Helm

“ Should the helm face any special way according to the degree of the bearer thereof? What are the ordinary relative proportions which helm and crest should bear to the shield? May a shield be set aslant as well as upright? Should a torse be drawn with a curved or a straight line? Is it necessary to represent the engraved dots and lines indicative of the tinctures? What are supporters to stand upon? Are they to plant their feet on a ribbon or scroll, or on a flowering mound, or what? May arms entitled to have supporters be represented without them? ”

“ Anglo-Saxon helma, ‘handle’ (equivalent also to English helm) , and Dutch helmstock, ‘tiller,’ are not connected with this word; see Helm (2) . ‘Handle’ is the original sense of the whole group, and even of Halfter. ”

“ About the crest of the helm, the defence of the head, it held an amulet fastened without with wires, that the sword, hardened with scouring, might not violently injure him when the shield-bearing warrior should go against his foes. ”

“ The helm is a triumph of the armourer’s craft, with an occularium four millimetres wide, ventail on the right hand side, and strong beavor coming well down on to the left shoulder, where is screwed a manteau d’armes or target, with raised trellis-work and floral devices etched on the panels. ”

“ Who cometh? Lo! a dazzling helm, a spear 2690
Of silver or electron; sharp and swift
The piercings. How they fall. Ha, shields are raised
In vain. I am blinded, or the beggar-man
Hath waxed in strength. He is changed, he is young. O strange!
He is all in golden armour. These are gods,
That slay the wooers. (Runs to Pen.) O lady, forgive me!
’Tis Ares’ self. I saw his crispèd beard:
I saw beneath his helm his curling locks.295
None will escape. O lady, save me, save me. ”

“ Helmets are hollowed to guard the head;
willows are twisted into wicker frames for shields; others
are beating out brass into breastplates, or stretching ductile 35
silver into polished greaves. All the pride of sickle
and share, all the passion for the plough are swallowed
up in this; they bring out their father’s swords, and smelt [169]
them anew in the furnace. Here, in wild haste, is one
snatching his helm from the chamber-wall; there is another
bringing his snorting steeds to the yoke, clothing
himself with shield and corslet of three-plied gold, and
girding to his side his trusty sword. ”

“ The central position which the helm occupies is necessarily an important one, and in order to avoid over-accentuation it should be so designed as to be a link between the shield and the crest, and not be permitted to concentrate attention on itself. The avoidance of such undue prominence is helped by the tilting forward of the helm, a position which tends to make the horizontal lines, of the “sight” for instance, curve upwards and so help the composition, with respect to the crest, while the strong line of the front ridge coming down in the direction of the shield is also valuable. ”

“ First of all there is the suit of armour on the knight in the foreground, the hooded hauberk and chausses of mail and genouillières, the chapeau de fer, or war helm, and the surcoat, and the shield. But we get also a variety of helmets, different kinds of weapons, falchion and axe, as well as sword and spear, and the pennon attached to the spear; and, in addition, the complete horse trappings, with the ornamental crest which was used to set off the arching neck and tossing head. Moreover, we learn that this variety of arms and armour was to be found in a single troop of men-at-arms ”

“ The Orle, or wreath worn turban-wise round the bascinet, is sometimes shown, as on Fig. 22, of a decorative nature. It is supposed by some writers to have been devised to take the pressure of the great helm from the head, for the helm was often worn, as in the preceding century, over a lighter headpiece. ”

“ As we have shown, these great helms were not attached to the body armour and were thus liable to be struck off in battle. In order to recover them a chain was sometimes stapled to the helm and fastened to the waist or some portion of the body armour (Fig. 6) .
[Pg 28] The usual form of helmet in the twelfth century is the cup-shaped headpiece of which the Cervellière is a typical example (Fig. 7) . It was either worn as the sole defence or was used in conjunction with the helm as an under-cap. The wide-rimmed hat of iron is found all through the period of defensive armour with which we deal. ”

