Chainmail Gauntlets

Viking Costumes - Who Else Wants To Be Hagar The Horrible This Halloween ?

So with Halloween a few weeks away, many people might be thinking about making an entrance at the party in an original costume. Many people go for the old favorites like Witch, pirate or ghoul costumes but others like to look at something a little different. One costume that ticks these boxes is the Viking costume. Here are a few Viking costumes ideas and what to look for in such a costume.

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To be fair, viking costumes are not what everyone would consider wearing at Halloween. They have more interest in scary or funny costumes that will have the desired affect on people. That's the general idea of Halloween and few people wnat to deviate from those themes. With this out of the way, you can have lots of fun with the viking theme.

The first thing people will concern themsleves with is the helmet when it comes to viking costumes. You know what I mean, the round helmet with the cow horns on each side. It's in every old movie on the topic. Even the lovable Hagar the Horrible wears the iconic helmet – so it must be true, right ?

Well, research suggests that this was not a genuine feature of real vikings dress. They just wore plain old helmets. Maybe some jazzed them up with ornate patterning, and maybe one of two bright sparks stuck some horns on them. But the overwhelming majority had plain helmets and didn’t see their identity defined by a unique looking helmet.

In fact, most vikings looked like any other marauder of the middle ages. They would wear some form of chain mail at times. They would wear arm and leg gauntlets for protection. They would carry a shield, sword and battle axe. Over the chain mail they would wear a tunic that may be plain or even have their colors represented. Given that the lived in cold climates some form of animal fur garment might be worn too. Their shields and tunics might have their coat of arms or some other iconography to distinguish them from others.

The horned helmet was probably an interpretation of viking times made by later generations, in particular the Victorian period, where there was a huge resurgence of interest in that time. And this stereotype has held firm even to this day, such that no self respecting viking costume will be without a cow horned helmet.

Viking costumes follow the basic idea laid out above. Costumes can be found for big and small, men and women, even children, in a variety of styles.

For more Viking costume ideas, especially for ladies, simply click womens viking costume

punch for punch with sap gloves and chain mail