Preface / Introduction
For this guide, information from the site and Spunky117’s guide from the forum were used. This guide is a translation and combination of information from these two sources. The author of the videos below is Spunky117.
For this guide used information from site and guide of Spunky117 from forum. This guide is a translation and information counter the union of these two sources. The author of the videos is Spunky117.
Review of skills
Berserk
Active skill.
In this mode, the character switches to hand-to-hand combat, destroying everything in his path. Also in this mode, his resistance to damage increases and his health is restored.
The left hand hits harder (300% damage), the right hand hits faster (100% damage).
Duration: 18 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds.
Active Skill.
In this mode, the character moves to the melee, sweeping away everything in its path. Also in this mode, it increases the resistance to damage and restore health.
The left hand has harder (300% damage), right hander faster (100% damage).
Duration: 18 seconds. Recharging: 60 seconds.
Brawler- Brick's first skill tree. Focuses on active skill (Berserk) and melee attacks.
Brawler- the first skill tree Brick. It focuses on active skills (Berserk) and melee attacks.
Iron Fist
Increases damage dealt in melee by 6% (up to 30%).
Increases damage affected during melee by 6% (to 30%).
Endless Rage
Increases the duration of the berserker state by 10% (up to 50%).
Increases the duration of the state of berserk by 10% (to 50%).
Sting Like a Bee
A berserk strike causes the character to rush forward at opponents. Shot distance increases by 1.2 meters (4 feet) per point.
Kick in the state of berserk character makes opponents rush forward. Throw distance increases by 1.2 meters (4 feet) per point.
Heavy Handed
Killing an enemy increases the character's melee strength by 12% (up to 60%) for a few seconds.
Killing the enemy for a few seconds increases the strength of character in melee by 12% (to 60%).
Prize Fighter
While in berserk mode, attacking an enemy gives a 6% chance of cash prizes appearing (up to 30%). P.S. Not a particularly useful skill, because there was almost always enough money. In principle, if you wish, you can take it, but reset it later.
Attack in the state of berserk on the enemy gives you a 6% chance of occurrence of cash prizes (to 30%). P.S. It"s not a particularly useful skill, since the money is almost always enough. Basically, if you want you can take, but later discarded.
Short wick (Shot Fuse)
The restoration of the ability to enter the berserk state is reduced by 6 seconds (to 30 seconds).
Recovering possibilities go to the state of berserk reduced by 6 seconds (to 30 seconds).
Blood Sport
Killing an enemy in the Berserk state restores 2% of the character's health (up to 10%).
Killing enemies berserk restores 2% of the character's health (to 10%).
Tank- Brick's second skill tree. Focuses on reducing damage to both the player and the team.
Tank- the second skill tree Brick. It focuses on reducing the damage both to the player and the team.
Hardened
Increases maximum health by 12% (up to 60%).
Increases the maximum volume of health by 12% (to 60%).
Bodyguard
Increases shield defense by 8% (up to 40%).
Increases defense shield by 8% (to 40%).
Beating (Bash)
A melee attack can blind the enemy. The chance of this increases by 10% (up to 50%).
Melee attack can blind the enemy. The chance of this is increased by 10% (to 50%).
Juggernaut
Killing an enemy makes the character immune to damage for a few seconds. +10% to damage resistance (up to 50%).
Killing the enemy is doing the character immune to damage for a few seconds. 10% resistance to damage (to 50%).
Retribution (Pay Back)
As soon as the shield energy runs out, the character receives a bonus to attack for 10 seconds. +8% bonus per point (up to 40%).
As soon as the energy shield ends, the character gains a bonus to attack for 10 seconds. + 8% for bonus per point (to 40%).
Diehard
Increases the amount of health a character gains from recovery or Second Wind by 30%. Also increases time to death when incapacitated by 20%. (Up to 150% and 100% respectively).
Increases the amount of health that a character gains in the reduction or second wind by 30%. Also extends the time before his death, in case of failure by 20%. (Up to 150% and 100% respectively).
