A Possible Viking Haircut

[@Hin_Håle]

"I'm certainly no fasion guru", he said wearing the most stylish hat in the west.

[@Thracian117]

Lol "stupid sexy Flanders"

[@takingbackthehammer6527]

Well he does seem to have fantastic hats

[@landrecce]

Haha dude awesome comment

[@user-gh5kl7ds4y]

Not only he wears good looking hats but also has a real sense of fashion. I really appreciate his cowboy/heritage style.

[@dmitritelvanni4068]

Truth.

[@caseyaugust1846]

Not gonna lie- I thought he was going to take off his hat and have a hairstyle based on the Old English description

[@Clint52279]

That's what I call "experimental archeology!"

[@dragorsi]

same XD

[@daleb5701]

DISSAPOINTEDDDD!

[@vrixphillips]

same! Slightly disappointed he didn't, but if that's what it was, I can't very well blame him xD

[@WoWGamer226]

i wanted this to happen SO badly

[@benwelch710]

A 600 year difference, but the haircut being described sounds quite a bit like some haircuts associated with Gallowglass Irish Mercenaries in the 16th century: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Durer-Irish-16thC.jpg

[@viking3744344]

Interesting depiction!

[@Clint52279]

Great find! I realize the "Hollywood Vikings" look is a far from what they wouldve actually looked like, but what was being described by JC sounded a bit dorky. (Vikings had bowl cuts?) The Irish mercs dont look that bad.

[@Clint52279]

Also, I wanted to add, the shaved neck part sounds like some of the Norman hairstyles seen on the Bayeux tapestry, the men on the tapestry aren't sporting the bangs, though.

[@benwelch710]

It should also be noted that Gallowglass Companies are also known for using what are functionally evolved dane axes, so the idea that some Norse influence remained half a millennia later isn't all that strange. Axe: i.redd.it/df3lw8wy3vi41.jpg

[@AlphaOmegaCreations]

Makes a lot of sense considering their heritage!

[@Julian_The_Apostate]

From this day forth I declare that any man or woman who allows the side shaved ponytail in a viking age show or film will be outlawed for a year and one day.

[@MrEnaric]

'Útlaginn allra!' ;-)

[@knight907]

What studio are you an executive with power over style decisions for? 😜

[@vitaemecha]

If you are capable of enforcing this go right ahead.

[@MackDnD]

"Please, no! It's Geralt of Rivia cut!"

[@jordanwhitecar1982]

love the "you know, i give up" on the info card before the old english quote. made me chuckle.

[@yogummler]

I literally couldn't stop laughing for a full minute straight 😅

[@Ravynwulf]

Jordan Whitecar Me too! 😂

[@klasnm_5364]

If they used helmets with chain mail in the back my guess is they kept the hair short to avoid it getting entangled. "Had a rough day at work and now I can't remove my helmet!"

[@victorkreig6089]

wearing a helmet was also optional and not something everyone did, but that was my first thought as well

[@Cliff82]

That makes sense

[@TulilaSalome]

You do need to wear padding under both mail and helmets. Later medieval under helmet headgear is called an 'arming cap' - u can search if interested - and we do not know what Vikings wore (as far as I know) but maybe some sort of knitted hood - sort of knitting was known, but no proof of similar padded clothing exists, as later in medieval Europe was worn under armour. Still, hair at the back of the head does tangle and get matted more easily in general.

[@johanstevens5824]

Vikings probably wore something beneath their mail, as most did, like a cap and shirt, often padded

[@redstone1999]

I would wear my hair short for battle and long during peace times. Last thing I want is my enemy to have some hair or beard to get a hold of. Hair in your eyes during battle is never a good idea. I assume this was also true for my ancestors. In fact I wear a brush-cut during summer while gardening and forestry work. I let it grow out from June to following May. When the weather is cold and the hair & beard helps deal with that.

[@Danheim]

Hold my horn, where's that freakin' razor!

[@memevarg2530]

Oh hi Danheim! Love your music!

[@JensVanDeAarde]

💚

[@jornsongardr5298]

Hail Danheim

[@skullkssounds1938]

You are a legend

[@PiracyandDumbbells]

Skål, Danhiem. Thank you for your incredible work.

