to find a translation of that edict (I think it's Aethelred's 1008 Enham edict), so I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of one.
    – walrus
    yesterday






  • 1




    Not a translation, but I think this is the original manuscript
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday






  • 2




    Re "...few people apart from kings could afford helmets...", perhaps it would be better to say that few apart from kings could afford gold-ornamented helmets, which would make them valuable enough to bury as treasure or grave goods, for later finding. The plain helmets of low-ranking soldiers perhaps were used until they wore out, then were tossed into the scrap pile.
    – jamesqf
    yesterday










  • @jamesqf that's an interpretation I agree with, but it isn't really evidence one way or another, just a different way of looking at the evidence and in this answer I was looking to disprove Dr McAdam's hypothesis rather than put forward an alternative.
    – walrus
    17 hours ago













up vote
7
down vote










up vote
7
down vote









This is not true, certainly for the later period and probably for the earlier period too.



Covering the early period (and bearing in mind that it is heroic fiction), we have references in Beowulf to the 'grimhelmas' worn by the warriors of Beowulf's company on arrival at Heorot (line 334)
and before the fight with Grendel (line 1245); none of whom were kings. While this isn't really strong evidence that helmets were worn regularly by warriors, it is a strong indication that there was no cultural reason stopping them from doing so.



Later, in the 11th century, we have good written evidence of helmet wearing in an edict from 1008 that requires every eight hides of land to provide a helmet and mail coat, written account of a gift from Earl Godwine to Harthacanute of a ship manned by eighty warriors 'of whom each one had on each arm a golden arm-ring weighing sixteen ounces, a triple corselet, on the head a helmet in part overlaid with gold;', and of course the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the majority of the Anglo-Saxon warriors wearing helmets.



Reasons for thinking only kings wore helmets



While there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that only kings wore helmets in this period, what we do have is a paucity of evidence of helmet wearing, and of the six relatively complete Anglo-Saxon helmets we do have, two are almost certainly of kingly origin (the Staffordshire hoard helm and the Sutton Hoo helm), and the others are from high-status graves (of note is the fact that the Coppergate helm is inscribed with the name 'Oshere', which is almost certainly not the name of a king).



It's probably true that in the earlier Anglo-Saxon period few people apart from kings could afford helmets, this doesn't imply that helmet wearing was ever restricted solely to kings.






share|improve this answer












This is not true, certainly for the later period and probably for the earlier period too.



Covering the early period (and bearing in mind that it is heroic fiction), we have references in Beowulf to the 'grimhelmas' worn by the warriors of Beowulf's company on arrival at Heorot (line 334)
and before the fight with Grendel (line 1245); none of whom were kings. While this isn't really strong evidence that helmets were worn regularly by warriors, it is a strong indication that there was no cultural reason stopping them from doing so.



Later, in the 11th century, we have good written evidence of helmet wearing in an edict from 1008 that requires every eight hides of land to provide a helmet and mail coat, written account of a gift from Earl Godwine to Harthacanute of a ship manned by eighty warriors 'of whom each one had on each arm a golden arm-ring weighing sixteen ounces, a triple corselet, on the head a helmet in part overlaid with gold;', and of course the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the majority of the Anglo-Saxon warriors wearing helmets.



Reasons for thinking only kings wore helmets



While there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that only kings wore helmets in this period, what we do have is a paucity of evidence of helmet wearing, and of the six relatively complete Anglo-Saxon helmets we do have, two are almost certainly of kingly origin (the Staffordshire hoard helm and the Sutton Hoo helm), and the others are from high-status graves (of note is the fact that the Coppergate helm is inscribed with the name 'Oshere', which is almost certainly not the name of a king).



It's probably true that in the earlier Anglo-Saxon period few people apart from kings could afford helmets, this doesn't imply that helmet wearing was ever restricted solely to kings.







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answered yesterday









walrus

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  • I've been struggling to find a translation of that edict (I think it's Aethelred's 1008 Enham edict), so I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of one.
    – walrus
    yesterday






  • 1




    Not a translation, but I think this is the original manuscript
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday






  • 2




    Re "...few people apart from kings could afford helmets...", perhaps it would be better to say that few apart from kings could afford gold-ornamented helmets, which would make them valuable enough to bury as treasure or grave goods, for later finding. The plain helmets of low-ranking soldiers perhaps were used until they wore out, then were tossed into the scrap pile.
    – jamesqf
    yesterday










  • @jamesqf that's an interpretation I agree with, but it isn't really evidence one way or another, just a different way of looking at the evidence and in this answer I was looking to disprove Dr McAdam's hypothesis rather than put forward an alternative.
    – walrus
    17 hours ago


















  • I've been struggling to find a translation of that edict (I think it's Aethelred's 1008 Enham edict), so I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of one.
    – walrus
    yesterday






  • 1




    Not a translation, but I think this is the original manuscript
    – sempaiscuba
    yesterday






  • 2




    Re "...few people apart from kings could afford helmets...", perhaps it would be better to say that few apart from kings could afford gold-ornamented helmets, which would make them valuable enough to bury as treasure or grave goods, for later finding. The plain helmets of low-ranking soldiers perhaps were used until they wore out, then were tossed into the scrap pile.
    – jamesqf
    yesterday










  • @jamesqf that's an interpretation I agree with, but it isn't really evidence one way or another, just a different way of looking at the evidence and in this answer I was looking to disprove Dr McAdam's hypothesis rather than put forward an alternative.
    – walrus
    17 hours ago
















I've been struggling to find a translation of that edict (I think it's Aethelred's 1008 Enham edict), so I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of one.
– walrus
yesterday




I've been struggling to find a translation of that edict (I think it's Aethelred's 1008 Enham edict), so I'd be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of one.
– walrus
yesterday




1




1




Not a translation, but I think this is the original manuscript
– sempaiscuba
yesterday




Not a translation, but I think this is the original manuscript
– sempaiscuba
yesterday




2




2




Re "...few people apart from kings could afford helmets...", perhaps it would be better to say that few apart from kings could afford gold-ornamented helmets, which would make them valuable enough to bury as treasure or grave goods, for later finding. The plain helmets of low-ranking soldiers perhaps were used until they wore out, then were tossed into the scrap pile.
– jamesqf
yesterday




Re "...few people apart from kings could afford helmets...", perhaps it would be better to say that few apart from kings could afford gold-ornamented helmets, which would make them valuable enough to bury as treasure or grave goods, for later finding. The plain helmets of low-ranking soldiers perhaps were used until they wore out, then were tossed into the scrap pile.
– jamesqf
yesterday












@jamesqf that's an interpretation I agree with, but it isn't really evidence one way or another, just a different way of looking at the evidence and in this answer I was looking to disprove Dr McAdam's hypothesis rather than put forward an alternative.
– walrus
17 hours ago




@jamesqf that's an interpretation I agree with, but it isn't really evidence one way or another, just a different way of looking at the evidence and in this answer I was looking to disprove Dr McAdam's hypothesis rather than put forward an alternative.
– walrus
17 hours ago










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