Unbreakable
As soon as the shield energy runs out, the character receives 5 seconds of rapid shield energy regeneration. 3% regeneration per second (up to 15%).
As soon as the energy shield ends, the character receives 5 seconds rapid regeneration of energy shield. 3% recovery per second (15%).
Demoman- Brick's third skill tree. Focuses on the use of explosive weapons, particularly rocket launchers and grenades.
Blaster- the third skill tree Brick. It focuses on the use of explosive weapons, such as rocket launchers and grenades.
Endowed
Increases damage dealt by explosives by 3% (up to 15%).
Increases the damage dealt by explosives by 3% (to 15%).
Rapid Reload
Increases the reload speed of all weapon types by 4% and reduces recoil by 6% (to 20% and 30% respectively).
Increases recharge rate of all types of weapons by 4% and reduces the impact of 6% (to 20% and 30% respectively).
Revenge
Killing an enemy increases the damage dealt by all weapon types for a few seconds. +10% damage (up to 50%).
Killing the enemy for a few seconds increases the damage caused by all types of weapons. + 10% damage (to 50%).
Wide Load
Increases the number of missiles Brick can carry by 1 per point.
It increases the number of missiles that can carry Brick 1 per point.
Liquidation
Damaging an enemy with explosives reduces the cooldown of the ability to go into berserk state by 1 second per hit (up to 5 seconds).
Damage inflicted on enemies with explosives reduces the cooldown of opportunities to go to the state of berserk 1 second per hit (to 5 seconds).
Cast Iron
Increases the character's resistance to attacks using explosives by 8% (up to 40%).
Increases resistance character attacks using explosives by 8% (to 40%).
Demoman (Master Blaster)
Killing an enemy for a few seconds increases the fire rate by 12% (up to 60%) and allows you to restore 2 missiles per minute (up to 10).
Kills an enemy to a few seconds the flame speed increases by 12% (to 60%) and recovers two missiles per minute (to 10
Melee Build / Melee Brick
For this build, a good class modifier would be the Loner, which gives +4 to the Short Wick skill and gives an increase (+%) to the health of the entire team. There will also be a shield that gives an increase of +60% to health.
It"s also good to run a skirmisher class mod with +4 in Short Fuse and a +% Team Maximum Health. You will also need a good shield with 60% Health Boost.
Below is a game with this build.
Gameplay Melee Brick shown in the video below.
Levels 5-15
What do we know about berserkers? That they fought like animals, bit shields and almost went into battle with their bare hands. That's how they told us about them. Meanwhile, scientists are still arguing about who the berserkers really were.
The word "berserker"
Ambiguities with berserkers begin already from their name. Where did this word come from? It is first mentioned in the Elder Edda, then used by the skald Thorbjorn.
For a long time, until the middle of the 19th century, no specialist had any doubt that berserkr means “shirtless.” However, Sveinbjörn Egilsson suggested in his dictionary that "berserker" means "bear shirt". The assumption was readily accepted, although there is no alliance between bears and berserkers in the tribal Irish sagas. Since then there has been confusion.
The image of berserkers was influenced by pre-Christian ideas about werewolves, so the translation “bear shirt” was even greeted by mythologists with enthusiasm. He opened up a lot of room for interpretation.
There is still no consensus on where this word came from.
Sources
Berserkers were first mentioned by the skald Thorbjörn Hornklovi in a poem about the victory of King Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Havrsfjord (presumably 872). The skald wrote about them: “The berserkers roared, / the battle was in full swing, / dressed in wolf skins, howled / and shook their swords.”
Berserkers are also mentioned in the Edda. Twice. Both times they are like semi-legendary heroes. The wives of the berserkers who fight in the Songs of Harbard with Thor himself are also semi-legendary. But here, probably, as often happens in mythology, there was an overlap of images, and the author means by the wives of berserkers the mythological giantesses.