[@MismeretMonk]

6:44 In Dutch we still call the back of the neck 'nek' and the front 'hals'.

[@AttiliusRex]

Nacke & Hals in swedish

[@julyisblue1880]

Nacken and Hals in german 😅

[@tzebet8707]

Nakke and hals in norwegian 👍🏻

[@Winther1973]

Nakke and hals in Denmark.

[@JoiskiMe]

Nakke og hals in Norwegian 🇳🇴

[@Celticelery]

Speaking as a man with shoulder-length hair, people do overestimate how much it gets in the way. Simply tying it back gets it out of the way very effectively, and if you have a hat - or helmet - on it than those locks aren't getting in the way of anything. Also, I propose we dub the haircut discussed in this video 'the reverse mullet'. Party in the front, business in the back.

[@otterheart3844]

I have hair to my hips that I grew out from shaved and I'd agree that long hair is pretty simple to tie up. Mid neck length however is a nightmare because it can't be tied back and does get in your face.

[@Celticelery]

@@otterheart3844 Yeah, neck-length hair is terribly hard to tame. I've had that length of hair before and only a hat kept it back. It also doesn't look as majestic as shoulder-length.

[@mrjones2721]

Hair stays out of the way when it’s too short to do anything, or when it’s long enough to tie up securely. (But not too long, because hair headaches are a thing.) Everything in the middle is a fidgety nightmare unless you use so much product or so many clips that you’re not saving any time.

[@ob7514]

In modern swedish we still have "Nacke" for the back of the neck and "Hals" for the front. Although there are times when you can use Hals to mean the entire neck.

[@sisuguillam5109]

Nacken in german, and Hals meaning the whole thing and the front, too. 😀

[@hppd1699]

Possibly akin to modern English speakers in the U.S. where neck surmises the whole, nape the back, and throat, via German þrotbolla, which implied the "throat ball", or Adam's Apple (larynx.)

[@benstoyles1297]

Sounds like the Norman Bayeaux Tapestry haircut: shaved on the back of the neck with the front hair grown long and cut to frame the eyes. Bjorn in season 1/2 of Vikings has a pretty decent version of this cut.

[@rogerlibby14613]

Mary Clayton has pointed to the haircut I have always associated with vikings.

[@edwardbackman744]

I will never forgive the History channel for definitively setting the standard viking haircut

[@sillyquiet]

History channel has a whole list of sins to answer for with regard to falsely representing Dark Age Scandinavians.

[@anotherelvis]

I blame Jim Lyngvild for his exhibition at the Danish national museum :-)

[@psyolytesaille]

@@sillyquiet I stopped watching when they were riding the Christianity horse. They were trying to convince themselves more than anything. It was suspicious af to me. Looking into it and almost everything ended up with the Vatican owning or trying to own things to hide from the rest of the world anyway. So why were they lying?

[@NH-rn3wz]

Their haircuts are kinda cool though, even if not historically accurate

[@MoriartySquash]

If you're talking about the show "Vikings", young Björn actually had a very similar haircut to what JC described. Just image search: "vikings young bjorn"

[@drewweaves7573]

I find it interesting how strikingly similar Sidonius’s description of the Franks is 400 years earlier. "...on the crown of [their] red pates lies the hair that has been drawn towards the front, while the neck, exposed by the loss of its covering, shows bright. Their eyes are faint and pale, with a glimmer of greyish blue. Their faces are shaven all round, and instead of beards they have thin moustaches which they run through with a comb. Close-fitting garments confine the tall limbs of the men; they are drawn up high so as to expose the knees, and a broad belt supports their narrow middle."

[@niemandkeiner8057]

Paul The Deacon's description of Longobards is very similar: "They shaved the neck, and left it bare up to the back of the head, having their hair hanging down on the face as far as the mouth and parting it on either side by a part in the forehead." Also Sviatoslav, the Grand Prince of Kiev in the X century (allegedly grandson of Rurik) is described wearing a somewhat similar hairstyle with a long sidelock and moustache.

[@drewweaves7573]

@@niemandkeiner8057 Completely forgot about that one! Seems to me that the shaved neck was a pan-Germanic fashion then. I seem to recall a Roman statuette of a Suebian with a typical Suebian knot and the back of the neck shaved pretty far up. Perhaps it was only worn by the warrior class as there are so many other depictions out there that don’t include it.

