Aegiscrest Hand Raised Brass Corinthian Greek Helmet | Full Face Hoplite Pattern | Engraved Meander Brow Band and Crest Ridge | Ancient History Gift | RK-1542

This one is not Norse and we are not going to pretend otherwise. It is a Corinthian helmet, the full face helm of the Greek hoplite, raised by hand from a single sheet of brass so that bowl, nasal, cheek pieces and neck are one continuous piece of metal with no joint anywhere. A raised crest ridge runs over the crown, the almond eye openings are cut and dressed by hand, and a Greek key meander is engraved around the brow. The Corinthian is the helmet on the Athenian coinage and on half the vase paintings that survive, and it was worn for something like three hundred years from the eighth century BC onward. Its most telling feature is what it does to the wearer. It seals almost the entire face, muffles hearing badly and narrows vision to two slots, which was tolerable only because a hoplite fought shoulder to shoulder in a phalanx where you needed to see the man in front of you and nothing else.

Raised, planished, cut and engraved in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. It ships as the helmet. The folded leather piece at the edge of the photograph is a studio prop and is not included.

Specifications

What raising from one sheet actually means

Almost every helmet ever made is built from pieces, because it is far easier to shape two or three panels and rivet them than to persuade one flat disc to become a head shaped vessel. A Corinthian cannot be made that way. There are no rivets and no seams on an original because the whole thing is raised, which means the smith works the sheet from the outside in over a stake, hundreds of overlapping hammer blows at a time, gathering the metal and thickening it as the walls come up. The metal work hardens as you go and has to be annealed, softened again in the fire, over and over. Getting a nasal and two cheek pieces to come out of the same sheet as the bowl is one of the genuinely hard problems in metalworking, and it is the reason Greek armourers were famous.

The raised crest ridge over the crown is the same trick that stiffens a spangenhelm. A rib is far stiffer than a smooth curve of the same thickness, so the top of the head gets structural reinforcement without extra weight, and a blade landing on the ridge is thrown sideways rather than sitting where it hit. It also gives a mounting line for a horsehair crest if you ever want one, though this helmet ships without.

Brass, and why the Greeks used bronze

This helmet is brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. The originals were bronze, copper and tin, because zinc was not available in usable form in the Greek world. Both are copper alloys, both raise beautifully, both take a warm gold colour that steel never manages, and brass is what a modern shop uses because it is available in consistent sheet and it behaves predictably under the hammer.

Copper alloys are different from steel in a way that matters here. They do not rust. Brass tarnishes to a darker gold and eventually to brown, which is oxidation on the surface rather than corrosion eating into the metal, and it polishes back whenever you want it to. Left alone it patinates and many people prefer that. What brass will not do is hold an edge or resist a determined blow the way hardened steel does, and it work hardens as it deforms, which means a badly dented copper alloy helmet can crack if you try to hammer the dent out cold.

Be plain about function. This is display, costume, stage, film and light living history equipment. It is not certified armour, it is not rated for full contact combat of any kind, and it is not suitable for HEMA or reenactment fighting. Its vision and hearing restriction alone make it unsafe in a contact bout, which was true in 500 BC as well.

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, so on this helmet your line would take the place of the meander band around the brow. On a Greek piece most buyers ask for a Greek inscription or a name in Greek letters rather than runes, and we are happy to cut that instead. Full detail is on the engraving page.

Display and mounting

A Corinthian is one of the best looking objects you can put on a shelf, and it deserves a stand rather than a shelf edge. Use a padded helmet stand or a simple wooden post that supports the bowl from inside rather than pinching the cheek pieces, since the cheeks are the thinnest part and will spring if they are loaded. Keep it out of direct sunlight, which accelerates tarnish unevenly and leaves a shadow line. If you want the bright gold look, expect to polish it once or twice a year. If you want it to darken naturally into an aged bronze tone, simply leave it alone and it will get there on its own within a couple of years.

Care

Brass does not rust, so this is easier to look after than a steel helmet. Handle it with clean hands or cotton gloves, because fingerprints etch into the surface over time and leave marks that need polishing out. Dust with a soft cloth. If you want it bright, use a proper non abrasive brass polish sparingly and buff it off completely, particularly out of the engraved meander where residue dries white. Never use steel wool or a wire wheel. If it gets wet, dry it immediately and pay attention to the inside of the bowl. There is more general guidance in our guide to steel care, though brass needs less of it than steel does.

Forged in Memphis

This helmet is raised, annealed, planished, cut, dressed and engraved by hand in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing about it is drop shipped from an importer catalogue, spun on a lathe, or bought in as a finished import and stamped with our name. It carries our lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Raising leaves a record of every hammer blow, so the planished surface catches light differently on every helmet, the exact sweep of the cheek pieces and the depth of the eye slots vary a little, and brass takes its polish with its own character. Grain, tone, hammer texture and exact profile vary 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 Viking or Norse?

No. It is Greek, and specifically a Corinthian hoplite helmet. We sell Norse kit and this is not that, so we would rather label it correctly than force a Viking story onto it.

Can I actually wear it?

Yes, for display, costume, photography, stage and film. Vision and hearing are heavily restricted, which is authentic and is also why you should not walk far in it or drive anything while wearing it.

Is it bronze or brass?

Brass. The originals were bronze, since zinc was not available to Greek smiths, but both are copper alloys and brass is the modern shop equivalent that raises predictably.

Does it come with a crest or a liner?

No. It ships as the raised helmet. The crest ridge will take a horsehair crest if you source one, and a liner can be fitted if you ask before ordering.

Will it tarnish?

Yes, and that is normal for brass. It darkens toward an aged bronze tone, which many owners prefer. Polish brings it back to bright gold whenever you want.

How long before it ships?

Processing is one to two weeks because each helmet is raised to order, then free shipping within the United States. Returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• Hand raised brass Corinthian helmet, single piece bowl with nasal and cheek pieces
• Engraved Greek key meander band, or your chosen engraving in its place
• Care card and lifetime warranty against defects
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in Roman and Greek helmets, Roman and Greek shields, medieval helmets and plate armour, or read the guides.