“ Helm, Helmet. Now placed as an accessory above a Shield of arms, and bearing its Crest after the fashion in which, in the Middle Ages, both Helm and Crest were actually 129 worn in tournaments. A modern usage distinguishes Helms as follows:—The Sovereign—Helm of gold, with six bars, set affrontée, No. 259; Noblemen—Helm of silver, garnished with gold, set in profile, and showing five bars, No. 260; Baronets and Knights—of steel with silver ornaments, without bars, the vizor raised, set affrontée, No. 261; Esquires and Gentlemen—of steel, the vizor closed, and set in profile, Nos. ”

“ So that we have a lion standing sideways on its helmet and even looking down the back of it. For in the worst cases a helmet may be seen turned completely round, while its crest remains in the original direction. This arose from the stupid application of the excellent rule that helms when more than one are employed should be posed with regard to some common centre of interest; an obviously proper and artistic method, but it should be equally obvious that when the helm turns the crest must turn too. ”

“ It is of great account with the Germans: the helm and crest deriving their use from tournaments, whence arms took their origin; and this being with them the most essential mark of noblesse, neither the Germans nor French allow a new made gentleman to bear a helmet, but only a wreath of his colours; and when he is a gentleman of three descents, to bear a helmet with three barrs for his three descents (Menestrier, Abrégé méthodique des Armoiries, 1672, p. 28.; Origine des Ornemens des Armoiries, p. 2.) ”

“ The great helm, always with a fan-crest, the chapelle-de-fer worn beneath or above the mail coiffe, the bassinet, often visored, and the broad-brimmed round helmet are worn, except in jousts, quite indifferently.
Fig. 10.—Melée.
From the early fourteenth-century English MS. known as Queen Mary’s Psalter, 2 B. vii., in the British Museum. The combatants are in banded mail and long surcoats, and some wear the great helms with fan-crests. Ailettes and knee-caps are the only plate-armour visible. Some of the horses have long housings and also bear the fan-crest. ”

“ There are several sallads of the Italian type, a beautiful breastplate in two plates, a backplate, some gardes-de-reine, a cuisse with a small butterfly genouillière guard, rounded flutings radiating from the centre of the upper thigh, several broken gauntlets, besides other fragments, and a tilting helm of the end of the fifteenth century, on which fifteen of the staples remain; the helm is perforated on one side only. ”

“ Luff, helmsman, all you can; I want to get far enough to windward to be able to run down and lay her aboard on the next tack. Boarders, see to the priming of your pistols, and be ready to follow me presently. Now, ready about again, men! Down helm! ”

“ The forward lean of the helm is always noticeable and probably points to its being carried on a staff as already mentioned, for its highest part, which would be the point of support, being usually behind the centre, would tend to throw it forward and so bring it into some approach to the degree of inclination that it would have when it was on the head of a charging knight. ”

“ He was equipped in a wonderful solidity of armour, with a hard, carven helmet on his head, a splendid red-bossed shield swinging on his shoulder, a wide-grooved, straight sword clashing along his thigh. ”

“ A tall, stout serving-man, clad in a half suit of ribbed armour, wearing that kind of close helmet which was then called a coursing-hat, and carrying over his shoulder a mighty two-handed wall-sword, nearly as long as himself, followed close at his heels, running as if for his life. ”

“ So the hope of conquering every adversary and surmounting every difficulty, through the blood of the Lamb, is as a helmet that protects the head; an impenetrable one, that the blow of the battle-axe cannot cleave. ”

“ Some hammer helmets for the fighting field;
Some twine young sallows to support the shield;
The croslet some, and some the cuishes mold,
With silver plated, and with ductile gold.
The rustic honors of the scythe and share
Give place to swords and plumes, the pride of war.
Old fauchions are new temper'd in the fires;
The sounding trumpet ev'ry soul inspires.
The word is giv'n; with eager speed they lace
The shining headpiece, and the shield embrace. ”

