The most egregious example of the persistence of out-dated ideas is the famous image of the 'Viking' horned helmet. Vikings never wore horned helmets; not a single one has been found in any Viking grave, although many other types of warrior's gear have been found. It appears Vikings rarely wore metal helmets at all, in fact! This idea may have been stimulated by confusion with Danish Bronze Age helmets, which had long, curved metal horns. When first discovered in the early 19th century, the 1,500 year time period between the Bronze and Viking Ages was not well understood, and so it was presumed that Vikings also wore horned helmets. Recent archeological investigations have proven this was not the case. Nevertheless the animalism which gave a warrior a fierce animal warrior demeanor somehow continues to inspire popular imagination, ensuring that in spite of it historical incorrectness, horns will probably remain a Viking symbol for many years to come.
No less frustrating for archeologists have been misunderstandings about reputed Viking archeological finds in North America. The Newport Tower in Newport, Rhode Island, was one of the earliest archeological pitfalls in the search for proof of Leif Eriksson voyages. In 1838, Carl Christian Rafn, an eminent Danish scholar, suggested that this round, stone building resembled a medieval Norse church. At first the tower was thought to have an unknown origin, but archeological excavations and chemical tests of the mortar have clearly demonstrated a 17th century origin. Historic documents suggest it might have been built by the first governor of Rhode Island, Benedict Arnold (not the famous turn-coat, but his namesake) as a copy of a well-known windmill near his early home in England. Nevertheless, one can still go to Rhode Island and read pamphlets about the Viking Tower. A similar story surrounds so-called Barnstable (Cape Cod) 'mooring holes' and stones with carved runic and other inscriptions found on Martha's Vinyard and in Brooklin Maine. The idea that Viking evidence is scattered about the northeastern coast of North America has certainly contributed to the notion of Viking presence, even though that evidence has no scientific basis.
Finds such as these have created the idea that Vikings traveled far and wide in North America and fueled speculation that Viking artifacts might be found almost anywhere. A copper Thor's hammer found on the Connecticut coast led to a flurry of speculation on the web in 1998 about Viking voyages to central New England. Testing by the Danish National Museum revealed it to have an abnormally high nickel content, a non-Viking ring clasp, and a size three times larger most Thor's hammers found in Scandinavia. Better known is the long-standing controversy over Yale University's Vinland Map, which purports to show Greenland and a large stretch of northeastern North American 50 years before the voyage of Christopher Columbus. The authenticity of this map has been proven and disproven several times since the 1960s, leaving the public understandably confused, though most scholars now agree it is a mid-20th century fake. But as long as these tantalizing finds continue to appear, raising hopes that are almost as quickly dashed, people will continue to be fascinated by the allure of Viking finds south of the area where many true Viking finds have been found, in the Canadian arctic and northern Greenland.
The archeology of Viking 'Legend Land' embraced by amateurs and professionals alike, is fitting tribute to the fascination inspired by Viking explorers who set out for lands beyond the horizon, just to see what was there. May the search continue!