Continental Saxon helmets

[Nathan Ross]

Saxon helmets from the Roman Era?

As Robert says, I don't think anything is known of helmets from the Saxon areas of mainland Europe during the Roman era, or for some time afterwards.

We can probably assume that the Saxons of the 3rd-5th century shared the same sort of material culture as their neighbours to the east on the Baltic coast. The deposits found at Vimose, Illerup and Nydam contain a lot of military gear, both of Roman and barbarian origin, dating from the Antonine era to the mid 4th century, but there's no sign of helmets (and only one example of body armour - a mail shirt probably also of Roman origin).

It is possible that the griffon 'standard' found at Vimose was originally the crest of a Roman helmet of the 'cavalry sports' type; if so, Roman helmets (or bits of them!) apparently made their way north, either as gifts or plunder, and may possibly have been worn by high ranking warriors or chieftains of these cultures. But it would appear that both body armour and head protection was otherwise rare to unknown.

For more detail on the abovementioned finds, see the excellent book from the Danish National Museum, The Spoils of Victory: the North in the Shadow of the Roman Empire (2003).