In armor, the helmet is the element that protects the head and face.
Helmet is a concept that, as detailed in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), refers to the sector of armor that, in ancient times, protected the user's face and head . The helmet, in this sense, was made up of different components, such as the helmet and the visor.
In colloquial language, the helmet is usually linked to the helmet . The need to cover the head in battle made the ancestors of the helmet appear thousands of years ago. Over time, the device changed its format.
Some helmets, for example, left the nose exposed. Others, however, covered the entire face and head. It is important to mention that the helmets also seek to provoke fear in the opponent: that is why they used to be ornamented with animal heads or have sharp shapes.
Types of helmet
The nasal helmet was characterized by having an extension that protected the center of the face, including the nose. The great helmet or bucket helmet , for its part, was very popular during the Crusades : it only had small holes for the mouth and eyes .
At the beginning of the 15th century, the closed helmet emerged. As its name indicates, it did not have openings , but rather had a visor that could be raised and lowered. This helmet also had a barbote to protect the jaws and neck.
There are multiple helmet designs.
The concept in mythology and fiction
In both fiction and mythology, the helmet has had a lot of prominence over several centuries, as can be seen in the following examples:
* Perseus, a Greek demigod, son of Zeus and Danae, stole the helmet of invisibility from Hades, the god of the underworld;
* Ulysses had a very particular helmet, made of sheep's leather and decorated with boar's teeth;
* In Don Quixote we find Mambrino's helmet , although it is actually a basin, a container used by barbers while shaving their clients, both to contain soap and to moisten facial hair. This particular helmet is very popularly known, since Cervantes' work has been adapted to film and theater many times, and promotional posters usually show Don Quixote with this helmet on his head, although it only has one appearance in the play. little relevant and never used as such;
* Túrin, the protagonist of " The Children of Húrin ", a novel by JRR Tolkien, receives the helmet of Hador in the story;
* At the beginning of the 16th century, a type of helmet called morrion emerged in Castile, which has a somewhat conical shape and a sharp-looking crest.
The helmet in the security forces and in religion
Currently, the helmets available to riot police resemble helmets. They have protection against impacts and also nasal coverage that minimizes gas inhalation.
On the other hand, in a symbolic sense, some Christian believers speak of the helmet of salvation , to refer to a series of tools that allow them to defend themselves from the attacks of their enemies. Just as the basis of the Christian religion is faith, the key element for its destruction is doubt, and this can come spontaneously or as a result of comments from the environment.
When someone who does not believe in God questions the faith of a believer, there are two extreme results: he manages to convert him to atheism with his powerful arguments; that the latter reinforces his conviction in the existence of God in said confrontation. According to the theory set forth in the previous paragraph, it is thanks to that helmet that they can defend themselves and emerge unscathed from this type of situation, to continue on the path of faith.