Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

Nordic Iron Age Iron Age Scandinavia (or Nordic Iron Age) was the Iron Age, as it unfolded in Scandinavia. Beginnings The 6th and 5th centuries BC were a tipping point for exports and imports on the European continent. The ever-increasing conflicts and wars ...

Lejre Lejre is a railway town, with a population of 3,127 (1 January 2022),gilded, and consists of a stylised eyebrow with eyelashes above an oval opening. There are three holes at the top and bottom of the fragment to affix the eyepiece to a helmet. The fragment is significant as rare evidence of contemporaneous helmets, and also for its discovery in Gevninge, an outpost that is possibly connected to the Anglo-Saxon epic '' Beowulf''. It has been in the collection of the Lejre Museum since its discovery, and has been exhibited internationally as part of a travelling exhibition on

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

. The fragment is an ornate piece, but nothing else remains of the helmet; it might be the single remnant of a disintegrated helmet, or it might have been lost or discarded. It is one of two

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n eyepieces discovered alone, giving rise to the suggestion that it was intentionally deposited in an invocation of the one-eyed god Odin. It would have been part of a decorated "crested helmet", the type of headgear that was common to England and Scandinavia from the sixth through eleventh centuries AD. These are particularly known from the examples found at

Vendel Vendel is a village at Tierp Municipality in Uppland, Sweden. The village overlooks Vendelsjön, a long inland stretch of water near the Vendel river which has its confluence with the river Fyris. Vendel was the site of an ancient royal estate, ...

,

Valsgärde Valsgärde or Vallsgärde is a farm on the Fyris river, about three kilometres north of Gamla Uppsala, the ancient centre of the Swedish kings and of the pagan faith in Sweden. The present farm dates from the 16th century. The farm's notabilit ...

, and Sutton Hoo; the

Tjele helmet fragment The Tjele helmet fragment is a Viking Age fragment of iron and bronze, originally comprising the eyebrows and noseguard of a helmet. It was discovered in 1850 with a large assortment of smith's tools in Denmark, and though the find was sent to t ...

is the only other Danish example known. Gevninge is upriver from Lejre, a one-time centre of power believed to be the setting for

Heorot Heorot (Old English 'hart, stag') is a mead-hall and major point of focus in the Anglo-Saxon poem ''Beowulf''. The hall serves as a seat of rule for King Hrothgar, a legendary Danish king. After the monster Grendel slaughters the inhabitants of ...

, the fabled mead hall to which the poetical hero Beowulf journeys in search of the monster Grendel. The settlement's location suggests that it functioned as an outpost through which anyone would have to pass when sailing to the capital, and in which trusted and loyal guardians would serve. This mirrors Beowulf's experience on his way to Heorot, for upon disembarking he is met with a mounted lookout whose job it is "to watch the waves for raiders, and danger to the Danish shore." Upon answering his challenge, Beowulf is escorted down the road to Heorot, much as an Iron Age visitor to Lejre might have been led along the road from Gevninge. The Gevninge helmet fragment, a military piece from a riverside outpost, therefore sheds light on the relationship between historical fact and legend.

Description

The Gevninge eyepiece is wide and tall, moulded from bronze and gilded. An oval eye opening is overlain by a sculpted eyebrow with grooves representing individual hairs; grooves around the perimeter of the oval might represent eyelashes. The top and bottom of the fragment each have three holes, presumably used to attach it to the helmet where it would have formed the dexter eyepiece. The top three holes might have attached it to the helmet cap, the bottom three to some form of face protection such as a face mask or

camail An aventail () or camail () is a flexible curtain of mail attached to the skull of a helmet that extends to cover the throat, neck and shoulders. Part or all of the face, with spaces to allow vision, could also be covered. The earliest camail ...

.

Typology

The Gevninge helmet fragment was discovered by itself, with no other nearby artefacts to give it context. The settlement at Gevninge dates to between 500 and 1000, while helmets with similar decorative characteristics suggest dating the eyepiece to the sixth or seventh century, perhaps from 550 to 700; another helmet eyebrow discovered in

Uppåkra Uppåkra is a village and parish in Staffanstorp Municipality, in Scania, southern Sweden, located five kilometres south of Lund. The village is known for its Iron Age archaeological site, which has been actively excavated since 1996. History Up ...

, Sweden, has the same suggested date. The Gevninge fragment fits into the corpus of Anglo-Saxon and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n "crested helmets", each characterized by a rounded cap and usually a prominent nose-to-nape crest. The

Tjele helmet fragment The Tjele helmet fragment is a Viking Age fragment of iron and bronze, originally comprising the eyebrows and noseguard of a helmet. It was discovered in 1850 with a large assortment of smith's tools in Denmark, and though the find was sent to t ...

is the only such helmet found in Denmark, while the richly ornamented helmets found at Sutton Hoo,

Vendel Vendel is a village at Tierp Municipality in Uppland, Sweden. The village overlooks Vendelsjön, a long inland stretch of water near the Vendel river which has its confluence with the river Fyris. Vendel was the site of an ancient royal estate, ...

, and

Valsgärde Valsgärde or Vallsgärde is a farm on the Fyris river, about three kilometres north of Gamla Uppsala, the ancient centre of the Swedish kings and of the pagan faith in Sweden. The present farm dates from the 16th century. The farm's notabilit ...

may provide the closest approximation to what the Gevninge helmet would have looked like when whole.

