Imagine being a tough-as-nails Viking that gets called out in front of your whole village for not wanting to wear a helmet. But then again, think about a tough-as-nails Viking that doesn’t have a helmet but falls off a horse, or doesn’t have that all-important headpiece when wading into battle, and things kind of even out. True, being shamed into wearing a helmet would have been a bit awkward back in those days and someone might have even caught a beating for doing such a thing, but at the very least, most Vikings that did have helmets weren’t often seen making their way into battle without them. On horseback, it’s kind of debatable given that one’s field of vision might need to be as unencumbered as possible. But if one were riding a horse in battle then that helmet would need to be on and a swift prayer to Thor or Odin made to keep from falling off or being taken down due to a blindspot.
But this Danish PSA done up in the Viking era is pretty funny since a Viking griping about how a helmet makes his scalp itch and ruins his braids is something that people might have laughed at back then, and even now. It’s already been established that Vikings didn’t wear the horned helms that have been prevalent for so many years when making Viking movies, but they certainly wore helmets of some variety. Depending on their social status and funds they might not have had access to steel but would have had to use something like leather to protect themselves. In a battle that wasn’t much protection, but it was better than nothing. In life as we see it now, a helmet is a good idea since it puts something between your skull and the road if an accident were to happen. That’s the main point of the PSA after all since the play on the Viking era is more or less a fun way to do it.
There are so many myths and legends surrounding the Viking era that were born out of fear of the ferocious and supposedly bloodthirsty warriors that they’ve become not unlike the boogeymen in certain times as tales of berserker and raiding savages have at times nearly erased the fact that Vikings were indeed violent, but they also had their own ordered society as well. They were definitely vicious and did raid more than a few times, but they also managed to keep a rather interesting society that wasn’t perfect and wasn’t always what some might consider nice or entirely civilized, but they weren’t brutes that grunted at each other and lived in filth. Vikings were actually well-groomed and took care of themselves more often than not, and as far as helmets went, it’s likely that the only Vikings that didn’t see the battlefield through a helm were those that couldn’t afford one or those that were foolhardy enough to believe that they were great enough warriors to do without such protection.
To be certain, there were those that went without and did just fine, but they weren’t the norm. Plus, a helmet could only protect a person so much, since an expert or stray shot from a bow could penetrate the unguarded areas of a person’s face or neck, a heavy weapon could crease or even cleave a helmet open, and blunt force trauma could pack a hard enough wallop that could scramble someone’s brains rather quickly. The same could be said of a helmet today since, despite new designs and new materials that have been used over the years, a helmet is only bound to be rated to prevent certain types of trauma. It’s better to have one on than not, and if one does have an accident on a bike, a motorcycle, or other open conveyance then the helmet will at least absorb part of the shock, but that blunt force is still going to be an issue at times. But again, it’s better to have it on than not just for the chance that it might actually save a person’s life.
Helmets aren’t perfect, people know this and still tend to look on the bright side that they could help more than they can harm. Today’s bike helmets tend to be pretty open, meaning that while they’re useful, they still allow a person the full range of visibility they need, unless we’re talking about a motorcycle helmet, which is typically much sturdier out of necessity. However one looks at it, having a helmet on is the best way to avoid some damage at the very least, while not having one at all is a sure way to test fate and see what happens, or as people like to say now, f around and find out.
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