What is a Berserk? Flashcards
What are Berserkers?
They are a class of elite warriors who guard chieftains/leaders/kings. They are the shock troops of the Norse people and are used to quickly break and overwhelm the opposing defensive position.
What is the Christian explanation for Berserkers?
Black magic: berserks are related to Odin
If Odin is a devil or demon, then the berserker, who appears to be furious warriors dedicated to him, derive their strength from black magic and demonic possession. (This is a variant of demonology.)
What are five theories for Berserkers and what is the issue with them? + Issue with these explanations?
- Berserks are related to certain cults/secret associations that train people to identify as certain animals (typically bears or wolves).
- Snorri’s theory that berserkers means “bare shirt” (ie: they fought naked).
- Going berserk was caused by drugs and intoxicants.
- To go berserk is a dissociative behavioural disorder or early forms of mental illness like PTSD.
- It is a culture specific syndrome.
Issue: Most explanations applies modern understandings of “berserk” and assumes Berserkers are crazy, manic, and foaming at the mouth (they aren’t).
What are the main flaws of the drugs/intoxicant theory?
All the proposed drugs (fly agaric, henbane, and ergot of rye) that could’ve caused people to go berserk requires a lot of knowledge about dosage, don’t cause the behaviour that is associated with going berserk, or have severe side effects.
- Fly Agaric (type of mushrooms): extremely difficult to find the right dosage, doesn’t make you that aggressive.
- Henbane: can be used as an anaesthesia so it takes away pain, and it can cause short bouts of aggression, but it requires a lot of knowledge of dosage.
- Ergot of Rye: very unlikely to have been used because it leads to ergotism and you can lose your limbs.
Why did Snorri come up with the theory that berserker meant “bare-shirt”?
Goes back to reports of Celtic tribes that fought naked. There’s classical sources of naked/scantily dressed warriors → Snorri might’ve just been repeating this.
Berserk at the Battle of Stamford Bridge → one berserker held up the entire Anglo-Saxon army on a bridge. Snorri picked up the fact that the Vikings were nude/half dressed during this battle and applied it to all Berserkers.
What is Roderick Dale’s theory for Berserkers?
He theorized that going berserk is similar to the ceremonial Maori dance, haka. Berserksgangr (to go berserk) should be translated as “berserker strut”.
In old texts, there’s often a delay and lots of talking between berserks and the other person. This could point to the berserk strut being a ritual you go through to:
- Build up/pump up for a fight
- Create group cohesion
- Intimidate the opponent who may not be familiar with it
What is “going amok” and why is it important to consider when talking about Berserkers?
“Going amok” was originally a military tactic that was used to break initial resistant with the overwhelming force of individuals. During colonization, it got shut down and was then seen by psychologists in the West as a psychiatric issue (schizophrenia). It is also seen as a violent way of Indigenous people reasserting lost autonomy.
This is important to consider because “going amok” is very similar to “going berserk”. It links back to the idea of culture specific syndromes → like certain illnesses only occur in certain parts of the world, there’s certain culture specific behaviours that are isolated and tied to certain cultures.
Just as “Viking” refers not to a nationality or ethnicity but to certain activities, berserk may inaially refer to?
A class of elite warriors and possibly rituals prior to combat.
Later on, the term was generalized to mean violent anti-social (and anti-christian) behaviour
