Berserk was a term in the Viking Age for a Norse warrior seized by a wild rage where he attacked everything around him. a condition called "berserk walk", "berserk walk" or "berserk walk" .
according to Grette's saga called Harald Hårfagre their berserkers ulfhednar ("wolf pelts"), and in the same saga and i Landnåmabook also called the berserks troll auknir because supposedly sorcery was behind their rage.
Berserkers are also mentioned in large numbers in other sagas and skull quatrains included Rolf Krake's saga, and are described as greedy barbarians who ravage, plunder and kill game around them.
IN Egil's saga berserk is almost a genetic disorder or a dubious gift, as the berserk behavior is passed down through at least three generations. Egil's grandfather was called Ulv, but was called Nightwolf because he became sullen and withdrawn during the day and dangerous in the evening. Egil's father, Skallagrim, was like his father abrupt and violent. One took his own life, and the last killed his own offspring. Violence and cruelty is the tragedy that follows the berserkers in the Icelandic sagas.
Norse kings' relationship with berserkers
King Harald Hårfagre used berserkers as a form of spearhead in the middle of the army. Other Nordic kings kept berserkers as part of the army as courtiers and sometimes ranked them as the equivalent of royal bodyguards. It may seem reasonable that these warriors only adopted the rituals of the Berserkers or used the name as a deterrent. No king wants uncontrollable lunatics with sharp weapons in his immediate circle.
That berserkers were seen as an undesirable element. One agrees with the fact that in 1015 earl Eirik Håkonsson made berserkers outlaws in Norway.
at the same time that holmgang was banned. Also the Icelandic law Greylag goose made berserkers lawless. Others present when the berserker took place were also punished, unless they had managed to prevent it.
In chapter 7 of Greylag goose the themes of paganism and sorcery are treated: Sorcery. Divination, Blotting, Berserker Gang. When the priest Tangbrand arrived in Iceland to Christianize the population, he was challenged by the berserker. He died during the fight, and this is said to have caused several Icelanders to repent. There was no ban on berserkering in Norwegian laws. Around 1100, berserkers no longer seem to be an official part of any army.
Modern usage of the term
The word "berserk" today denotes a person who goes on a rampage and in wildness and rage destroys everything he can get his hands on.
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