(COMING SOON!) Authentic Viking Mask Replica

This Viking mask is a direct replica of one of the mysterious animal-shaped masks excavated at Hedeby/Haithabu, one of the largest Viking Age settlements and trading centers in Northern Europe. Unlike a modern fantasy Viking costume, this piece is based on a real archaeological find and recreated in the same felted wool, using the traditional methods that produced the original more than 1,000 years ago. Archaeologists recovered two of these unusual felt masks from the harbor at Hedeby. The original is now part of the permanent exhibition at the Viking Museum Haithabu.

The surviving Hedeby mask has been interpreted as a bear, wolf, dog, or other animal, and its original purpose is still debated. One particularly fascinating interpretation, proposed by researcher Inga Hägg, is that the mask may have been connected to the berserkers or other Germanic animal-warrior traditions. Viking and earlier Germanic art contains numerous depictions of warriors associated with wolves, dogs, bears, and animal disguises, while Norse literature preserves traditions of berserkir and ulfheðnar warriors associated with bears and wolves. That makes the Hedeby find the only archaeological candidate for what a real berserker mask or Norse mask could have looked like.

Viking Halloween Costume based on the authentic berserker mask

• Directly modeled after the Viking Age Hedeby mask
• Made from red felted wool, matching the material and color of the archaeological find
• Produced using traditional felting techniques
• Animal-shaped design based directly on surviving Viking Age textile evidence
• Suitable for historically focused Viking reenactment and living history
• Excellent addition to a berserker costume or Germanic animal-warrior impression
• A rare example of Viking clothing reconstructed from an actual archaeological textile find
• Rather than adding modern fantasy horns, armor, or invented symbols, this mask gives you something much closer to an object that someone living in the Viking world could actually have worn.

Berserker Mask or Ritual Norse Mask?

The berserker mask interpretation fits within a wider pattern of Germanic animal-warrior traditions. Many attested berserkers in the sagas and Odin himself bears the name Grímr, meaning roughly “the masked one,” while wolf- and dog-headed warriors appear throughout Germanic art and literature. Paul the Deacon even described the Lombards using stories of dog-headed warriors to frighten their enemies.
There is also an intriguing account from the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, who describes members of the Varangian Guard performing a so-called “Gothic Dance” while wearing animal masks and hides. This has led to suggestions that masks like the Hedeby examples could have been used in ritual performances, ceremonial dances, or warrior traditions.

Product Information

• Material: 4 layer Felted Wool
  
• Elastic Straps
• Color: Brown
• Construction: Traditional felted-wool method
  
• Sizes: Medium and XL
  
• Height(top to bottom of face): 12"=XL 9"=M
• Circumference: One size fits all
• Made in USA