[@meginna8354]

@@niemandkeiner8057 Sviatoslav has the Cossack hairstyle, i think it's originally from the Huns or the Scythians.

[@niemandkeiner8057]

@@meginna8354 Are there any sources to support your claims?

[@meginna8354]

​@@niemandkeiner8057 I would have to go all over the place to find the stuff, basically this haircut started as a Turkic and central Asian thing and later started working it's way into various Slavic cultures

[@caspian8650]

So...undercuts and emo bangs? Excellent.

[@Hin_Håle]

If you watch the Netflix show "Norsemen" (a norwegian comedy series), you can see two characters who I think are sporting that very haircut or something like it. I think it looks pretty badass. Not that I could ever pull it off myself.

[@brandonwhaley5158]

If you take a look at the haircuts depicted in Albrecht Durer's rendition of Gallowglass mercenaries I think you'll see what was described in the letter Dr. Crawford quoted.

[@delanebredvik]

Just looked it up. Thanks for the reference. Those mercenaries are actually rocking that cut.

[@Zakiriel]

Sounds like earlier echos of that odd Norman military haircut.

[@KaptainViciorious]

Yeah, I was thinking the same. It is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

[@MrEnaric]

Exactly. Not an uniquely 'Norman' coupe it seems

[@GA1313E]

The normans were, after all, quite influenced by the norse. So it would make sense that there is some sort of progression. Especially if the hairstyle spread to England as well

[@Grabbael]

It's actually mentioned in the video in text.

[@yelena7997]

The Viking Mohawk started from a frustrated Hollywood hair dresser - when preparing for filming for the Vikings pilot (history channel). The main characters didn’t have long enough hair, not even long enough to be woven w/o looking odd- she decided to weave only a modified Mohawk n leave the sides short. The Vikings show had such success they were given a 2nd season & the hair style was too popular to change. Plus there was already another period piece series- guys in 1920’s shaved-sides style hair. Everything got called Viking Mohawk. ✂️Peace.

[@lotuslady9821]

Is this the same haircut Bjorn originally had when he was first shown as an adult? I’ve read several sources saying his original haircut best matches the Viking haircut descriptions

[@LS2258]

@@lotuslady9821 the hairstyle of Bjørn when it’s super short with a little bit of hair at the top of the head? Yes that’s accurate.

[@reneedailey1696]

Peaky Blinders, yeah.

[@Crash103179]

My understanding is the Normans continued with the shaved neck as this is where head lice like to live.

[@ELCinWYO]

I'd agree, when I worked at a daycare that's where we first looked.

[@MrEnaric]

Interesting description! Haircuts leaving the hair longer in front and shorter or real short in the neck was also a Frisian fashion among 'fresiska kempan', or warriors around this time. This fashion is depicted in some church murals in East Frisia and Westerlauwersk Fryslân. Along with the popularity of the feared 'long' (Danish) axes they used, this could relate to either the same fashion of (non AngloSaxon) warriors of the era, or 'Danish' fashion that remained popular here. The 20th Landriucht, a law from the 9th century makes clear that Frisians and Danes went á Víkingr side by side, so they undoubtedly shared the same warrior culture in at least the 9th and 10th centuries.

[@michaeldique]

So, Halfdan's hair style in Vikings might actually somewhat genuine then.

[@shea4743]

Anyone else curious about the story involving "impressing the judge" lol

[@harjutapa]

That sidescript, though: "...you know, I give up" Do a lot of people get grumpy about how you pronounce stuff?

[@tomrogue13]

A collaboration with Simon Roper is what I've been waiting for since forever

[@josephcargyle3681]

I belly laughed hard at "please note that I am using the reconstructed.... you know what I give up" 🤣🤣🤣

[@gatornator8267]

Now although the series “Vikings” may miss the mark some what often maybe the description of that haircut may be similar to that of Leif from season one? Or that of Ragnar’s son Björn when he was young and a young man? Pretty interesting though!

[@Taylor-ou7xp]

I know it's kind of blasphemous to mention Vikings once again, but as you were describing the bald neck and long front hair it reminded me right away of Halfdan, the brother of King Harald

[@Ihrida]

Bring back long hair Jackson Crawford, it looked way too good.

