Berserkers

[Frostwulf]

I was curious what most think of what berserker's are. From the reading I have done on the subject they seem to be rare and the theories around them vary. Some think that drugs were used to induce the berserker's rage, others think the drugs responsible for the increased strength and the high pain tolerance. Others think it may have been a genetic defect and at least one author claims the berserker's were simply elite warriors, better skilled and nothing else.
I think of berserker's as being men who psych themselves up into a rage that increases something (adrenaline?) that makes them nearly immune to pain and seems to increase their strength. I personally don't buy into the drug suggestion as there was no mention of this (to my knowledge) of berserker's using anything of the sort, not to mention what the "drugs" would do to their fighting ability.

[Kaapeli]

I believe they were just drunk out of their minds. But maybe there were some magic mushrooms in their mead too...

[Entropy Judge]

Little bit of drugs, little bit of epilepsy.

[Phalanx300]

Depends on which berserkers you think of, the berserkers of the time of the Romans were using drugs I believe but I'm not really sure about the Viking ones. I believe not, I thought that the vikings ones whould just make themselves go extreme, so to speak .

[wearycelt]

IIRC the Berserkergang began as a division of elite troops used by King Harold in his attempt to conquer Norway. They were incredibly violent, even psychotic and fought either wearing bear-skin or bare-skinned. There are epic poetical mentions of both as well as wolf skin.

As far as what got their ire up......
Clearly nothing conclusive exists, but if we look at other tribal warriors we see that drug use for battle is and has always been a crucial element of war.

Drugs are used today in Somalia to provoke pre-adolescent boys into a warrior rage.

The zulu had a rather potent cocktail for war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...British_defeat

More importantly though, are the Celts who are very closely related to the Norse in there Pagan Mythology even sharing several gods in common. (Also, the Celts were more than capable of defending themselves from viking invasions untill they were latinized (Britain) or christianized (Ireland).

The Celts have a long standing tradition of coating themselves in Woad (likely an idea stolen from the Picts) and some variants of Woad are decidedly hallucinogenic. However, even if you accept the reality that Woad makes crappy bodypaint and the hallucinogenic effects are perhaps trivial, we do know it is a great astringent and would have had an intense placebo effect on the Pagan Celts. Most importantly though, we know that tribal warfare has looked for performance enhancers and the closest tribal relative of the Norse were all about them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woad

Plus, after his conquests King Harold had to outlaw Berserkers and drive them out of his lands because even in times of peace they were rabble rousers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker

Like he had to clear out the hash den of assasins? Considering the sources about how they fought in tandem with their aftermath.... They seem like a bunch of intoxicants.

[justinius]

It depends on the culture and many things. Some would drink, use drugs or beat themselves to get themselves into a rage. These probably (for sure) had an effect on the mind to fight effectively and not feel pain.

[removeduser_4536284751384]

depends on the culture and time, there were lots of different ones, even though they were quite rare. Maybe they were just mental. Maybe htey were drunk. There are also a wide array of drugs that will do anything from make you violent, to making you stronger, to making you feel less pain.

[DAVIDE]

Viking warriors fighting in a status of trance and frenzy, the so called berseksgrang

[Machiavelli25]

They were almost certainly on some kind of drug, simply because the result sounds very similar to Islamic suicide fighters (who are also invariably drugged out of their minds, so they feel invincible).

[DAVIDE]

From what i read time ago, seems that first symptoms of berseksgangr were a strong cold sensation and limb shaking with an immediate consequent increasing of body temperature taking the warrior to kill and destroy indistincly everything around by the frenzy they had and it is said Bersekr were usual biting their shields. After the frenzy, the warrior could fall in a status of deadness and depression for days enough to support the hypothesis that they used to drink big quantities of alcohol or with the help of some plants to master the Ond aka the cosmic energy. Ritual taking the warrior to frenzy was called Hamrammar (changing of form) made through ritual drinking called Bragafull in which they drank a very strong beer made with a preparation of Amanita Muscaria (a mushroom causing hallucination) and some herbs as Digitalis that increases heart beat and adrenaline

[Ishoss]

Yeah... Just don't touch that , alright?

[DAVIDE]

A friend of mine smoked that ... effect and lenght depends by the dose taken

[René Artois]

Depends. I'm a berzerker when it comes to paintball. Light up some special baccy and down some strongbow, then I chuck a bucket on my head and go charging around like an idiot. I actually headbutted somebody once.

[Machiavelli25]

Depends. I'm a berzerker when it comes to paintball. Light up some special baccy and down some strongbow, then I chuck a bucket on my head and go charging around like an idiot. I actually headbutted somebody once.

Different when you use paintballs and not bullets. Threat of dying and all that.

[René Artois]

Did you think I was being serious?

