The Armour Archive

Hey. So, i am having difficulty locating anything that might serve as a helmet for someone with a Hunnic persona? Any ideas? Links?
Thanks,
Brennainn

So... seen the Wikipedia for step one? Suggests extrapolating from Scythian armor and weapons might be possible. A helmet in some early-era Central Asian style may be the best you can do.

Detailed information on anybody Early Dark Ages is going to be a tall order to fill -- and the Huns are a toughie. Sources preserve some Hunnic names... and three words, which do not appear to be in the Turkic language group, but elsewhere in the Altaic language family.

WebChron

I did look at Wikipedia. I was hoping for something more that I couldn't find. My philosophy, when you can't find something concrete, be artistic. So, I'm going to watch wheel of fortune and shop at k-mart untill i figure it out.
I was thinking of a shorter version of the helmet here with less plates.
http://ancientweb.org/index.php/explore/country/Hungary

What time period are you after? In the centuries preceding the Huns' movement into Europe, their armament would be very influenced by contemporary Chinese and/or other Eastern technology. By the late-fourth century when Attila, Aetius and Co. came into the picture, you can expect many Germanic and Roman influences to creep into the mix, as old weapons from the east had to be replaced by locally available materials. For the most part it's safe to assume that nomadic peoples such as the Huns relied heavily on material influence from every corner of their 'sphere,' and you can expect a lot of variety that doesn't make sense geographically. Because of the Huns' quick integration into Eastern European society after the migration period was in full swing, it's very hard for us to pinpoint many Hunnic concepts, per se... If they were ever apparent, they have been masked by cultural integration.

I would suggest looking closely at contemporary armament from the period you're interested in, with considerations made for tactics (e.g. a large Germanic shield is unlikely to be favored by a mounted archer) and a close eye on regional variance and Hunnic populations in that place/time.

-Gerhard

I'm just researching for a friend. I only know a bit. Mostly I'm looking at a helmet.

Just go with late Roman. I suspect that most of the armour that a hun was wearing originated with the Eastern Empire, either as loot of some variety or in trade. After the 460s, the hunnic empire disolves and ceases to be a factor.

plenty of documentation regarding the use of Huns by the Eastern Roman Empire during the first half of the 6th century. Belisarius had Huns with him when he invaded North Africa.

Good point Cian. While the Hunnic empire, such as it was, dissapates in the decade after Attila's death, there were "huns" still around. But I think that the "hun" brand was powerful enough (still is) that writiers of the day may have been using the term "un" as a synonym for "steppe warrior"

The Eastern Roman Empire was a little bit more precise with those distinctions. Contemporaries of Belisarius used terms like Alan, Gepid, Utigar, Avar to describe the different steppe people. You can usually trust that what they called a Hun was at least someone from one of the collection of peoples that made up the Hun Empire. That being said, Procopius describes the Slavs, Onugers, and Bulgars as Hunnic peoples, most likely because they had been members of the Hun Empire. Also, remember that most of the Hun Empire spoke not only Hun, but Gothic and Scythian dialects. At least, that is what Priscus said.

Also, we have very good evidence that there were several large Hun kingdoms north and west of the Black Sea in the year 500. Surely, these places would have been fertile ground for recruiting mercenaries.


Overall, though, if you need to find a helmet that will work in SCA, you can't go wrong with something styled after Eastern Roman, Gothic, or similar helms.

Come to think of it, what do 7th-8th-c. Gothic helmets look like? Eastern Late Roman/Byz I think I can find for myself. The other, it might be hard to disentangle myself from those Indian-make resellers with all their dubieties.