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Leatherheads
By Megan Malugani
Lais (who also responds to ‘Daggrim Hjalmer,’ which loosely translates to ‘day mask helmet provider’) has loved the Vikings since childhood, when he was intrigued by their beautiful ships and fierce headgear. Lais didn’t start to craft Viking helmets however, until 2004, when he was heading to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival and wanted a cool costume. He covered a felt hat with epoxy to harden it, stained it in a wood color, and attached carpet tacks as rivets. “It looked so much like leather that people thought it was leather when they handled it,” Lais says.
Soon after RenFest, Lais did, in fact, decide to start crafting the helmets out of leather, trying to make them as authentic and as similar to real “spangenhelms” (medieval helmets made up of four riveted sections) as possible. Only four pre-Viking age and Viking age steel helmets have been unearthed, and Lais has closely copied what they’ve dug up. “I have some stylistic variations, but not much,” he says. “No leather helmets have survived [from the Viking era], but archaeologists speculate there must have been leather helmets around,” he says. “The average person could not afford a steel helmet at that time,” Lais says, noting that it would have taken the taxes of 40 farms to outfit one medieval soldier in steel armor.
Lais started selling his leather helmets at Renaissance festivals around the Midwest, perfecting his construction techniques and adding adornments like horse tail plumes and chain mail. Lais also set up shop on the Internet, and his business got a boost when Minnesota Viking Bryant McKinnie wore one of his helmets (in XL) on the cover of the Minneapolis Business Journal.
Today, amid piles of cowhide, buckets of rivets, and a Singer
sewing machine from the 1920s, Lais crafts roughly 15 helmets a year (along with dozens of medieval-era turnshoes, knives, and daggers) for a diverse group of buyers.
The vast majority of buyers are “Rennies” who like to dress up for festival and fairs, Lais says, but his website attracts interest from helmet fans nationwide.
One recent buyer, a member of a death metal band (“I’m not sure what death metal is, but I guess there’s a reason for that because I probably wouldn’t like it,” Lais says), mailed the craftsman a prized set of ram horns for mounting on his customized helmet, which also features a horse tail plume and a drape of chain mail around the neck. (Lais admits that horns are probably a “very modern embellishment...if you’ve ever worn a horn helmet around the house you know that no one would really do that because you crack into doorways as you’re walking around.”) Another buyer ordered a helmet to wear when he plays Dungeons and Dragons, and a third buyer custom-ordered a helmet to look like the headgear worn in Lord of the Rings.
While Lais’ bread-and-butter is helmets, he is constantly expanding his line of Viking paraphernalia. “I like [Viking-era craftsmanship] because there’s enough variety of things to be interested in to last me the rest of my life, from shoes to axes to clothing to skis.” The craftsmanship is a great outlet for his creativity, he notes. “There is something so satisfying about taking an immaterial idea and letting it come out through my hands. Sometimes I get a fresh look at something I’ve made, and I’m amazed that it was me who did it.”
Helmet Ho!: A basic helmet crafted by Doug Lais costs
$115, while a more elaborate helmet with multiple adornments can go for $300. You can custom-order your helmet at www.leatherhelms.com.