Wyrmgaze Hand Forged Mild Steel Sutton Hoo Viking Helmet | 18 Gauge Full Face Mask | Brass Crest Eyebrows and Embossed Panels | Norse Reenactment Gift | RK-1493

The Wyrmgaze is a full face mask helmet in the Sutton Hoo and Vendel tradition, with a banded cap, embossed figural panels across the brow and cheeks, brass eyebrows over cut eye holes, a brass nose that runs down into a moustache, and hinged cheek guards. It is hand raised and assembled from mild steel sheet, riveted band to bowl in the way the originals were built, with the brass work applied over the top so the face reads clearly from a distance.

The original was pulled out of Mound One at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk in 1939, in more than five hundred fragments, and it took two full reconstructions across forty years before the face we recognise today was settled. Only four helmets of this type have ever been found in England, which is why an object that looks familiar from every book cover about the Anglo Saxons is in fact one of the rarest survivals in early medieval archaeology. The panels on the original were tinned bronze foil pressed over dies and showed dancing warriors and mounted riders. Ours are pressed and chased into steel. Every Wyrmgaze is raised, riveted, fitted and finished in our Memphis, Tennessee shop.

Specifications

What a face mask helmet is actually doing

Most early medieval helmets protect the top of the head and leave the face open, sometimes with a nasal bar. The mask helmet is a different design philosophy. It closes the whole front of the skull, so a spear point coming in at head height meets a curved steel surface instead of a cheekbone. The eye openings are small and set behind a heavy brass brow, so anything sliding down the forehead is deflected outward and away rather than into the eye socket.

The nose and moustache are not only ornament. The nose piece is a vertical rib running from the brow to the mouth, and it stiffens the whole mask against being pushed inward. Put a curved rib down the centre of a thin panel and you have roughly doubled how hard it is to dent. The moustache is the visual signature, but structurally it is a second stiffening rib across the base.

The cost is vision and hearing. You see the world through two slots and you hear it through a steel shell, and anyone who has worn one will tell you the world narrows sharply. That is why we set the eye openings as generously as the pattern allows and still recommend that you put this on and stand still for a few minutes before you try to walk through a crowd in it. The cheek guards hinge outward so the helmet passes over the ears rather than scraping them, which also makes it easier to take off in a hurry.

The steel and the gauge

The bowl is raised from 18 gauge mild steel, which is about 1.2 mm. That is the standard weight for a display and light reenactment helmet, and it is what keeps this piece at five to six pounds rather than nine. It holds its shape, it takes the embossing cleanly, and it will survive being knocked about in transport and handled at events. It is not battle rated plate. A group that fights full contact in steel will require a heavier gauge, usually 14 gauge or thicker in the crown, often in hardened or spring steel, and this helmet is not built to that standard. We would rather be straight with you about that than let you find out with a poleaxe.

Mild steel is the correct choice for the rest of the build for a different reason. It moves under the hammer. A helmet bowl is raised by driving a flat disc into a compound curve with hundreds of overlapping blows, and a harder alloy fights that process and cracks at the rim. The brass is applied afterwards, cut, chased and riveted or brazed into place, and it will mellow to a warmer gold as it ages.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the leather. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On the Wyrmgaze the crest ridge and the brass panel borders are the natural home for a rune line, and a line there will take the place of the interlace already cut into that band. Full detail is on the engraving page.

Fit and sizing

This helmet is made to a stated size and not moulded to an individual head. Measure the circumference of your head with a tape just above the ears and across the brow, then add for whatever goes underneath. A padded arming cap adds roughly half an inch to three quarters of an inch of circumference, and a thick one adds more.

Head shape matters as well as size. Skulls vary front to back as much as side to side, and a helmet that is the right circumference can still sit high on a long head. The fix is padding rather than a different shell. A leather or wool arming cap, packed slightly at the crown, brings the eye slots to the right height and takes the weight on the top of the head rather than on the brow.

Do not wear a mask helmet with no padding. Steel against the skull is uncomfortable in two minutes and dangerous under any impact, because there is nothing to spread the load. The padded cap in the photograph is a photography prop and is not included, and any well made arming cap will do the job.

Care

Wipe the steel with a lightly oiled cloth after handling, and again before it goes into storage. Fingerprints etch mild steel, and a helmet is handled more than almost anything else in a collection. The brass will tarnish, which most owners like. If you would rather keep it bright, a metal polish on a cotton bud along the eyebrows and crest brings it back, and you should keep polish off the steel because it will leave a smeared halo. Store it on a stand or upside down on a shelf rather than face down on the mask, so the brass work carries no weight. Our full notes on keeping bare steel dry and protected are on the steel care page.

Forged in Memphis

This helmet is made in Memphis, Tennessee. The bowl is raised on our stakes, the bands and panels are cut, pressed and chased here, the brass is fitted by hand and every rivet is set on our bench. Nothing about it is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and relabelled. The lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings is ours to honour directly, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This helmet is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The hammer texture across the bowl, the exact depth of the embossed figures, the tone of the brass and the precise line of the moustache vary from one helmet to the next, because each one is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this wearable or display only

It is fully wearable and it is sized to a real head, but it is built at display and light reenactment weight. Wear it for events, photography, film and parade. Do not take it into full contact steel fighting.

How much can you see out of it

Less than you expect. Two eye openings give you a clear forward view and very little peripheral vision. Put it on somewhere safe and stand still for a few minutes before you move around in it.

Does it come with a liner

No liner is fitted. It is designed to be worn over a padded arming cap, which is the historically correct arrangement and gives a much better fit than a glued in foam pad. The cap shown beside the helmet in the photograph is a prop and is not included.

Will the brass go dull

Yes, in time, and that is normal. Left alone the brass mellows to a deeper gold that most owners prefer against the steel. A little polish on the eyebrows and crest will bring it back whenever you want it bright.

Is it heavy on the neck

At five to six pounds it is noticeable but not punishing, and a padded cap spreads it across the crown. Most people are comfortable for an hour or more.

How quickly does it ship

Processing is one to two weeks because each helmet is raised and assembled to order, then shipping is free within the United States. Engraved orders sit at the longer end of that window.

What is in the box

• One Wyrmgaze Sutton Hoo style face mask helmet in 18 gauge mild steel
• Brass crest, eyebrows, nose and moustache fitted and riveted
• Hinged cheek guards and embossed side panels
• Care card covering oiling the steel and polishing the brass
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in Viking helmets, medieval helmets and Viking armor, or read the guides before you choose a size.