Vikings are practically synonymous these days with those goofy horned helmets they supposedly wore, however, it turns out that most actual Vikings probably never wore them. The image of a Viking wearing a horned helmet originally derived from an ancient tapestry that was recovered showing a man wearing a helmet with large bull horns. More recent scholarship has revealed, however, that this figure was probably either enacting a ceremonial ritual, or was meant to be a mythological figure, like a God.

The popularity of the horned helmet is traceable to the faddish Norse revival of the 19th century in Western Europe, and particularly to Wagner, whose Norse-inspired operas often featured dramatically costumed Vikings with horned and winged helms.