Origin of the term Berserker.
My paternal grandmother was a tough old bird who immigrated from Sweden, all by herself, when she was 16 years old to the US. The one thing I remember best about her was her admonition everytime we visited her (when I was a kid) and my Italian grandfather (Cuneo) was to “never forget your Viking blood”. I guess that explains my terrible temper and rages. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
"Description of the Berserk.
The modern popular conception of the Viking warrior is one of a murderous savage, clad in animal skins, howling into battle. This conception probably owes more to literary tradition than to historical fact: it reflects not the ordinary Scandinavian warriors, but rather a special group of fighters known as berserks or berserkers.
The etymology of the term berserk is disputed. It may mean “bare-sark,” as in “bare of shirt” and refer to the berserker’s habit of going unarmored into battle. Ynglingasaga records this tradition, saying of the warriors of Odhinn that “they went without coats of mail, and acted like mad dogs and wolves” (Snorri Sturluson. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. trans. Lee M. Holander. Austin: U of Texas P. 1964. p.10).
Others have contended that the term should be read “bear-sark,” and describes the animal-skin garb of ther berserker. Grettirs Saga calls King Harald’s berserkers “Wolf-Skins,” and in King Harald’s Saga they are called ulfhedinn or “wolf-coats,” a term which appears in Vatnsdoela Saga and Hrafnsmal (Hilda R. Ellis-Davidson,“Shape-Changing in the Old Norse Sagas, " in Animals in Folklore. eds. J.R. Porter and W.M.S. Russell. Totowa NJ: Rowman and Littlefield. 1978. pp. 132-133), as well as in Grettirs Saga (Denton Fox and Hermann Palsson, trans. Grettir’s Saga.” Toronto: U of Toronto P. 1961. p. 3).
The berserker is closely associated in many respects with the god Odhinn. Adam of Bremen in describing the Allfather says, “Wodan — id est furor” or “Wodan — that means fury.” The name Odhinn derives from the Old Norse odur. This is related to the German wut, “rage, fury,” and to the Gothic wods, “possessed” (Georges Dumezil. The Destiny of the Warrior. Chicago, U of Chicago P. 1969. p. 36). This certainly brings to mind the madness associated with the berserker, and other Odhinnic qualities are seen to be possessed by the berserk. Ynglingasaga recounts that Odhinn could shape-shift into the form of a bird, fish, or wild animal (Snorri Sturluson, p. 10). The berserker, too, was often said to change into bestial form, or at least to assume the ferocious qualities of the wolf or bear. Kveldulfr in Egils Saga Skallagrimsonar was spoken of as a shapechanger (Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards, trans. Egil’s Saga. NY: Penguin. 1976. p. 21), and Hrolf’s Saga tells of the hero Bjarki, who takes on the shape of a bear in battle:
Men saw that agreat bear went before King Hrolf’s men, keeping always near the king. He slew more men with his forepaws than any five of the king’s champions. Blades and weapons glanced off him, and he brought down both men and horses in King Hjorvard’s forces, and everything which came in his path he crushed to death with his teeth, so that panic and terror swept through King Hjorvard’s army…" (Gwyn Jones. Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas. NY: Oxford U.P. 1961. p. 313).
Dumezil refers to this phenomenon as the hamingja (“spirit” or “soul”) or fylgja (“spirit form”) of the berserker, which may appear in animal form in dreams or in visions, as well as in reality (Georges Dumezil. Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Los Angeles: U of California P. 1973. p. 142).
The berserk was sometimes inherently possessed of this immunity, or performed spells to induce it, or even had special powers to blunt weapons by his gaze. Many tales say of their berserkers, “no weapon could bite them” or “iron could not bite into him.” This immunity to weapons may also have been connected with the animal-skin garments worn by the berserk. As we saw above, while in animal form, “blades and weapons glanced off” Bodvar Bjarki. Similarly, Vatnsdoela Saga says that “those ebrserks who were called ulfhednar had wolf shirts for mail-coats” (Ellis-Davidson, “Shape Changing,” p. 133). This concept of immunity may have evolved from the berserker’s rage, during which the berserk might receive wounds, but due to his state of frenzy take no note of them until the madness passed from him. A warrior who continued fighting while bearing mortal wounds would surely have been a terrifying opponent.
It is likely that the berserk was actually a member of the cult of Odhinn. The practices of such a cult would have been a secret of the group’s initiates, although the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII refers in his Book of Ceremonies to a “Gothic Dance” performed by members of his Varangian guard, who took part wearing animal skins and masks: this may have been connected with berserker rites Hilda R. Ellis-Davidson. Pagan Scandinavia. NY: Frederick A. Praeger. 1967. p. 100). This type of costumed dance is also seen in figures from Swedish helmet plates and scabbard ornaments, which depict human figures with the heads of bears or wolves, dressed in animal skins but having human hands and feet. These figures often carry spears or swords, and are depicted as running or dancing. One plate from Torslunda, Sweden, may show the figure of Odhinn dancing with such a bear figure.
Other ritual practices attributed to berserks may represent the initiation of the young warrior into a band of berserkers. Such bands are mentioned in the sagas, oftentimes numbering twelve warriors. Another commin feature of these bands is the name of the leaser, which is often “Bjorn” or a variant, meaning 'bear." The form of this initiation is a battle, either real or simulated, with a bear or other fearsome adversary. Grettirs Saga tells of a situation of this sort, when a man named Bjorn throws Grettir’s cloak into the den of a bear. Grettir slays the bear, recovers his claok, and returns with the bear’s paw as a token of his victory (Fox and Palsson, pp. 62-67). Bodvar Bjarki has a protege, Hjalti, who undergoes a simulated encounter as his initiation in Hrolf’s Saga. Bodvar first slays a dragon-like beast, then sets its skin up on a frame. Hjalti then “attacks” the beast and symbolically kills it before witnesses, earning his place among the warriors (Jones, pp. 282-285). Bronze helmet plates from locations in Sweden and designs upon the Sutton Hoo pyrse lid seem to show examples of these initiatory encounters, where a human figure is seen grappling with one, or often two, bear-like animals (Margaret A. Arent. “The Heroic Pattern: Old German Helmets, Beowulf, and Grettis Saga.” in Old Norse Literature and Mythology. ed. Edgar C. Polome. Austin, U of Texas P. 1969. pp. 133-139).
Modern scholars believe that certain examples of berserker rage to have been induced coluntarily by the consumption of drugs such as the hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita muscaria (Howard D. Fabing. “On Going Berserk: A Neurochemical Inquiry.” Scientific Monthly. 83 [Nov. 1956] p. 232), or massive quantities of alcohol (Robert Wernick. The Vikings. Alexandria VA: Time-Life Books. 1979. p. 285). While such practices would fit in with ritual usages, other explanations for the berserker’s madness have been put forward, including self-induced hysteria, epilepsy, mental illness or genetic flaws (Peter G. Foote and David m. Wilson. the Viking Achievement. London: Sidgewick & Jackson. 1970. p. 285).
The physical appearance of the berserk was one calculated to present an image of terror. Dumezil draws parallels between the berserk and the tribe of Harii mentioned in Tacitus’s Germania who used not only “natural ferocity” but also dyed their bodues to cause panic and terror in their enemies, just as the berserk combined his fearsome reputation with animal skin dress to suggest the terrifying metamorphosis of the shape changer (Dumezil, Destiny of the Warriro, p. 141). Indeed, berserkers had much in common with those thought to be werewolves."
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