Home>>Viking Age Helms>>The Anglian Helm Of Coppergate Helm

The Anglian Helm Of Coppergate

Owners Note: After received my copy of Dominic Tweddle's "The Anglian Helm from Coppergate," I've gained alot of information on Pre-Viking helms and a whole new insight on some issue's dealing with them. I highly recommend obtaining a copy of the book if you are interested in any of the helms listed below.  Some of the information below comes from said book.  Better pictures of the originals and their line drawings are on the way! Contact me with any questions you may have regarding any of the info below!

The helmet was found inside the remains of an ancient well just outside the Coppergate archaeological site. Due to this fact it is sometimes also called the “Jorvik” helm because although it was found on Coppergate, it was machined out in a separate watching brief and was not recovered from the main Coppergate site. Its stratigraphic position is thus less secure than the material from the principal site. (thanks for the insight Guðrum! (a Regia fellow)

It is Anglo-Saxon in origin and whether it was hidden deliberately or not is of some debate.  It has 4 major elements; an iron cap with decorative brass work and edge bindings, two hinged cheek plates that have the same brass edging, and an mail curtain made of mostly iron rings that is suspended around the back of the helm.  The frame of the cap consists of a brow band (that doesn't encircle the whole head completely), a nose-to-nape band  (that is all one piece) which helps form the shape of the nasal, 2 lateral bands that link the nose-to-nape band to the brow band, and four sub-triangular infill plates. Many different brass edge bindings and decorations are applied to the cap, most of them use a simple "U" shaped section binding but the most interesting are the bindings that are the ends of the eyebrows and near the hinges connect to the helm. These are canine in appearance. Other decorations are the plate that covers the nasal, the eyebrows over each eyehole, the crest (a cross shaped band of inscriptions that runs along the nape-to-neck band and also from the crown to the ear on either side of the helm), an individually cast animal head on the front of the aforementioned band (a duck, I believe), and decorative brass fixtures on the check plates to aid in attachment of the mail.  The crest is made of 4 pieces; a brass sheet, two edge bindings to hold the brass sheet, and the animal head terminal in the front. The inscription is done in repousse style on a thin brass sheet. The edge binding are made of brass strips that have their outer edge rolled to form a molding that keeps the brass sheet from moving.  The animal head "seems" to end in ears that match up with the edge bindings. With the way period art can be depicted as various things it is hard to tell exactly what the animal is. My current theory is that it is a duck but this is shot to hell as ducks dont have ears that resemble those of the casting.

On the brass band across the crest of the iron helmet is an inscription in Latin that identifies the owner as Oshere and includes a short prayer invoking God's protection.

The original inscription reads:

IN NOMINE : DNI : NOSTRI : IHV : SCS : SPS : DI : ET : OMNIBVS : DECEMVS : AMEN: OSHERE : XPI

and has been translated as:

“In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit (and) God; and to (or with) all we say Amen. Oshere."

The earliest possible date for the original helmet is AD 586, this data comes from the dendrochronological (the study of tree rings) data of the timbers that lined the well, ie they could have been felled no earlier than this date. but other data in the form of radiocarbon dating of twigs found next to the helmet result in a date of AD 700 plus or minus 70 years. Based on the shape of the helmet, period artistic form/decoration evidence,  a relatively narrow date of AD 750-775 has been suggested as the time frame the helmet was built. Other Evidence suggests that while the helm may have been constructed at this early date that it wasn't placed in the well until around around AD 900.

It did escape total destruction by the mechanical digger that uncovered it but it was damaged. The Top right half of the cap was damaged the most. The nose-to-nape band was driven inward, this caused the original rivets to be sheared, some deforming of the helm took place on the right side of the helm, and the right infill piece became detached causing some of the rivets to become missing. The right lateral band, which had inscriptions and edging strips, folded and fell off. The inscription was badly crushed and it broke into three pieces. Of the original edging pieces for the inscription only two of the four components survive.

As if this wasn't enough there was more damage to the helm, BUT, it has been discovered that this damage was done BEFORE the helm was deposited into the well. This damage is a sure sign of use as a functional helm. The damage is as follows, a "V" shaped dent in the front left infill plate (most likely an arrow head but possible from a spear head), a nick in the left edge of the nasal that is "V" shaped in profile (could be weapon related but it is reminiscent of nicks deliberately done to test the fineness of the metal, and to reveal the true color and hardness of the metal), displacement of the edge binding of the crest toward the front (this edging was smashed over flat, couldn't have been caused by excavator say the experts), and many of the links and rivets in the chain drape had been replaced.

Although constructed two generations before the Viking age started in Britain, it appears to have still been in use in Jorvik during Viking times. When found, one of the cheek flaps had been carefully removed along with the neck curtain and placed inside the helmet. It is certainly the finest helmet found in Britain and added much to our knowledge of the mail making and helmet construction techniques of our ancestors. It really can't be classified by Arwidsson's classification.

1. Tweddle, Dominic. The Anglian Helmet from Coppergate. Council for British Archaeology 1992