# Describing a helmet



## Abbas-Al-Morim (Sep 28, 2013)

In a short story I'm writing I have this culture which is a mix of Viking and Celt. They plunder and raid and use longships. Their language is half Norse, half Germanic with a tiny smidgeon of Celtic (I only use the language for names). 

Their culture is more Celtic though. But it comes to armor, they do not wear chainmail (it makes to much noise). Instead they prefer padded armor, studded leather and (for heavy infantry) scale armor. When it comes to helmets, they do wear Celtic helmets. One of the helmets I want to use is this one. The problem is, I don't now how to describe it. If I say "horned helmets" then people will think they're stereotypical fantasy vikings (*an image I really want to avoid and there are already so many parallels*). They'll think of these. Which are not only historically incorrect (never existed), they are silly. I want to describe my helmet in a way that avoids this clichÃ©. 

Does anyone have any ideas or tips?


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## Edankyn (Sep 28, 2013)

Looking at the first helmet picture I don't really see a practical value to the horns. It looks like they would just make it harder to walk around any time there is something overhead. If you don't have a pressing reason for the obscure helmet you might just want to make it a normal one, but that's just my opinion. To answer your question, one easy solution would be to include a picture or two. I enjoy when authors have some sporadic pictures  to help me get a better understanding of what they were going for. That is as long as that's not a fall back routine that makes me feel like I'm reading a picture book.


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## Abbas-Al-Morim (Sep 28, 2013)

They wouldn't be too practical, that's right, but I don't think they are completely useless. The horns are - like any decoration - a symbol of status. Not only that, but they have a psychological value. The Jores (the name of these people) do not often engage in field battles. They are used to swifter and more local forms of warfare. Skirmishes, ambushes, raids and psychological warfare play are their favorite methods. Horned helmets make you look taller and combined with war paint they also make you look otherworldly, like a demon.


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## Svrtnsse (Sep 28, 2013)

_"A helmet with two straight conical horns protruding at an angle from a position just above the ear of the wearer." _It leaves a bit of room for reader interpretation, but that's probably fine, everyone will have their own image of them anyway.
The main part is the bit about the horns being straight and conical. The traditional viking helmet is usually imagined to have curved horns, so by removing that bit you set your helm apart from standard mythological vikings.


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## Guy (Sep 28, 2013)

Perhaps just a quick mention that the horns are made of the same material as the rest of the helmet. Maybe they could show disdain for a guy who wears a (mythological) Viking helmet  because he couldn't afford an all-metal helmet.


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## Nobby (Oct 4, 2013)

Historically, I think peoples you are talking about wore simple, more conical helms, almost Norman, basically because they were practical.


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## Devor (Oct 4, 2013)

_A helm, with two large hollow cones jutting out from the bronze, forming a V atop his head._


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## Bobby (Jan 15, 2021)

I am also having a similar problem describing Redirect Notice this helmet, any suggestions?


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## Leonardo Pisano (Jan 23, 2021)

Giving a pictorial account of the Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England culminating in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the tapestry shows the majority of Norman men-at-arms as wearing a particular type of conical helmet with a face protection in the shape of a nasal bar.
[copied from: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/afas13/hd_afas13.htm]


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## Don Coyote (Jan 31, 2021)

"The helmet had two spikes growing from its crown- perfect for guiding a sword blade to the wearer's head"


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## Gray-Hand (Feb 5, 2021)

“Perfect for _redirecting_ a sword blade to the wearer’s head”


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