The claim
“Vikings wore horned helmets”
Myth
No preserved Viking helmet has horns. The look first appeared in the 19th century.
What's really going on
Horned Viking helmets are a costume idea from the 1800s. Viking-age finds and pictures don't show warriors wearing them.
The receipts
“there is no evidence that they wore horned helmets, a costume element that first appeared in the 19th century.”
“no depiction of the helmets of Viking warriors, and no preserved helmet, has horns.”
More myths
Myth“Bulls charge because they hate the color red”Bulls are dichromatic, a kind of color blindness, so the red of the cape is irrelevant to them. Myth“Goldfish have a three-second memory”Goldfish remember things for months, not seconds. Disputed“The Great Wall of China is visible from space with the naked eye”Not the way the legend says. It's too narrow and blends into the land, and astronauts disagree about whether they've seen it.