Central European boar

The Central European boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) is a subspecies of wild boar found across most of mainland Europe, except in some northern areas of Norway and Sweden, as well as parts of European Russia and southern Greece. This boar is medium-sized, with dark to rusty-brown fur and long, narrow bones near its eyes.

Boars have played important roles in many ancient cultures. In early-Medieval Germanic cultures, images of boars were carved on shields and swords, and they appeared on special Germanic boar helmets like the Benty Grange helmet. People believed these helmets offered protection and might have been used in spiritual practices. The boar was also important in Germanic paganism, linked closely to the god Freyr and possibly serving as a symbol for the Yngling royal dynasty of Sweden.

In other cultures, such as the Baltic Aesti people, boars were also featured on helmets and possibly worn as masks. The Celts held the boar in high regard, seeing it as a sacred animal. Some Celtic gods, like Moccus and Veteris, were connected to boars. While stories such as those in the Asterix series make it seem like the Celts ate a lot of boar, archaeological evidence shows that boar bones are actually rare and likely used more in rituals than as food.