The Sami people lead a quiet and peaceful life, expending all their energy on surviving in the frozen wilderness of Northern Norway. Their neighbors were the Vikings who lead anything but a peaceful life expending all their energy on rape and plunder as they set out to conquer lands unknown.

Unlike the Norwegians of today, the Vikings were a fierce and terrifying bunch, feared for their  fighting skills, their huge knives and their helmets with two large horns. No one can find any evidence that such a helmet was ever worn. The first link to helmets so adorned was actually in the Ring Cycle when Wagner’s designer portrayed the Valkyrie with this headgear thinking it made them look especially fierce. It looked so good on stage that the legend was born. But any self respecting warrior would tell you that wearing a helmet with two horns sprouting out of your forehead was effectively creating a target saying  “aim your arrows at this spot”

There are very few direct descendants of the Vikings left in Norway, but we were lucky  enough to have the great honor of meeting one on the streets of Trondheim. He was still wearing the viking costume. Sadly inbreeding over the centuries and drinking over the past few years had taken their toll.

Clearly no one had had told him about the helmet.