The Viking Myth: How 19th Century Romantics Invented the Horned Helmet and Everything Else

No Viking warrior ever wore a horned helmet in battle. The image was invented by a Swedish illustrator in 1820 and popularized by a Wagner opera costume designer in 1876. The Viking identity most people carry fierce pagan warriors, racially pure northerners is almost entirely a 19th century nationalist construction. The most famous Viking ship burial ever found contains two women. The actual…