Berserkers in the Viking Age
Berserkers were a renowned cult of elite warriors in the Viking Age. They gained notoriety in Britain, Ireland and Europe as fierce and savage fighters. Their devotion to the Norse god, Odin, embodied the pagan magic of war.
The Norse Sagas described berserkers as the most courageous and ferocious fighters of the Viking Age. The chroniclers recounted the battle rage and fearlessness instilled terror across Christendom.
The origins of the berserkers lay among the Germanic tribes of Northern Europe. Tacitus wrote of the berserkers, or sacred warriors, among the Chatti in the first century AD. He noted the berserkers stood at the front of an army and received the privilege of beginning a battle.
The carvings on Trajan’s Column showed the Romans killing the berserkers of the Batavi in the second century AD. The Romans also recruited berserkers from the Heruli into the army.
Berserkers entered into a trance-like state to induce their battle frenzy. They drank copious amounts of alcohol to attain a heightened ecstasy. Their howls, screams and convulsions intensified the euphoria of their rage and fury.
Some scholars suspect the berserkers ingested drugs such as henbane and mushrooms to bring about a dream-like state.
Historians gleaned a description of the berserkers from the accounts of the Arab chronicler Ibn Fadlan. The caliph of Baghdad sent Ibn Fadla to the Volga to trade with a Scandinavian tribe called the Rus.
“I have never seen more perfect physiques than theirs...The man wears a cloak with which he covers one half of his body, leaving one of his arms uncovered. Every one of them carries an axe, a sword and a dagger and is never without all of that which we have mentioned. Their swords are of the Frankish variety, with broad, ridged blades. Each man, from the tip of his toes to his neck, is covered in dark-green lines, pictures and such like” (Ibn Fadlan - The Risala).
The accounts in the Norse sagas claimed berserkers were devotees of Odin, the Norse god of death, magic, wisdom and poetry. Odin inspired the battle rage and supernatural strength of the berserkers during combat.
“Odin could bring it about that in battle his opponents were struck with blindness or deafness or panic, and their weapons would cut no better than sticks, while his men went without mail and were as wild as dogs or wolves, biting their shields, being as strong as bears or bulls. They killed the people, but neither fire nor iron took effect on them. That is called berserk fury” (Snorri Sturluson - Heimskringla).
Odin protected berserkers and made them impervious to fire and blade. They ignored pain and injury during confrontations on the battleground. The Valkyries carried the souls of berserkers and the bravest Norse heroes to the halls of Odin in Valhalla.
The craftsmen of Sweden portrayed a berserker accompanying Odin on the Torslunda plates in the seventh century. The berserker wore a wolfskin mask, or shapeshifted, into a wolfman. He carried a sword and spear as the bodyguard of Odin in the afterlife.
Historians thought the Torslunda plates depicted berserkers dressed as their patron god, Odin, and wolves during a ritualistic dance.
Berserkers travelled in small groups seeking employment with a Viking chieftain or jarl.
The Viking leaders used berserkers to strike fear and panic into their enemies on the battlefield. The elite warriors served as shock troops and were usually positioned at the vanguard of Norse armies. Their battle cries and bloodlust roused the Norse warriors to fight bravely during conflicts.
The King of Norway, Olav Haraldsson, experienced difficulty in controlling the berserkers in his army. The berserkers ignored the orders at the Battle of Stiklestad and caused the defeat of Olav Haraldsson in 1030.
The King of Norway, Harald Fairhair, employed berserkers as his bodyguard in the tenth century. The Danish King, Hrólfr Kraki, chose 12 berserkers to accompany him on an expedition to Sweden in the sixth century.
The “berserkir”, or “bear-shirts”, were often accompanied by the “úlfheðnar”, meaning “wolfskins”. The two warrior cults wore no armour and attacked their enemies like ferocious bears or ravening wolves.
The Norwegian skald, Þorbjörn Hornklofi, claimed berserkers and wolfskins fought side by side at the Battle of Hafrsfjord in the late ninth century. They stood on the prow of the longships and attacked the fleets belonging to the adversaries of Harald Fairhair.
The Vikings respected the formidable prowess and brutality of the berserkers. They associated the warrior cult with sorcery and shapeshifting.
The Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, or Saga of Hervör and Heidrek, told of a sword called the Tyrfing. The dwarves, Dvalinn and Durinn, fashioned the sword and imbued it with magical powers.
The Tyrfing could cut through metal as easily as cloth. The warriors wielding the enchanted sword never missed their target on the battlefield. The Tyrfing always killed a man when it was taken from its sheath.
The dwarves also cursed the Tyrfing so that it may kill their enemy, King Svafrlami. The berserker, Arngrim, killed King Svafrlami and became the owner of the sword.
