Berserker

Berserkers
In Old Norse literature, those who fought in a trance-like state were referred to as berserkers, a characteristic from which the modern English word berserk (angry, violent, or out of control) originated. Berserkers are mentioned in numerous Old Norse sources. It was also believed that this behaviour was triggered or enhanced by the consumption of psychoactive drugs, with henbane and/or alcohol being the most likely candidates. The proposed hypothesis that they might have consumed Muscimol mushrooms during their berserk state has been largely discredited, especially in light of the known psychoactive effects of Muscimol.

Etymology

The Old Norse form of the word was berserkr (plural berserkir). It likely means "bear shirt" (compare the Middle English word serk, meaning "shirt"), "someone who wears a coat made of bear skin." The 13th-century historian Snorri Sturluson interpreted the meaning as "naked shirt," meaning that the warriors went into battle without armour, but this view has been largely dismissed.

Early Beginnings

Some authors believe that the northern warrior tradition has its origins in hunting magic. There were three important animal cults: the bear, the wolf, and the wild boar.

The bas-relief carvings on Trajan's Column in Rome depict scenes from Trajan's conquest of Dacia between 101-106 AD. These scenes show Roman soldiers, as well as auxiliary troops and allies from the border areas of Rome, including tribal warriors from both sides of the Rhine. There are warriors depicted barefoot and bare-chested, wearing weapons and helmets associated with the Germans. Scene 36 on the column shows some of these warriors standing together, some wearing bear and others wolf caps. Nowhere else in history is it reported that Germanic bear warriors and wolf warriors fought together until the year 872 AD, when Thórbiörn Hornklofi describes the Battle of Hafrsfjord, where they fought together for King Harald Fairhair of Norway. In the spring of 1870, Erik Gustaf Pettersson and Anders Petter Nilsson discovered four cast bronze dice, the Torslunda plates, in a stone pile on the grounds of farm number 5 Björnhovda in the Torslunda parish of Öland, Sweden, one of which appears to depict a berserker ritual.

Berserkers - Bear Warriors

Some authors suspect that berserkers drew their strength from the bear and were followers of the bear cult, which was once widespread across the northern hemisphere. The berserkers maintained their religious practices despite their combat prowess, as in the Svarfdæla Saga, where a challenge to single combat is delayed by a berserker until three days after Christmas. The bodies of dead berserkers were laid out in bear skins before their burial, and the symbolism of the bear warriors has survived to this day in the form of bear skin hats worn by the Danish royal guard.

In battle, berserkers were often overtaken by fits of rage. They howled like wild animals, foamed at the mouth, and gnawed on the edges of their shields. It was believed that during these fits, they were immune to steel and fire, wreaking great havoc in the enemy ranks. When the fever passed, they became weak and tame. Reports of this can be found in the sagas.

To "berserk" meant "hamask", which translates as "to change shape," in this case meaning to enter a state of wild fury. Some scholars have interpreted those who could transform into berserkers as hamrammr or "form-strong" — literally able to take the shape of a bear. For example, the group of men who accompany Skallagrim in Egils Saga to King Harald to avenge his brother Thorolf’s murder are described as "the toughest men, with an uncanny air about some of them... they were built and shaped more like trolls than humans." This has sometimes been interpreted to mean that the men were hamrammr, although there is no broad consensus. Another example of hamrammr comes from the Saga of Hrólf Kraki, where the story of Bödvar Bjarki is told. He is a berserker who can transform into a bear, and he uses this ability to fight for King Hrólfr Kraki: "The people saw that a large bear was walking in front of King Hrolf’s men, always staying close to the king. It struck down more men with its front paws than all of the king’s five warriors."

Úlfhéðnar - Wolf Warriors

Wolf warriors appear in the legends of the Indo-Europeans, Turks, Mongols, and Native Americans. The Germanic wolf warriors left their traces through shields and standards, which were seized by the Romans and exhibited in the Armilustrium in Rome.

