(note, not the journal of the Oxford Stav Hov by the same name)
With reference to the ongoing discussion of the berserkir or "bearshirts" Viking warrior clan. P G Foote and D M Wilson state in theirbook, "The Viking Achievement" (Sidgwick & Jackson UK 1970) that theberserkers worked themselves up into a frenzy which gave them super-normal strength and made them indifferent to blows. It was generallybelieved that they had magical powers, although they were regarded asinferior to the great heroes of the Viking sagas. The berserkir howledsavagely as they went into battle, and Foote and Wilson speculate thatthese battle frenzies were the result of excessive alcoholic intake.According to Icelandic Law (Christian version) anyone who fell into aberserk frenzy was considered highly dangerous and could be classed asan outlaw from society. The following verse from the epic poem "Atlamal"circa 11th century CE is believed to contain a reference to theberserkir and their method of fighting, as well as to another warriorclan who wore wolf skins, and may be connected with lycanthropy! Full they were of fighters and flashing bucklers, western war lances and wound-blades Frankish; cried then the bear-pelted, carnage they had thoughts of, wailed then the wolf-coated and weapons brandished.It would seem the berserkir wore tunics of bearskin because the animalwas their totem and they believed they could magically attain itsstrength. Their unorthodox fighting methods - akin to the "battle spasm"of Celtic warriors possessed by the god/desses of war - and the modernmeaning of the term "to go berserk" suggest they were less thanself-controlled but in fact fought, quite literally, like men possessed.
Mike Howard
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