[@hjalti0000]

Noooooo Vikings are supposed to have dreadlocks and leather armor and look like electric sex gods

[@DarrinCalvinRoenfanz]

I have lost count of the amount of people I've come across that say "Umm actually, I'm descended from Vikings and they did have dreadlocks, and..." Ugh.

[@Pfhreak]

@@DarrinCalvinRoenfanz I've mostly encountered people claiming the Ancient Celtic warriors limewashing their hair was proof they had dreadlocks because it looks like dreads on ancient coins (whose art is famously photorealistic 🙄).

[@LucidWanderer]

Very difficult to know if they had leather armor or not simply because it degrades easily over time compared to Metal but it is written in Icelandic sagas that Reindeer leather was used to make leather armor as it was supposed to be superior to other leathers.

[@hjalti0000]

@@LucidWanderer They mostly wore padded quilted gambesons, just like continental Europeans, and occasionally really rich Vikings could afford chainmail. Again, just like continental Europeans. There hasn't been a single "Viking"-themed show ever made that accurately portrays how they looked, and it's telling. Even that video game Dr. Jackson worked on got it wrong.

[@LucidWanderer]

@@hjalti0000 Could you give me your reasoning or perhaps link a source to the knowledge that they wore gambesons?

[@patrickblanchette4337]

Mr. Crawford, at first you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.

[@owenswanson1627]

The way its described sounds very similar to how some men in the bayeux tapestry are depicted, with bare back of the head and longer fronts

[@IndigoSpeaker]

Might not be the same comfortably predictable paycheck that comes from teaching at an institution, but I must say that I find it immensely gratifying to see the growing trend toward intelligent, knowledgeable people becoming the "celebrities" of the internet. Hope you find it rewarding to share yourself and your knowledge out here on the net. it's appreciated.

[@frostysnoman9091]

What the OE passage brought to my mind was the pictures of Irish Gallowglass warriors who were depicted in the 16th century as having shortish haircuts with the bangs left long to hang in the eyes in a sort of bowl cut manner. I realize there is a chronological issue there, but as the vikings had much influence in Ireland, I wonder if something like the haircut might have been retained...

[@JordanMPoss]

That had me thinking of the Norman haircuts depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, too. The Norman elite were Norse-descended but "frenchified," as one historian put it, so it might be a bit of a stretch to imagine it being a surviving Norse fashion choice. My first thought was that it might have been, by the 11th century, more of a practical consideration given the prevalence of mail coifs and such, though the Normans and Anglo-Saxons are depicted wearing virtually identical equipment and the haircut was apparently distinct enough that the women who embroidered the Tapestry took pains to include it as an identifying detail. As far as I can recall none of the Anglo-Saxons, who were influenced by the Danes enough to have a body of huscarls armed with Danish broad-axes with the king, have a similar do. Who knows? Just enough information to be tantalizing.

[@starrcitizenalpha7847]

Hi. There is a simple truth about long hair and beards when it comes to close combat: they both become convenient "handles" to control the opponents head, particularly long hair. The concept of combatants ("Vikings" etc.) keeping the backs of their heads close cropped and beards neatly trimmed make perfect sense to me, at least prior to the introduction of armour such as the Aventail (as displayed in the Grimfrost advertisement). There is, of course, some benefit to keeping some hair on your head if you live in a cold climate, so the discussed hair cut would seem a practical compromise.

[@thomaswillard6267]

4:20 I, personally, have quite enjoyed watching the breakdown of Dr Crawford. From respected and groomed professor to a youtuber peacocking with a skin cap admitting defeat to the internet mob.

[@BOBofGH]

This sounds similar to the “Norman haircut”. In fact they gave it to some of the characters in the show Vikings. They have bangs, but shave the back of their head.

[@vikingventures3888]

Thank you so much for this video. I love to hear you talk about different subjects. I seem to remember reading somewhere (perhaps in Njals saga?) about a woman with very long hair, that she had tucked in under her belt, so that the hair would flow nicely over her chest. Now I'm gonna have to find that reference again.

[@KrittikaAdhikary]

Hallgerd in Njals saga I believe!

