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The Strong Helm

Note: The Following comments are from a web site owned by Doug Strong (owner operator of Talbot's Fine accessories.)The opinions are his, not mine. The helm wasn't "in circulation" when Tweddle wrote his book so he didnt include it. 

The helmet is a 10th century Norse helmet nearly identical to one preserved in the Museum of the City of Kiev. (See more pics of it here.)

Purchased from a dealer in military uniforms who had no information whatsoever on the piece. He purchased it several years ago from an estate in Sweden. I subsequently found a matching helmet published by Dominic Tweedle, in his book The Anglian Helmet from Coppergate ((Published 1992 for the York Archaeological Trust by the Council for British Archaeology.). The sum total of what he said was:

"There is one helmet... (unpublished, Museum of the City of Kiev) of this general type from Kiev Ukraine, for which a Viking Origin can be suggested”, "A complete 10th century helmet from Kiev, with a rounded cap of the crested type, may also be of Scandinavian origin; it does not resemble other helmets in use in the region in that period."

This is the most complete surviving helmet from the Viking period.There are several substantially complete pre-Viking helmets from the Graves at Vendel, Valsgarde and Ultuna but as to truly Viking period this one is the best. The Kiev example has one section separated from the rest and is held together with several restoration washers. The Gjermundbu helmet is highly fragmentary being only slightly more than one quarter of a complete helmet. While the provenance is fairly weak, I am certain that the helmet would easily withstand the scrutiny of any scientific tests to which it was subjected.

Important UPDATES!

07/10/2002

ITS OFFICIAL!!

The Strong and Kiev helms aren't actually period helms at all, the owner of the "Strong" helmet, Doug Strong, recently posted this to a forum calle the Armor Archive:

"Well it is official. The Strong helmet in my colleciton and the Kiev helmet published in Dominic Tweedle's book "The Anglian Helmet from Coppergate" as a 10th century Viking Helmet is actually the metal liner from the SSK90. This helmet was made at the end of WWII by the German Luftwaffe for their early Jet pilots. (i.e. the Messershmidt ME262) I have seen pictures and it absolutely the same helmet. I will post similar info on my helmet page.

Needless to say I am a bit disappointed but It is more important for accurate information to be out there about early helmets than it is for me to actually own one. It was really cool to own what we believed was one though"

0628/2002

The authenticity of both the Kiev helm and the "Strong" helm is now in question!

There is a probability of 98% it is 1000 years younger and may just be a incorrectly attributed lining of Luftwaffe helmet. There was also a third helmet of the type on sale in early 2000 in St.Petersburg, perfectly preserved - including maker's stamp on the lower crown plate (the place covered by museum stiker on Kiev specimen and not properly cleared on the "Strong" helmet. This is all speculation at this point but something i thought necessary to point out to those researching the two helms.