The frenzied warriors who wore wolf pelts were called Úlfhéðnar ("wolf cloak"; singular Úlfheðinn), another term associated with berserkers. They are mentioned in the Vatnsdæla Saga, Haraldskvæði, and Völsunga Saga, and are consistently referred to as a type of berserker in the sagas. The first Norwegian king, Harald Fairhair, is mentioned in several sagas as the follower of an elite guard of úlfhéðnar. It is said that they wore the pelt of a wolf when they went into battle. Úlfhéðnar are sometimes described as Odin’s special warriors: "[Odin’s] men went without their chainmail and were as wild as dogs or wolves, biting into their shields... they struck down men, but neither fire nor iron had any effect on them. This is called ‘berserkergang’." Furthermore, the Torslunda shield press depicts a scene of Odin with a berserker wearing wolf pelts and a spear as a distinguishing mark: "a wolf-pelt warrior with the seemingly one-eyed dancer in a bird-horned helmet, generally interpreted as a scene pointing to a relationship between the berserker... and the god Odin."

"Jöfurr" - Proposed Boar Warriors

In Norse mythology, the wild boar was a sacred animal to the Vanir. The mighty god Freyr owned the wild boar Gullinbursti, and the goddess Freyja owned the Hildisvíni ("battle boar"), and these wild boars are depicted on Swedish and Anglo-Saxon ceremonial objects. Similar to the berserkers and the Úlfhéðnar, the boar warriors also used the strength of their animal, the boar, as the foundation for their martial art.

Evidence

Berserkers appear in a variety of other sagas and poems. Many earlier sagas portray berserkers as bodyguards, elite soldiers, and masters of the kings. This image changed over time, and the sagas increasingly depicted berserkers as braggarts rather than heroes, and as voracious men who plundered, raided, and killed indiscriminately. In the sagas, berserkers can be classified into four distinct types: the king’s berserker, the hall berserker, the hólmgangumaðr (duel berserker), and the Viking berserker. Later, berserkers were viewed by Christian commentators as "heathen devils."

The earliest surviving mention of the term "berserker" is found in the Haraldskvæði, a skaldic poem written by Thórbiörn Hornklofi in the late 9th century in honour of King Harald Fairhair, describing them as ulfheðnar ("men in wolf pelts"). This translation from the Haraldskvæði Saga describes King Harald’s berserkers:

"I ask the berserkers, your taster of blood,
These undaunted heroes, how they are treated,
Who wade into battle?
Wolf-skinned they are called. In battle,
They carry bloody shields.
Red with blood are their spears when they come to fight.
They form a closed group.
The prince, in his wisdom, relies on such men
Who hack through the shields of the enemy."

The "blood tasters" (kenning) in this passage are thought to refer to ravens, who feast on the slain.

The Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) wrote the following description of berserkers in his Ynglinga Saga:

"His (Odin’s) men rushed forward without armour, were as wild as dogs or wolves, bit into their shields, and were as strong as bears or wild oxen, killing men with a blow, but neither fire nor iron had any effect on them. This was called berserkergang."

The use of berserkers as "shock troops" by King Harald Fairhair expanded his sphere of influence. Other Scandinavian kings employed berserkers as part of their army, sometimes using them as an elite royal guard. It is possible that some of these warriors merely adopted the organisation or rituals of the berserk warrior bands, or used the name as a deterrent or indication of their savagery.

The emphasis is on the frenzied nature of the berserkers, hence the modern meaning of the word "berserker." However, the sources also describe several other characteristics that modern commentators have ignored or neglected. Snorri’s claim that "neither fire nor iron had any effect on them" is repeatedly cited. The sources often mention that berserkers were immune to sharp weapons or fire, though they were not invulnerable to clubs or other blunt instruments. One example:

"These men asked Halfdan to attack Hardbeen and his warriors one by one; and he promised not only to fight, but to secure victory with very confident words. When Hardbeen heard this, suddenly he was overtaken by a demonic rage; he bit furiously into the edges of his shield and swallowed them; he repeatedly swallowed glowing coals; he took burning embers into his mouth and let them descend into his bowels; he threw himself into the dangers of crackling fire; and finally, after experiencing all kinds of madness, he wielded his sword with a furious hand against the hearts of six of his warriors. It is doubtful whether this madness came from the thirst for battle or from natural savagery. He then attacked Halfdan with the remaining warriors, who smashed him with a hammer of wondrous size, so that he lost both victory and life, paying the penalty for both Halfdan, whom he had challenged, and the kings whose descendants he had violently desecrated."