[@vikingventures3888]

@@KrittikaAdhikary That sounds familiar! Thank you 😊

[@matthewclements6603]

The hairstyle sounds like of like the ones the Norman’s had in the Bayeux tapestry.

[@artrioangelus]

OH, I thought Viking Haircut referred to having one's head chopped off. My bad.

[@samuelterry6354]

Seems very practical; you don't want something the enemy can grab on to. The Roman military had short back and sides for the same reason.

[@anthonyhargis6855]

The "mohawk" seems unreasonable. Hair's primary purpose is to keep your head warm. Where do the vikings come from? Yeah, I'm thinking there weren't a lot of vikings that chose to run around partially bald.

[@walkerealy8985]

you know I had a mohawk for a while and it was great in the summer, but once the fall winds came boy did I miss my locks

[@anthonyhargis6855]

@@walkerealy8985 That's what I'm saying. As he points out, perhaps there was a style that raiders used WHILE IN THE SOUTH (for all intents and purposes) but not in their homeland. Summers there aren't all that long.

[@TenkaFubu]

@@anthonyhargis6855 Half the year is not winter. It's common to cut your hair short in the spring and summer today, so why not then?

[@anthonyhargis6855]

@@TenkaFubu You DID NOT read all my comments, did you? Typical. Ignoring you now. Post what you will.

[@TenkaFubu]

@@anthonyhargis6855 I live in Scandinavia, We have short hair here. It's not some thing tat you would only do when going to a slightly more southern country .

[@manorueda1432]

So interesting, the kind and variety of resources and materials that need to be studied to get a good idea of many historical details... descriptions, letters, figures, poems... it's fascinating!

It does actually ring a bell... Entire back of the head shaved and then something like a beatles cut in the front. Where have I seen that? Some old Swedish cartoon. I grew up in Sweden in the 80’s btw...

[@w18853]

In Dutch we use the same difference between the back of the neck (=nek) and the front (=hals)

[@oathboundsecrets]

I imagine a kind of bowl cut, going from the eyebrows round to the back of the head, and shaved underneath.

[@k.v.delchev6022]

There's a miniature of varangians in Skylitzes, that shows the varangians with big beards and generally longish hair. Their necks are bare indeed, but in general, they don't look very different than any other non-Byzantines. Also, and somewhat frustratingly, Byzantine sources never forget to remind us that they were axe-bearers, but omit any other peculiarities about their clothes, armor, looks etc. Interestingly, in Laxadela saga, there's actually a much more detailed description, when Bolli, a norse warrior, returns from service in Constantinople. We read about his helm, shield, coat... By the way, there's also a weird mention there, after his death, one of his killers says that Gudrun will now have much less red hair to trim off him or something like that. I have no idea if that was supposed to be some beheading joke that got lost in the translation or whatever, but I thought it was interesting to mention.

[@meginna8354]

What does it say about Bolli's helm, hield and coat?

[@anotherelvis]

IIRC one of the Jomsvikings asked for asked for someone to hold his long golden hair while he was being decapitated. So he probably did not have a shaved neck.

[@ELCinWYO]

It could have been just on top but the neck still shaved.

[@imp8453]

As he says in the video, its one possible haircut people probably had. Not everyone had it.

[@beetastik8219]

I just received your Poetic Edda today, and it's absolutely beautiful. Thank you.

[@pierce4026]

These videos never come up in my recommended anymore but I love this channel

[@paulhood7316]

Like a young Bjorn Ironsides in the TV show Vikings

[@ashley587]

Now I just wanna see games and films where all the vikings look like Beatles.

[@lakrids-pibe]

Who's that little old man?

[@kellimbt]

@@lakrids-pibe he's probably very clean. 😉

[@Hwyadylaw]

I really just want to see them depicted as differently as possible, while not getting any more unhistorical than the current popular style.

[@DieLorel31]

And then they just break out in song “shield-maidens and Norsemen, þe beatlr”

[@schoolingdiana9086]

Oh! I think I know what it means. Check out pics of Native American scalp locks. These were common in the East Coast woodland tribes that actually had contact with Vikings around 900AD and possibly earlier. I’ve seen some tribes have them with bangs.