Function

Helmets like that which the Gevninge fragment once adorned served both as utilitarian equipment and as displays of status. Examples from Northern Europe during the Nordic Iron Age and Viking Age are rare. This may partly suggest a failure to survive a millennium underground or perhaps a failure to be recognised after excavation: the plainer Anglo-Saxon and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

helmets from

Shorwell Shorwell (pronounced Shorrel by some locals and Islanders) is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It is from Newport in the southwest of the island. Shorwell was one of Queen Victoria's favourite places to visit o ...

and

Burgh Castle Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the east bank of the River Waveney, some west of Great Yarmouth and within the Norfolk Broads National Park. The parish was part of Suffolk until ...

were initially misidentified as pots. The extreme scarcity nevertheless suggests that they were never deposited in great numbers, and that they signified the importance of those wearing them. In the Anglo-Saxon poem '' Beowulf'', a story about kings and nobles that partly takes place in Denmark, helmets are mentioned often, and in ways that indicate their significance. The dying words of Beowulf, whose own pyre is stacked with helmets, are used to bestow a gold collar, byrnie, and gilded helmet to his follower

Wiglaf Wiglaf (Proto-Norse: *'' Wīga laibaz'', meaning "battle remainder"; ang, Wīġlāf ) is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ''Beowulf''. He is the son of Weohstan, a Swede of the Wægmunding clan who had entered the service of Beowulf, kin ...

. If protection was all that was asked of a helmet, a simple iron cap would suffice. Yet a soldier guarding Gevninge, a riverside outpost on the way to the major city of

Lejre Lejre is a railway town, with a population of 3,127 (1 January 2022),excavation in Gevninge, a

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

settlement and modern-day village in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

to the west of

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

. The excavation was in response to the planned construction of houses on an undeveloped hectare of land in the middle of the village, but it unexpectedly revealed a farmstead with several buildings. The eyepiece may have been made at nearby Lejre, the seat of the

Scylding Old English Scylding (plural Scyldingas) and Old Norse Skjǫldung (plural Skjǫldungar), meaning in both languages "children of Scyld/Skjǫldr" are the members of a legendary royal family of Danes, especially kings. The name is explained in many ...

kings during the Iron and Viking ages. It was discovered in the topsoil and might have been lost or discarded, or the entire helmet might have become buried and then been destroyed by ploughing. It might also have been deliberately buried, as was the helmet eyebrow from Uppåkra. If buried alone, it might have been an allusion to the one-eyed god Odin who sacrificed an eye in exchange for wisdom and intelligence in Norse mythology.

Exhibition

The Lejre Museum now displays the Gevninge fragment alongside other seventh-century grave finds from the area. The fragment was exhibited in Denmark and internationally from 2013 to 2015 as part of a major exhibition on the Vikings, starting at the

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

. It then travelled to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

for ''Vikings: Life and Legend'', then to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

's

Martin-Gropius-Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition building in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstra� ...

for ''Die Wikinger''.

Context and ''Beowulf''

The discovery of the fragment in Gevninge is notable for its proximity to Lejre, down the river from

Roskilde Fjord Roskilde Fjord is the fjord north of Roskilde, Denmark. It is a long branch of the Isefjord. Cities The cities Frederiksværk, Frederikssund, Jægerspris, Jyllinge and Roskilde (including Himmelev), (home to the famous Roskilde Festival), all ...

. Lejre was once a centre of power, as evidenced by monumental burial mounds, large halls, the silver-filled Lejre Hoard, and

stone ship The stone ship or ship setting was an early burial custom in Scandinavia, Northern Germany, and the Baltic states. The grave or cremation burial was surrounded by slabs or stones in the shape of a boat or ship. The ships vary in size and were e ...

s. For the last hundred years Lejre has also been understood as the most likely setting for

Heorot Heorot (Old English 'hart, stag') is a mead-hall and major point of focus in the Anglo-Saxon poem ''Beowulf''. The hall serves as a seat of rule for King Hrothgar, a legendary Danish king. After the monster Grendel slaughters the inhabitants of ...

, the great

mead hall Among the early Germanic peoples, a mead hall or feasting hall was a large building with a single room intended to receive guests and serve as a center of community social life. From the fifth century to the Early Middle Ages such a building was t ...

of the Danes in the Anglo-Saxon

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

''Beowulf'', to which Beowulf travels in search of Grendel and

Grendel's mother Grendel's mother ( ang, Grendles mōdor) is one of three antagonists in the anonymous Old English poem '' Beowulf'' (c. 700-1000 AD), the other two being Grendel and the dragon. Each antagonist reflects different negative aspects of both the h ...

. In this sense, Gevninge could have been "the Port of Lejre", standing guard against anyone who sailed towards the capital. Indeed, Beowulf and his men are met by such a guard when they disembark in Denmark: Beowulf folio 137r

The watchman is a "noble warrior" () who, after listening to Beowulf's explanation of his voyage, directs his men to watch the hero's boat and offers to escort him to king Hrothgar. He then turns back stating, "I'm away to the sea, back on alert against enemy raiders" (). Whether or not Gevninge was the basis for the coastal outpost encountered in ''Beowulf'', the two filled similar roles. They would have also been subject to similar strategic considerations, being both early lines of defence against attack, and places to welcome the flow of visitors. In this way, the fragment provides a nexus between legend and historical fact.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * :*Old English quotations above use the Klaeber text, published as * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Lejre Museum press page
{{Helmets 6th-century artifacts 7th-century artifacts 2000 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Denmark Germanic archaeological artifacts Individual helmets Medieval helmets