Descended from Vikings, the Norman peoples inherited their appetite for conquest and martial prowess and combined it with adept statecraft and castle-building to create permanent conquests on a scale that their Viking ancestors could only have dreamed about. By 911 AD Scandinavians had invited themselves onto the northern coastlines of France and a raiding army led by Rollo of the Vikings besieged both Paris and Chartres. French King Charles the Simple, realizing that he could not evict these powerful invaders, instead made them his vassals, granting them the right to lands that would become Normandy. Legend states that when Rollo met with Charles he refused to complete the oath of fealty in becoming his vassal when asked to ceremonially kiss the Kings foot. Rollo, insulted, delegated this action to another in his retinue, who appeared to bend for the kiss, but instead grabbed the Kings leg and roughly brought it up to his lips quickly, knocking the unbalanced Charles onto the ground.
Norman culture had all the right ingredients to make a people of conquest, for they were skilled at arms and seamanship, innovative in warfare, adventurous in spirit, and had a social structure that created many landless knights; younger, skilled sons eager to carve out their own fiefdoms. This volatile mix created the sea invasion force that famously took England from Saxon King Harold in 1066. It gave momentum to the warriors who sailed into the far Mediterranean to forcibly evict the Moors from Sicily – creating an island base from which successor generations would embark onto the Crusades, creating the Norman-founded Crusader Principalities of Antioch and Galilee.
Wherever they went, the Normans would solidify their power with the permanence of stone – their Norman keeps and castles the lynch pins of their territories. They integrated into local culture and connected themselves to wider Europe linguistically and culturally by speaking the language and carrying the customs of the nobility of France.
Well equipped, their depiction in the Bayeux Tapestry is one of the earliest depictions of a definitive knight; armored head to toe atop warhorses with couched lances. They are depicted universally wearing the nasal helm – a type that enjoyed great success throughout early Medieval Europe for it was relatively simple to make and gave excellent protection for the head and some of the face whilst retaining good visibility for the warrior. It superseded earlier forms such as the Roman or Roman inspired Ridge Helms and earlier forms of Spangenhelm. The warrior would have padding beneath the helm, though it is unknown whether this was typically integrated into the helm or if the helm was worn over an arming cap. For additional protection of the sides of the head and neck a chainmail aventail could be added.
This Norman style conical nasal helm is made from 16 gauge steel. The brow band and ridged nasal is antiqued for a worn and forged appearance. It has an integrated leather suspension with an adjustable leather tie to alter the internal fit of the helmet. It has an adjustable leather chin strap and buckle to keep the helm affixed to the head during the whirl of melee. The chainmail aventail is made from butted mild steel rings.
Agis –
Awesome! Fantastic helmet, I got it for Dagorhir. Heavy – as expected – but really worth the money to put together a Crusader knight look. You too can stride about, looking like an extra from Kingdom of Heaven! A few things:
The chainmail rusts. Quick. Because it will probably be rubbing on your neck, and you WILL be sweating if you wear a full crusader kit, you want to take real good care of the aventail.
The dome also does rust. I painted mine up black, problem solved.
The tip of the nasal is a bit sharp, however nothing a file can’t fix in a few minutes.
All of these are minor quibbles. Absolutely a fantastic helmet. The webbing works great and it’s saved my noggin many a time.