[@T-RexABMC]

I think the history channel took the center cut called the Chub or crest in Slavic. It is used by the Slavic tribes, the Ottomans, and more famous by the Cossacks.

[@HeatherRenee2017]

I think there was also another discovery from a priest, it was in Josh Gates show about Vikings. They described it as just having bangs from the middle top of the head and forward. The middle of the top of the head to the back is bald.

[@ZForce151]

Have you seen the show Norseman on Netflix, not only is my favourite comedy of all times but a couple of the characters may have this hairstyle you are referring to, although it is not long in the front like described, the cut on the back sounds about the same. The two characters who have this hairstyle are Rangar and his best friend. Check out Season 3 Episode 2 at 5 minutes and again at 14 minutes. Then go back and watch the entire series because it's hilarious!

[@livbirka403]

When I heard the description..bald neck and blinded eyes, I first thought maybe of the Suebian knot style of men’s hair. possibly the bald reference could refer to the hair being pulled up tight on the neck, and the the blind eye ref could be how the knot sometimes hangs low over the brow. Just a thought. I’m not sure this style would still be worn during that time period, but it is documented that it was worn in and around Denmark but much earlier.

[@mormacil]

Long hair really doesn't get in the way of fighting if you braid it. From Asia to the Americas warriors have had extreme long hair. The key is not wearing it loose...

[@MikefromTexas1]

So kinda like the style seen on young boys in Vikings? Bare neck/rear head, hair on top/front.

[@clairemargery]

Oh no, it's the Norman fringe. I'd be curious about the date of the OE excerpt...

[@TacticalTrainer223]

I have an undercut just because I think it looks cool. Whenever someone says “nice Viking haircut” my eyes roll back so far I can see my brain. Almost makes me want to change it lol

[@drewweaves7573]

It’s a Frisian haircut ;) Even cooler.

[@Sk1tz092]

@@drewweaves7573 What's it called? Can't find it when searching 'Frisian Haircut' :p

[@drewweaves7573]

@@Sk1tz092 I can’t remember the name for it I seem to recall there was indeed a Frisian name for it though. Bartholomaeus Anglicus in his early 13th century work De Proprietatibus Rerum gives a short description which matches seal and church painting depictions of this haircut. “The Germans call the inhabitants of the province Frisians. They strongly distinguish themselves from the Germans in dress and customs. Almost all men have cut their hair all around. And the nobler they are, the more honour they reckon it the higher their hair is cut. The Frisians are tall of stature, strong of virtue, severe and sharp of spirit, quick as very agile of body. Instead of arrows they use iron spears.”

[@coreybeck9739]

I know exactly what you mean

[@xinic5]

I feel similarly about my Thor's hammer pendent abd interest in Norse myth. I got into it after reading Beowulf, and my English teacher describing (often I accurately) viking age men. She even had me stand up to "show how tall they were." Because I am and was 6'5" at the time. A few months later I started reading a book that retells North myths. Learning about Odin during that time made me feel a connection to the character. Because I was also in search of knowledge about the world my religious views had basicaly disappeared and my sense of everything was radically changing. Theres some other stuff too but, it's frustrating that because I like Norse myth, the viking age, that people think my beard or anything remoty "Viking" I do to try to look like a viking. I have a beard because I have British no chin ancestry...🤣

[@strontiumdog3344]

I’m reminded of the British skinhead sub-culture where the girls have a short, cropped hairstyle with only a fringe (bangs) at the front, grown long. Maybe?

[@bootshockley2072]

Look to the Bayeux Tapestry for the depiction of William of Normandy to see a version of the haircut spoken of.

[@DeSvenster]

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but i've read about this particular "viking" haircut once, and it was believed that this was worn specifically by viking warriors, to protect themselves from being pulled by their (long) hair during battle.

[@maxviking3210]

That kind of haircut is often depicted in swedish younger men during the viking age. You can see Björn Järnsida (Ironside) has it in the movies. I don’t know why that was fashion.. perhaps the neck protection.. I can’t remeber the english name but it is like a metal net.. like a mesh armour made of steel.. and pervaps the hair got stuck in that mesh so it was nore convenient to ahave it if in the back.

