Nasal Helmet - Early Forms

Early Forms

The nasal helmet was characterised by the possession of a nose-guard, or 'nasal', composed of a single strip of metal that extended down from the skull or browband over the nose to provide facial protection. The helmet appeared throughout Western Europe late in the 9th century, and became the predominant form of head protection, replacing previous types of helmet whose design was ultimately based on Late Roman types such as the 'ridge helmet' and early helmets of spangenhelm construction. Early nasal helmets were universally conical in shape. The skull could be raised from a single sheet of iron or be of composite, segmented (spangenhelm) construction. The spangenhelm variety was, in general, the earlier method of construction. Single-piece skulls, being technically more difficult to produce, became more common with the increase in metallurgical skill over time.

Though nasals had been used on earlier helmets, and on contemporary helmets found in Byzantium, Slavic Eastern Europe and the Middle East, those characteristic of the nasal helmet were in general larger and were fully integrated into either the skull or browband of the helmet. The nasals of other helmets tended to be riveted to the skull either directly or as part of a, 'T' shaped, combined nasal and eyebrow-piece.