Gevninge helmet fragment

Gevninge helmet fragment.
The Gevninge helmet fragment is the dexter eyepiece of a Danish helmet from the Viking Age or end of the Nordic Iron Age. It was found in 2000 during the excavation of a Viking farmstead at Gevninge. The fragment is moulded from bronze and gilded, and consists of a stylised eyebrow with eyelashes above an oval opening. There are three holes at the top and bottom of the fragment to affix the eyepiece to a helmet. One of two Scandinavian eyepieces discovered alone, it may have been deposited in an invocation of the one-eyed god Odin. Gevninge is three kilometres (1.9 mi) upriver from Lejre, a one-time centre of power believed to be the setting for Heorot, the fabled mead hall to which the epic hero Beowulf journeys in search of the monster Grendel; on his way, Beowulf passes through an armed outpost comparable to Gevninge. The eyepiece has been in the collection of the Lejre Museum since its discovery, and has been exhibited internationally as part of a traveling exhibition on Vikings.