“ Oft have I seen the stern kings meet in war, seen shield and helmet bruised, and the fields redden with blood, and the cuirass broken by the spear-point, and the corselets all around giving at the thrust of the steel, and the wild beasts battening on the unburied soldier. Here, as it chanced, one that attempted a mighty thing, a strong-handed warrior, fighting against the press of the foe, smote through the mail that covered my head, pierced my helmet, and plunged his blade into my crest. ”

“ The helmet of war appeared to complete the perfection of defensive harness; for the lance broke hurtless on the plate of steel, the arrow and quarrel glanced away, and it is only in romance that we read of swords cutting through a solid front of iron, or piercing both plate and mail, as some bolder spirits say. ”

“ Then there was a dazzling gleam from a vast number of polished brass helmets, beneath which, as they grew farther out of the soil, appeared the dark and bearded visages of warriors, struggling to free themselves from the imprisoning earth. ”

“ There lay the curved, brazen helmet with its comb arching over and edged with its plume, the scaled cheek-straps that held it in its place, the leathern breast and back-piece moulded and hammered into the shape of the human form, brazen shoulder-pieces, ornamentations and strengthening, the curved, oblong shield and short sword with lion’s head to its hilt and heavy sheath. ”

“ True lovers’ knots on shields and shoulders, helmets shaded with waving plumes, lances bound with gaily-embroidered scarves, the inlaid handles of swords and falchions sparkling with gems, and corselets and breastplates bound in with glittering girdles. ”

“ In height this gallant was very passable enough, and his helmet, with its nodding plumes, added some grace and inches to his stature, while his pale-gray mail was beautifully fashioned and molded, and spoke through every close joint and cunning finished link of a young but well-proportioned soldier.
The arms this warrior carried were better suited to his strength than to that of the man who rode beside him. His lance was long and of polished inlay, while mine beside it was like the spear of Goliath to a fisher’s hazel wand. ”

“ Above hangs the helmet which the warrior king wore in battle, shewing by the deep dents which are imprinted upon it, that it was borne into the very thickest of the strife, and had its share of blows dealt heavily, when men lived but to “conquer or to die.” ”

“ The helmet is a better defence than the grenadier cap against the straight-cutting blades of these fiery Scots. Cheer up, D'Estouville; while there is life, hope remains. You may yet lead the old Guard in the charge! the Eagles of the empire may yet flap their wings over you. ”

“ The helmets in brass, steel or cloth, worn by troops since the general introduction of uniforms and the disuse of armour, depend for their shape and material solely on considerations of comfort and good appearance. ”

“ This man wore in his girdle a rich dagger whose hilt, of silver gilt, was chased in the form of a helmet, and surmounted by a count’s coronet. He had a forbidding air, a proud mien, and a head held high. At the first glance one read arrogance on his visage; at the second, craft. ”

“ Nearly all the combatants are provided with helmets. The precise shape of them we learn from those which are being brought to the shore to be placed with other military stores on board the fleet. The helmet has a conical form, and is provided with a projection in front called the nasal, to protect the face. ”

“ And when the day that is dawning has risen to its full, then, not till then, may we put off the armour and put on the white robe, lay aside the helmet, and have our brows wreathed with the laurel, sheathe the sword, and grasp the palm, being ‘more than conquerors through Him who loved us,’ and fights in us, as well as for us. ”

“ The sword forged by supernatural smiths, the terrific helmet, the heavenly shield, are dreams of every warlike nation, either endowing the Deity with the symbols of protection or wrath or of might, or carrying on the tradition of some weapon which, either its own intrinsic superiority or the prowess of its owner, had made an object of enthusiasm or of terror. ”

“ One of the best definitions of a coat of arms that I know, though this is not perfect, requires the twofold qualification that the design must be hereditary and must be connected with armour. And there can be no doubt that the theory of armory as we now know it is governed by those two ideas. The shields and the crests, if any decoration of a helmet is to be called a crest, of the Greeks and the Romans undoubtedly come within the one requirement. ”

“ A sword so large as to require an hundred men to lift it; a helmet that by its own weight forces a passage through a court-yard into an arched vault, big enough for a man to go through; a picture that walks out of its frame ”