Discover A Whole World

The world of the Vikings is vast and interesting. Their history and culture have left their mark on Britain; their history is our island story. Their culture has influenced our culture.

One of the great ongoing debates about the Viking Age relates to, of all things, helmets. The question is whether they did or did not wear horned helmets. We looked into the topic with fresh eyes, looking into archives and museums’ serious research. It’s clear that the appearance of horned helmets belongs to the Viking Age (there’s evidence in art history), but perhaps bigger questions are – what did the horned head-wear signify and from when did its use originate. The answers that we found are exciting. We wrote them down in a booklet for us to add to the discussion.

Another interesting topic is the impact of the arrival of the Vikings upon the English language. There is a related question as to whether the Vikings and the English could readily understand each other. We analysed the criteria for linguistic impact as well as the criteria needed for true influence of one language over another. Further, we reviewed literature that survives in Old English and Old Norse to assess mutual intelligibility. We then produced a booklet that summarises the argument and the findings.