The main source of information about berserkers was the chapter dedicated to Odin from the “History of the Norwegian Kings”, written by Snorri Sturluson: “Odin knew how to make his enemies blind or deaf in battle, or they were overcome by fear, or their swords became no sharper than sticks, and his people went into battle without armor and were like mad dogs and wolves, biting shields and comparable in strength to bears and bulls. They killed people, and they could not be taken with either fire or iron. It's called going into a berserker rage."
That is, here the berserkers act as “people of Odin,” which is quite remarkable, since nowhere before in the sagas and myths is Odin accompanied by any retinue of warriors.
There are also Icelandic ancestral sagas. In them, berserkers are already quite real people, but, to put it mildly, unattractive. They come to the houses of ordinary people on the eve of Christmas and wreak havoc there, robbing and raping women. The positive hero in such stories is usually some brave Icelander who defeats the berserkers either with a club (because they are supposedly invulnerable to fire and iron), or by cunning, because he admits as an axiom that berserkers are stupid.
Historically, it is this image of the berserker that is closest to the truth. The adoption of Christianity, centralization, “reformation of the army,” the collapse of the Viking squads - all these factors left a large group of former warriors without a source of food, who knew nothing more than how to fight. Therefore, they robbed and caroused until the “anti-berserker” law of 1123 was passed in Iceland, in which it was written in black and white: “Any berserker caught in a rage will be punished with 3 years of exile.”
It is significant that the law speaks specifically about “berserker rage” as a special state, and not a professional trait of warriors. We will return to this later.
Did berserkers eat fly agarics?
Having understood a little about where berserkers actually came from, we need to answer the main question...
The “fly agaric theme” is constantly discussed in conversations about berserkers. However, these ideas do not have any objective basis.
First, the Islan skald Snorri spoke about the intoxication of berserkers, he assured that berserkers drink the drink of the trolls. There is not a single mention of anything like this in the berserker sagas.
Then, at the end of the 18th century, researcher S. Edman started talking about berserkers stupefying themselves with psychotropic drugs. At the same time, he connected the Viking religion with East Siberian shamanism. Why? Only he knew this... but the myth began to take root. Scientists, such as, for example, Rakeborn-Hjennerud, even if they admit that some of the berserkers actually fought in a state of intoxication, point out that this is not confirmed by any facts, so talk on this topic is sheer nonsense.
If you think logically, it is highly doubtful that the king would surround himself with 12 drug addicts with swords and axes.
Berserkers we know
We owe the idea of berserkers that we have today to the medievalist historian, one of the theorists of Nazism, member of the NSDAP and employee of the Annenerbe, Otto Höfler.
It was he who developed the idea that berserkers are warriors of Odin himself, a certain male caste of chosen warriors who, for their fearlessness, go straight to Valhalla after death, where they form an alliance and enjoy life. Meanwhile, according to mythological ideas, warriors in Valhalla do not form any alliances. During the day they indulge in “military fun,” that is, they fight and kill each other, and at night they indulge in fun. Such an “eternal battle”.
It was the image of the berserker created by Hoefler and his ideas about the state-forming function of male unions that became for the scientist a “pass” both to the National Socialist Party and to the Annenerbe. This was the new mythology of Nazism, in which racially correct berserkers were recognized as real “dogs of war”, not attached to life, recklessly following Odin. Such glorification was beneficial to the new German government; it fit well within the framework of propaganda.
Among the ancient Germans and Vikings, a berserker was a warrior whose distinguishing features were impeccable martial art, lack of armor, a ritual bearskin on his shoulders and, probably, the ability to put himself into a state of altered perception (battle trance). Berserkers wore exclusively bear skins, warriors dressed in wolf skins were called ulvhendars (or wolfhendars), this is a fundamentally different military cult, which also existed in Northern Europe in the early Middle Ages.