[@brightonbegole5459]

The "mohawk" hair comes from the hairstylist for the show Vikings. Because there isn't much known on Norse hairstyles, they pretty much just told her to make up whatever, and it stuck. Bit of a bruh moment, but at least she made some visually impressive stuff.

[@LiMaking]

Sounds like a very high undercut to me :) maybe even up to the top of the head, and then the hair is styled to the front in cool bangs.

[@rolferikbaklkk6613]

The Normanns shaved the back of their heads to keep it from getting tangled in the chainmail because the neckprotection was chainmail. And the Normanns was Norwegian Vikings to begin with.

[@cuckoo61]

Dr Crawford, will you be sharing at least part of the discussion with Simon for us non-patrons? It's the crossover I've been waiting for :D

[@TheMidgardViking]

The TV show Vikings got it right in the first season the the boy version of Bjorn, but that was it. After that, the Mohawk became dominant throughout the show, leading to create a pop-culture haircut.

[@gypsyjunklady]

As always, the disclaimer that I bow to the superior knowledge on this one, but I have to agree that it seems most people of a fighting class couldn't likely afford to be impractical. I wonder if it had something to do with the way the helmets were structured and the application and removal of them, and how hairs could tend to get caught between say, some of the joints between parts of them. If you were going to wear one, it may rub the back of the head at the base of the skull which it was likely to fit snuggly enough against to be at lower risk of falling off in battle. That snugness may have meant a lot of friction that would best be solved by strategic hair removal, regardless of aesthetics. Much the way the Roman army began the tradition of our more modern military haircuts to accommodate their revolutionary new helmet styles that were tighter to the head and gave them some distinct advantages, but also required alteration of the hair to make them work. I remember boys in school shaving their shins only for the shin guards they wore in soccer. Not cute, but solved a very real problem of pulled hairs and sore shins. I could be wrong, but it seems potentially reasonable to me. Just as it would seem a definite choice of haircut that would only apply to someone fighting in their army, which might prompt a brother to take it as a sign of a very real indication that someone had defected to the "other side". Interesting. Not sure if the reverse mullet will make a comeback, but if it does, I'm sure some of us will be just as frightened by it as people were the first go round lol.

[@coyote4237]

Lived and grew up in the 80s. Loved it. Miss the big hair and the music.

[@neon-kitty]

To be fair, long hair can always be tied or pinned up, braided, etc. so that it doesn't impede your vision or get in the way of fighting. Thus, I don't think that that's a good argument against the idea of Norse warriors having had long hair. (I'm also not arguing that they did, though. I'm woefully ignorant on the subject xD.) As an aside, the whole front of neck/back of neck thing, if it's anything like modern German (where we still have two words for neck: "Hals" and "Nacken"), works a tiny bit differently. "Nacken" indeed only refers to the back of the neck but "Hals" can actually refer to the entirety of the neck including the back of the neck, or just the front of the neck, or the throat (for example, "Halsschmerzen" (literally "neck pain") is German for "sore throat").

[@labhrainn]

I seem to remember somebody once describing it as a "reverse mullet"....

[@macfilms9904]

Given that at least some norse helmets seem to have had a mail aventail, keeping your hair quite short in back might mean not having it catch in the rings and tear chunks of hair out when you remove the helmet. Many norse helmets seem to have had an upper face shield, having a sort of bowl cut in front wouldn't be a problem. In fact, that is evocative of another hair style from 4 or 500 years later - in the 14th & 15th century - a period where you might want your hair not to poke out from your quilted arming cap and getting in the way of various armor pieces like a gorget or bevoir.

[@ribanamay3724]

That's interesting! In German we also differentiate between neck=>Nacken (backside) and heals=> Hals.(Front or entirety of the neck). There is also Kehle which specifies the front middle part of the neck only, a bit like the English "throat". I'm wondering why Anglophone speakers don't do that (anymore).

[@johnnycolon3208]

It's possible we stopped doing it after the Norman Conquest when large amounts of French entered the lexicon. However, it's just as possible that we just stopped using it. English is highly pliable. We're forever adding new words or loan words or throwing other words out. It isn't known as "the Bastard Tongue" for nothing. It's a proper mish-mash.

[@westoeden]

I'm playing AC Valhalla and that weird mohawk Viking haircut is there as well and they have tattoos. It drives me nuts.

