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INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS A BERSERKER?
...His men rushed forwards without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild bulls, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon themselves. These were called Berserker (Ynglinga Saga by Sturluson, 1225 CE).
This passage from the Ynglinga Saga is perhaps the most frequently cited passage from medieval literature attesting to berserkers. It is significant not only for the description it provides, but also because it contextualizes berserkers in Norse story-telling traditions. It identifies them as Odin's men, compares them to animals, and associates them with war magic and "madness," a type of battle trance that is the essence of the word English word, berserk.
Berserker attestations are rarely epics. Few can be compared to the complex tales of berserkers in the narrative of Hrolf's Saga. Far more frequently, they are short tales or brief passages, the majority of which are embedded into longer epics of the Icelandic Sagas. Often, attestations only mention the presence of berserkers, such as the mention of Hadrada's berserkers n the Saga of the people of Vatnsdal, or hint at a character's berserker-like qualities, such as descriptions of Kveldulf in Egil's saga.
This compilation of sources is primarily intended to serve research into berserkers. With respect for symbolic dimensions, it is impossible to exhaust interpretations, but based on literary evidence presented in this inventory, there are motifs that may be regarded as consistent, if not archetypal.
BERA: THE MOTHER OF BERSERKERS?
The word berserker is rarely investigated in depth. In many popular sources, the origin of the word is accounted for as deriving from two old Norse words or word fragments, ber (bear) and serkr (shirt). The word or word fragment, ber, is commonly thought to translate to either bear as in naked, or bear as in the animal. Old norse words for the animal include bera, bjórn, bjarndýr and others. If the ber in berserker denotes the animal bear, then bera, meaning she-bear, emerges as the most likely candidate among Norse words for the animal to account for the origin of the word berserker.
Contemporary sources regularly overlook this subtly and likewise miss the mythical and linguistic significance of bera in Norse story-telling traditions. In the Saga of Hrolf Kraki, there is a woman named Bera, who's lover, Bjorn, is cursed and transformed into a bear. Bera gives birth to three sons, all of whom exhibit archetypal and zoomorphic characteristics of berserkers. Fascinatingly, and perhaps not coincidentally, the animalistic characteristics of Bera’s sons correspond to the three animals associated with Odin's berserkers in the famous passage fromYnglinga Saga. The passage compares them specifically with hounds, bears and bulls; Bjorn & Bera’s sons are likewise part hound, part bear, and part bull-moose. Thus, it is not unreasonable to question if Bera is the archetypal and linguistic mother of berserkers in Norse story-telling tradition.
Literary accounts of berserkers wearing armor add to negative evidence that berserker means "bear" as in naked or without armor. In Hrolf's saga, one of Hrolf's twelve berserkers challenges the hero Svipdag to strike a blow on his helmet. Svipdag strikes a strong blow, but does no damage. In the Saga of Hervor and Heidrek, it is told that as Odd battled eleven berserkers, his sword "bit through armor like cloth" (Trans. Crawford, 2022). Notably, the anecdote in Hrolf's saga is consistent with the attestation from the Ynglinga saga, which tells that Odin's bersekers were impervious to iron. Contrarily, no such imperviousness is associated with the twelve berserkers in Hervor and Heidrek's saga, all of whom were cut down despite wearing armor, nor with Adil's twelve berserkers, six of whom were killed by Svipdag single-handedly (the remaining six are killed during two different battles).
Also of common interest is the question of distinction between berserkers and ulfehdnar. A narrative structure in a passage in Saga of the People of Vatnsdal attests that the word, ulfhednar, denotes, "berserkir er úlfhéðnar voru kallaðir," translated as, "berserkers who were called wolfskins" (Trans. Smiley, 2001). Thus, it is apparent that ulfhednar distinguishes a specific type of berserker. The same word is variously translated as wolf-warriors and wolf-mob. The attestation is extremely rare in that it clearly indicates that some berserkers wore wolf-skins.
