![medieval helmet medieval helmet](http://www.erakart.com/519/195.jpg)
The plates of armor the knights wore in the later Middle Ages to replace the chainmail (a suit of armor made of thousands of iron rings) was so heavy that knights could hardly move and had to be hoisted into their horses. There is a chance that there is an overlap between the ritual use of horned helmets in Germanic peoples and the rise of the Vikings. However, Vikings themselves never used such helmets in actual battle. Let’s face it, it’s very impractical, such a helmet, since the enemy can put it to good use, grab the horns and easily pull you to the ground with it. The Vikings were masters of battle, and really would not have tolerated such clumsiness in their own equipment! It can serve as a coat rack, though. Historically, there have been peoples in Europe who wore horned helmets, but it was not the Vikings who did. In a depiction of the Battle of Verona (312 AD), the Germanic Cornuti were at the forefront, and they are depicted wearing horned helmets. In the Migration Period (the period when many peoples changed locations, at the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire, around AD 500), images of warriors wearing horned helmets were found in Öland (Sweden), as well as in Kent ( United Kingdom) and East Sussex (ditto).
![medieval helmet medieval helmet](https://img1.cgtrader.com/items/2205315/b7a65f13b6/medieval-armor-parts-002-helmet-3d-model-low-poly-obj-fbx-blend-ztl-spp.jpg)
The image of a horned Viking actually appears for the first time in our history in the scenographic representation of the opera Der Ring des Nibelungen, by Richard Wagner (in 1876, about 9 centuries after the heyday of the Vikings, please note!). We are all familiar with the image, the bearded, fierce, bloodthirsty Viking with a huge ax in one hand, a round shield in the other, and a conical helmet with two horns attached to his head. Terrifying, perhaps, but quite a false image. At least, as far as the helmet is concerned (the battle ax and the round shield are part of the standard equipment of a Viking, by the way). This widespread belief is wrong. That is, it gives the wrong impression. The official life expectancy of a Medieval baby (at birth) may be 30 years, but that in no way means that most people died around the age of 30. You have to take into account that a large part of the children at that time died of childhood diseases, or even in childbirth. When you look at the life expectancy of a medieval man at the age of twenty, you see a completely different picture appear. Most childhood illnesses are over by age 20, so if you’ve survived those first two decades, you’re significantly more likely to live past the age of 30. The average life expectancy in the Middle Ages for 20-year-olds was therefore about 64 years. In the Middle Ages, people lived on average only about thirty years. Well, we average people are (usually) not consciously ignorant, we have acquired most misconceptions simply because people around us have confided these misconceptions to us. Why not accept what your classmate said as a fun fact yesterday, or your colleague at work claimed to have heard on television (by the way, it is very likely that your classmate and colleague are also firmly convinced, because these misconceptions are often television broadcasts!). If we have to start doubting everything, we don’t have much time left in our average life to do other things. Therefore, in most cases it is very healthy and time efficient to just accept what others say. Chances are they are right in many cases. However, sometimes not. There are a lot of misconceptions, misconceptions and monkey stories that keep on singing around despite their untruth. Even though scientific research has shown that something is not or is true, some semi-scientific explanations are more persistent and convincing than scientific evidence. For example, despite repeated nagging from scholars, most people continue to find a toilet seat dirty, while a commonly used keyboard is considered completely harmless. They should have known…