[Ace_General]

Lol, I actually go berserk in football

I've read the records about the stages that you go through with you getting the chills then the reddening and distortion of the face then the massive adrenaline and something like rage comes up and you get really strong and almost immune to pain but your still mentally there unlike when a normal person gets rage when they just freak out and everything goes read

BTW im almost 100 percent Scandinavian

[René Artois]

Lol, I actually go berserk in football

I've read the records about the stages that you go through with you getting the chills then the reddening and distortion of the face then the massive adrenaline and something like rage comes up and you get really strong and almost immune to pain but your still mentally there unlike when a normal person gets rage when they just freak out and everything goes read

BTW im almost 100 percent Scandinavian

I thought you were Polish-American?

[Ringeck]

The sources for what a berserker actually was are pretty vague and occasionally contradictory. Often they are accorded magical powers. Sometimes they are attributed to the berserker-gang, the battle trance, or the condition described in Henrik's post. Sometimes the word just seems to mean elite warrior. Sometimes it seems to mean "unpleasant (rear end)hole" or "brute" (again, Henrik's post). Mixing all these attributes make for the modern idea of the berserk.

Consuming large quantities of alchol will not make you a better or fiercer warrior. It will make you drunk, unpredictable, inaccurate and sleepy. Consuming fly agaric mushroom will not make you a enter a battle trance. It will make you puke your guts out. Consuming thorn apple (datura stramonium), another berserker candidate drug, might make you psychotic, but it sure as hell isn't very reliable and you are as likely to see flying pink elephants and suffer a really bad trip, or suffere severe mydriasis and refuse to got outdoors for a few days.

None of these conditions are likely to have been very useful in battle.

[Henrik]

A nice source: http://www.pritani.com/alliance/viking.html

Message: The berserk - warrior, werewolf, villain
Author: - Bacchus Ulpius
Date: Aug 9, 1998 06:22
The name is disputed but may mean "bare of shirt" (fighting without armour) or "bear shirt" (dressing in animal skins, mostly from bear or wolf).

The main characteristics were:

(1) association with animals, including shape-shifting abilities;
(2) terrifying appearance;
(3) immunity to weapons via spells or the wearing of (magically) protective animal skins;
(4) berserker rage, including turning purple in the face, loss of human reason, acquisition of enormous strength and animal behavior (killing and howling), followed by profound bodily weakness and disability;
(5) rejection by the community due to excesses of violence.

Berserkers had much in common with those thought to be werewolves. Egil's saga speaks of a berserker, with a reputation as shape-changer, called Kveld-Ulfr ("Evening Wolf").

"Men saw that a great 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." (Hrolfs Saga)

This was connected with a hamingja ("spirit" or "soul") or fylgja ("spirit form") of the berserker, which could appear in animal form in dreams or in visions, as well as in reality.

The berserk often seemed to have an immunity to weapons, 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."

Modern scholars connect some examples of berserker rage with the consumption of drugs such as the hallucinogenic mushroom fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) or massive quantities of alcohol, perhaps as part of a ritual. Other explanations include self-induced hysteria, epilepsy, mental illness or genetic flaws.

This fury, which was called berserkergang, occurred not only in the heat of battle, but also during laborious work. Men who were thus seized performed things which otherwise seemed impossible for human power. This condition is said to have begun with shivering, chattering of the teeth, and chill in the body, and then the face swelled and changed its color. With this was connected a great hot-headedness, which at last gave over into a great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge of their shields, and cut down everything they met without discriminating between friend or foe. When this condition ceased, a great dulling of the mind and feeble- ness followed, which could last for one or several days.

The primary role of the berserk was as a warrior attached to a king's army. Both King Harald and King Halfdan had berserker troops. They were used as suicidally fierce shock-troops, and to reinforce weak parts of the combat lines. They also served as a last defence for the leader of the battle and the standard. The berserker's ties to the god Odin would also have been welcome in a royal army, since Odin also had a particular association with rulership.

Outside of this role, however, the berserker became the stock villain of the sagas, typified as murderous, stupid brutes. The excesses of the berserkers eventually led to their demise. In 1015 King Erik outlawed berserks, along with holmganga or duels. It had become a common practice for a berserker to challenge men of property to holmgang, and upon slaying the unfortunate victim, to take possession of his goods, wealth, and women. This was a difficult tactic to counter, since a man so challenged had to appear, have a champion fight for him, or else be named a coward. In 1123, the Icelandic Christian Law stated, "If someone goes berserk, he is punished with lesser outlawry (three years banishment from the country) and the men who are present are also banished if they do not bind him."

[Entropy Judge]

Wow, two-year gap.

Consuming large quantities of alchol will not make you a better or fiercer warrior. It will make you drunk, unpredictable, inaccurate and sleepy. Consuming fly agaric mushroom will not make you a enter a battle trance. It will make you puke your guts out. Consuming thorn apple (datura stramonium), another berserker candidate drug, might make you psychotic, but it sure as hell isn't very reliable and you are as likely to see flying pink elephants and suffer a really bad trip, or suffere severe mydriasis and refuse to got outdoors for a few days.

None of these conditions are likely to have been very useful in battle.

I do seem to recall reading somewhere that berserkers were supposed to be rather irrational and/or depressive outside of battle, though, so perhaps there's something to the thorn apple one. Now, if only I could remember where I read that ....