Similarly, the warriors of Hrolf Kraki refuse to "shrink back before fire or iron." Another frequent motif is berserkers whose enemies’ blades are dulled by spells or an evil eye. This motif appears as early as Beowulf, where it is a characteristic attributed to Grendel. Both fire-breathing and insensitivity to sharp weapons recall tricks commonly associated with fakirs. In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway banned berserkers. The Grágás, the medieval Icelandic law code, condemned berserker warriors to outlawry. By the 12th century, the organised berserker warbands had disappeared.

The Lewis Chessmen, found on the Isle of Lewis (Outer Hebrides, Scotland) but believed to have been of Norse origin, depict berserkers biting their shields.

Theories

Scholar Hilda Ellis-Davidson draws a parallel between berserkers and the mention of a "gothic dance" by Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII (905-959 AD) in his book De Cerimoniis Aulae Byzantinae ("Book of the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court"), performed by members of his Varangian Guard (Norse warriors in the service of the Byzantine Empire) who participated wearing animal pelts and masks. She believes this could be related to berserker rituals.

The berserker rage was called berserkergang (berserker fit/frenzy or berserker movement). This state was described as follows:

This rage, called berserkergang, occurred not only in the heat of battle but also during strenuous work. Men seized by it performed feats that seemed impossible for human strength. This state was said to begin with trembling, chattering teeth, and shivering in the body, followed by swelling and a change of colour in the face. It was associated with great impulsiveness, which eventually turned into a furious rage, during which they howled like wild animals, bit into the edges of their shields, and struck down everything in their path, without distinguishing friend from foe. When this state ceased, it was followed by great mental dullness and weakness, which could last for several days.

When Viking villages went to war together, berserkers often wore special clothing, such as wolf or bear pelts, to indicate that this person was a berserker and could not distinguish friend from foe while in the "berserkergang." In this way, other allies knew to keep their distance.

Some scholars suggest that certain cases of berserker rage were intentionally triggered by the consumption of drugs, such as hallucinogenic mushrooms or large amounts of alcohol, which is highly controversial. However, this theory is supported by the discovery of seeds of the henbane plant (Hyoscyamus niger) in a Viking grave found near Fyrkat, Denmark, in 1977. Analysis of the symptoms induced by Hyoscyamus niger resembles those attributed to the berserker state, suggesting that henbane was used to generate the warrior mood. Other explanations for the berserker madness include self-induced hysteria, epilepsy, or mental illness.

A theory of the berserkers suggests that the physical manifestations of the berserkers, alongside their rage, were a form of self-induced hysteria. It was initiated before battle through a ritual process, also known as an effektnummer, which included actions like biting the shield and animal-like howling.

Jonathan Shay makes an explicit connection between the berserker rage of soldiers and the hyperarousal of post-traumatic stress disorder. In Achilles in Vietnam, he writes:

"When a soldier survives the berserker state, it gives his psyche emotional numbness and susceptibility to explosive rage, and his physiology permanent hyperarousal – hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder in war veterans. My clinical experience with Vietnam veterans leads me to place the berserker state at the core of their most severe psychological and psychophysiological injuries."

It is suspected that the behaviour of the berserkers inspired the werewolf legend.

In Popular Culture

• John Nord wrestled as the Berserker in WWE.
• In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, berserkers appear as people who have transformed into bears. Berserkers also appear as cards in the card game Gwent.
• In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, berserkers are mentioned throughout the game and occasionally appear in the storyline.
• The berserker is used as an archetype in various media, such as video games like Path of Exile and MapleStory 2.
• In Gears of War, there is an enemy known as the Locust. Within the Locust caste, female members are called berserkers.
• In For Honor, there is a playable character named Berserker.
• Thor Odinson was depicted with a berserker-like state called "Warrior's Madness," which boosts his strength, speed, durability, and endurance for months, though Thor has little control in this state.
• Wolverine has a berserker rage that he can enter. In this state, Wolverine becomes wilder and more animalistic, unable to feel pain and even frothing at the mouth. X-23 also possesses a berserker rage, but unlike her "father" Wolverine, it is not a biological state she can trigger herself but a chemical scent that transforms her into a relentless weapon.
• Falling Skies is a science fiction series produced by Steven Spielberg, in which a small group of mercenaries, known as The Berserkers, forms part of the human resistance against an alien invasion.