[@shewearswoolsocks2883]

Love the hat! Sounds like an interesting haircut, different than what we might think for sure! Cheers!

[@TheNerd3129037012]

I have a shaved undercut with long hair on top. I tend to pull it back into a bun or ponytail. Looks like I was doing it right all along!

[@Vox_793]

Very interesting video! The description reminds me of the Norman haircut (entire back of the head shaved, leaving the crown of the head medium long and front facing)

[@KTo288]

Sounds like a less extreme version of the Polish half shaven czupryna, cossack chupryna haircut. Shaved at the back with just the forelock in front.

[@ajb7332]

The hair style mentioned sounds very like an Irish Galloglass 'glib' haircut.

[@dmitritelvanni4068]

Idk where the common style comes from, but I kinda like it regardless of historical accuracy. It's a good idea. I definitely find my hair gets I the way quite a bit and I've been tempted to try the style out myself. The practical aspect seems useful. But I guess I won't know how effective it is for tying up medium long hair until I try it.

[@XcaliburReborn]

If that's all there is to go by as a description then young bjorns haircut from the vikings TV show is spot on

[@BachStudios]

I am not entirely convinced that we can take “ableredum hneccan and ablendum eagum” to be an exact description; it seems to me that there may be a level of poetic license. Perhaps merely the use of hneccan instead of heals because it is closer in sound to eagum, or describing the bangs as ‘blinding’ for the similarity between “ableredum” and “ablendum”.

[@Hwyadylaw]

6:35 Interesting (but not surprising) In today's North Germanic languages this distinction is still about the same. Hals/Håls/Háls for neck in general or throat, and Nakke/Hnakki/Nacke for the back of the neck.

[@ConstantijnII]

After that description I think it might be similar to the way Björn in Vikings had his hair when he was younger.

[@GoodmansGhost]

I had to google the Bayeux Tapestry and look for the haircut and yeah, there are clearly some that shave the back of the head, I'd probably have taken it for someone bald (or illustrated as bald for clarity) with a helmet or headdress of some sort had I not known the connection.

[@nikitachaykin6774]

Hairstyle description sounds like cossack hairstyle with Chub in front and shaved back and sides of a head.

[@twistysunshine]

Love that hat!!

[@jkorkea]

you can see the shaven "hnecca" hairstyle being rocked in the Vikings, at least by young Björn Järnsida

[@TheHengeProphet]

What the haircut seems to describe is similar to medieval a "page cut", in that the hair is cut in a fashion as to not snag onto any bits of helmet.

[@jennyhohmann4384]

The haircut sounds like the “devil lock” hairstyle popularized in the late 70s bu The Misfits frontman Glenn Danzig.

[@t.r.everstone7]

This bare-necked, banged haircut might be what they were trying to protray in Vikings with young Bjorn's hairstyle and the similar style of many other characters.

[@aaronpearson1744]

Anyone else hear the "bald necks" thing and imagine vikings following youtube tutorials on edging up the neckline for their beards?

[@Demothones]

I have an undercut like the Hollywood Vikings but I knew it wasn’t “authentic” when I started growing it. After 26 years of active federal service in the Army I was going to grow my hair however I wanted. I did read something at some point recently that suggested that there was a group from continental Europe who had haircuts that might have been undercuts. I cannot remember who they were though, maybe the Saxons?

[@henrikparsgaard9648]

This seems oddly similar to the Norman haircut. What most people who aren't cluey about historical fashion, would associate with the cut Björn had as a child from the show Vikings. I think this would make sense as many Danes became Normans

[@charlietizzardokevlahan3130]

I've always wondered whether the 'viking mohawk' we see actually comes from depictions on Pictish picture stones. We see short sided and very long back type haircuts, the best example being the Inchbrayock Stone

[@awidda]

I actually did this hair cut a few years ago. To look like Björns did in I think Season 2 of Vikings. I usually shave designs into the back of my head and I wear everything from the ears forward long. It's gotten down to my shoulders in the front.

[@laughingdaffodils5450]

Shaving or cutting very closely the hair on the back of the head seems to have often happened, in association with wearing helmets. Probably makes it easier to get a tolerable fit.