HEROES & VILLAINS
A comparative analysis of literary sources indicates with certainty that berserkers exhibit both heroic and villainous attributes. This is exemplified in the epic Saga of King Hrolf, which iterates complex associations between the moral characters of kings and their berserkers, and also in short tales, such as one in the Saga of the Volsungs. In this attestation, a heroic father and son acquire two mysterious wolfskins, put them on, and experience a transformation that they cannot control. It is said that in that form they achieved many great deeds, but rage overtook the father and he harmed is own son. Ultimately, the heroes cursed and burned the wolfskins. Notably, the text does not directly identify the heroes as berserkers, despite their obvious attributions.
THE NAMELESS ONES
With some exceptions, medieval literary sources rarely identify berserkers by name. This is remarkable given the significance of immortalization through poetry, song, and story attested to in heroic story-telling traditions. Contrarily, ancient poems rarely apply the berserker label to heroes that are identified by name.
To illustrate, in Hrolf's Saga, Bera's three sons are identified by name, but are not directly identified as berserkers, despite their berserker-like qualities, including zoomorphic attributes. The same saga identifies twenty-four other characters explicitly as berserkers, but none of these berserkers are identified by name. The physical description of these berserkers is extremely limited, telling only that they were large men.
The case is similar in Egil's Saga, wherein Egil's forefathers are directly compared to berserkers, but never directly identified as such. The alliterative precision is remarkable. Chapter 27 tells, "It is said of shape-strong men, or men with a fit of Berserk fury on them, that while the fit lasted they were so strong that nought could withstand them; but when it passed off, then they were weaker than their wont. Even so it was with Kveldulf" (Smilely Trans.). Similarly, in the Saga of the Volsungs, Sigmund and Sinfjotli take on wolflike attributes, but are never identified as berserkers. In this story, the heroic father and son go so far as to curse and burn the wolf pelts they wore.
Judging from consistency in narrative structures between stories, this tendency seems to reflect a skaldic tradition; it cannot easily be relegated as mere coincidence. This is especially significant given that the hero-poet tradition is centered around immortalization of greatness of champions in stories. It must be noted, however, that this interpretation does not account for historic Christian influences in transcriptions of the stories into text. Dehumanization of berserkers in the literature may result from later political or Christian influence, but this is debatable. The relative consistency suggests it results from an older skaldic tradition.
Informative exceptions to this device occur in Egil's Saga and in the Saga of the People of Vatnsdal . In Egil's Saga (chapter 67), Egil duels with an antagonistic berserker named Ljot, a name which is sometimes translated as ugly. Notably, the Saga of the People of Laxardal (chapter 26) attests to a woman named Ljot, described as a fjanda (fiend), who practiced a type of troll magic identified as troldami. The name Ljot denies characters of unique identities or human personalities. Similarly, in the Saga of Vatnsdal (chapter 46), townspeople defeat two antagonistic berserkers, both of whom are named Hauk (which probably means Hawk). Fitting the profile, a heroic character in the same epic named Ulfhedin (Wolf Heathen), embodies berserker attributes, but is not identified as a berserker.
Especially outstanding exceptions to this literary pattern occur in Egil's Saga and in The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek. In Egil's Saga, Kveldulf's friend, Kari, is both named and directly identified as berserker, but little is told of Kari. In The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek, six of twelve brothers are identified by name and as berserkers.
SHAPE-SHIFTING
Berserkers are sometimes characterized by zoomorphic qualities.. The archetypal berserker is free from social constraints. In Hrolf's Saga, berserker boasting rites raise the question if even kings are subject to the berserkers that they employ. The sense of power and freedom evokes the power and freedom of the wild spirit itself, but also alienation from society. This form of alienation is typified in Hrolf's Saga, wherein Bera's children are excluded from participation in games due to their immense strength. In sequence, the boys follow their oldest brother and venture into the wild where they experience periods of isolation.
At their best, berserkers embody a worldview in which animistic forces and human consciousness align transcendentally through a type of battle trance - the classic berserker fury - an animistic power for confronting worldly challenges.
