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The Pioneer Helmet

On display at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, the Pioneer Helmet is one of only six Anglo- Saxon Helmets ever to have been found in England from the 7th and 8th centuries. Excavated in Wollaston Northamptonshire in March 1997, it was found in the grave of an Anglo-Saxon warrior.

Grey helmet photographed from the side, with a small boar on the crest
An Anglo-Saxon Pioneer Helmet

In this grave, several bones were uncovered along with an iron sword, a bowl and some feathers (presumably from a pillow).

The Pioneer Helmet is topped by a boar figurine, a symbol of strength and of some of the gods.

The goddess Frigg (sometimes called Freya) is the wife of Woden and would ride into battle on a wild boar, and the goddess Freyr also owned a wild boar with a golden mane that would show the path forward with its glow in the dark bristles. A boar crested helmet is mentioned in the Beowulf saga multiple times and they were commonly associated with warriors by pagan Anglo-Saxons due to the attributes of fierceness and strength that the boar personifies and the protection of the gods it represented.