The sons of Amgrim were famous berserkers in Norse mythology.
William of Malmesbury referred to the bravery of a Norwegian berserker at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. The berserker used only a battle axe to stave off an Anglo-Saxon army
The Anglo-Saxons met the berserker while pursuing the warriors of the Norwegian king, Harald Hardrada. They marvelled at the heroism of the berserker.
The Byzantine Emperors recruited berserkers into the Varangian Guard between the tenth and fourteenth centuries. The Varangian Guard were a unit of elite warriors and only deployed during times of war.
The Scandinavian mercenaries served as the loyal bodyguards of the Emperors. The soldiers of the Varangian Guard earned a reputation for their prowess and ferocity against the Normans and Muslims.
The Viking warlord, Ivar the Boneless, was reputed to be a bloodthirsty berserker warrior. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Adam of Bremen recounted he was “the most cruel” of the Danish leaders in the Great Heathen Army in 865.
The accounts of Ivar the Boneless stated he was a tall man who towered over his Norse subjects at York and Dublin. Scholars believe the term “boneless” may refer to impotence or a genetic disease.
The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok described Ivar the Boneless as a cripple. Ivar “grew up to be tall and strong, though there were no bones in his body, but only gristle, so that he could not stand, but had to be carried everywhere”.
The Irish chroniclers referred to Ivar the Boneless as Imar. The berserkers employed by Ivar the Boneless during the invasion of England probably returned with him to Dublin in 871.
The Irish chroniclers noted Brian Boru fought against the “champions” of Ivar of Limerick at the Battle of Sulcoit in 968. Historians believe Ivar of Limerick sent a unit of berserkers against the army of Brian Boru.
The Irish accounts affirmed Brian Boru and the Gaels defeated the berserkers of Sigtrygg Silkbeard at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The berserkers travelled from England, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
The achievements of the berserkers passed into Norse folklore after Eric Håkonsson outlawed the warrior cult in the eleventh century. Eric Håkonsson was the ruler of Norway and Earl of Northumbria. Berserkers vanished from the Christian chronicles by the twelfth century.
The Vikings celebrated berserkers as the fiercest of all the warrior-heroes. The skalds imbued berserkers with the magic and mysticism of Odin and the Norse deities.
The battle fury bestowed by Odin inspired their courage and great feats during warfare. Berserkers were the most famous and feared of all Norse warriors in the Viking Age.
The early Viking history of Ireland is discussed in:
Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless - The Viking Kings of Dublin: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0916GJ3B2
And Vikings in Ireland (870 - 914): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096KVNBZK
References
Wikipedia - Berserker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker
History of the Vikings and Norse Culture By Njord Kane: https://books.google.ie/books?id=W6OsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT337&dq=berserkers+and+the+norse+god+odin&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjB4dauvr70AhXIilwKHXM0DWEQ6AF6BAgCEAI#v=onepage&q=berserkers%20and%20the%20norse%20god%20odin&f=false
VSNR - SNORRI STURLUSON HEIMSKRINGLA: http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20I.pdf
Viking Archeurope - Ibn Fadlan’s account of the Rus funeral Translation by James E. Montgomeryhttp://viking.archeurope.com/settlement/russia/ibn-fadlan/risala-of-ibn-fadlan/
Entheogens and the Development of Culture: The Anthropology and Neurobiology ... edited by John A. Rush: https://books.google.ie/books?id=O45aDYWOL-oC&pg=PA298&dq=berserkers+and+cult+of+odin&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiI7KT9vsL0AhWSNcAKHYghBxoQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=berserkers%20and%20cult%20of%20odin&f=true
Werewolf Histories edited by Willem de Blécourt: https://books.google.ie/books?id=L7taDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65&dq=berserker++on+torslunda+plates&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqjaaD0cL0AhXFnFwKHVfrBFQQ6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=berserker%20%20on%20torslunda%20plates&f=true
Wikipedia - Torslunda plates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torslunda_plates
CIIS Edu - Going Berserk: Battle Trance and Ecstatic Holy Warriors in the European War Magic Tradition Jenny Wade California Institute of Integral Studies: https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1478&context=ijts-transpersonalstudies
Wikipedia - Tyrfing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrfing
Wikipedia - Varangian Guard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian_Guard
Project Gutenberg - Title: Historical Tales, Vol. 9 (of 15) The Romance of Reality. Scandinavian. Author: Charles Morris: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20549/20549-h/20549-h.htm
Wikipedia - Battle of Sulcoit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sulcoit
History Extra - The truth about Viking berserkers article by Kim Hjardar and Vegard Vike: https://www.historyextra.com/period/viking/the-truth-about-viking-berserkers/
