Why are Viking always depicted as wearing those hats with big horns on them? If they did in fact wear them, what kind of animal did they use to get th

It is a myth that viking wore helmets with horns on them. The few helmets that did survive from the viking age do not have horns. Also any depictions from that time do not show the vikings with horned helmets. It is more likely that this was believed to make the vikings seem more savage. The christian influence in Europe most likely did this to make the vikings appear more pagan to others and more like barbarians. Another explanation is that because the Norse God Thor had a winged helmet that others mistook these for horns. There are many other other possible solutions for depicting vikings in horned helmets. If a helmet from that time did have horned I think they would be bull horns. This would be more likely because they look the more similar to artist depictions than other types of horns that belong to animals from Europe.

Source:

Top 10 Misconceptions About The Vikings. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. http://listverse.com/2009/04/21/top-10-misconceptions-about-the-vikings/.

Picture Source:

Prizvanievaryagov.jpg. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prizvanievaryagov.jpg.