The word "berserker" (sometimes - berserker) comes from the Old Norse form "berserkr", which is obtained by merging the stems of "ber" (which means "bear", in fact, in Ancient Rus' the bear was also called ber) and "serkr", which translates as "skin" " or "fabric". Some linguists have suggested that "ber" in Old Norse can also mean "naked".
Thus, the word "berserker" literally means "bearskin" or "without clothes." Both options perfectly describe the Viking berserkers, because according to historical evidence that has come down to us, they did not wear armor and often even shirts, covering their shoulders and head with bear skin. In traditional English, the form "berserkr" became "berserk", which today is translated as "furious".
It is believed that before the battle the Viking berserker (photos of images from archaeological finds are presented below) praised Odin and received his blessing. There is not a single unambiguously proven hypothesis about whether the Norman berserkers used any pharmacological drugs. Many researchers believe that we are talking about decoctions and tinctures of hallucinogenic mushrooms, or herbs and rhizomes, which could act as powerful stimulants.
Historical evidence of berserkers
Many researchers agree that skaldic poetry significantly embellishes the image of the berserker, and here it should be noted that in traditional Eddic texts there is no mention of these frantic warriors. The berserker first appears in the Glimdrapa saga, which was written by the famous skald Thorbjorn Hornklovi, who lived in Norway in the 9th century. This epic work tells about the military campaigns of the Norwegian king Harold I Fairhair, and the very mention of the Viking berserker is found in the description of the legendary Battle of Hafsfjord (872).
In The Circle of the Earth, Snorri Sturluson's epic collection of sagas, the expression "fall into a berserk rage" is also found. Snorri uses this phrase when describing the Scandinavian warriors who “flew into a rage, bit their shields and the layer could be compared to bears.” Snorii further points out that “such a Viking could not be defeated by either steel or fire.”
The most important and very interesting description of the Viking berserker is given in Tacitus’s “Germania”. In Chapter XXXI, he writes that berserker warriors prepared for their role from childhood; they were not allowed to grow hair or beard until adulthood. Then future berserkers had to walk with their hair down until they defeated their first enemy. Also, each of the “warriors of Odin” wore an iron ring, which he could remove only after the first murder, and only then he was recognized as a berserker. Tacitus also mentions that among the Normans, berserkers always formed the first row of the attacking formation.
At the same time, Tacitus does not use the word “berserker” itself; he replaces it with the form “harier” (the etymology is unclear), which, in general, is understandable, because “Germany” was written in the 1st century AD, when the forms “berserkr” could still does not exist in the Scandinavian language. Tacitus, describing the frantic Germanic warriors, says that they were “stubborn and wild”, wore black shields, and their bodies were “artfully painted.” According to Tacitus, berserkers attacked enemies with lightning speed and surprise, choosing the darkest nights to instill fear in them.
The semi-mythical Danish king Hrolf Kraki, the hero of many Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon sagas, repeatedly appears on the pages of works surrounded by his berserker bodyguards. In general, the motive of the elitism of the Viking berserkers can be traced in many sagas; they often act as something like the king’s personal guard. A.N. also mentions this. Tolstoy, in his epic “Peter the Great,” in particular, writes that berserker means “possessed by rage.” Tolstoy explains that berserkers are warriors who drank a tincture of fly agaric and became so cruel and ferocious that even the Scandinavians themselves began to fear them, and therefore in the army of King Canute the berserkers had their own ship.
It is important to note that the Norman berserkers, apparently, could not adapt to peaceful life. “The Saga of Egil”, “The Saga of Gisla”, “The Saga of Njal” and many other skaldic works tell how, outside the military circle, berserkers became murderers, maniacs, robbers and rapists.
In the 12th century, after the final Christianization of Scandinavia, the cult of berserkers began to decline and references to frantic warriors gradually disappeared. This is probably due, among other things, to a legislative act that was adopted in Iceland in 1123. This law prohibited the wearing of bear skins, and it also stated that a person who was seen “in a berserker frenzy” would be punished by three years of exile.
Versions about the “battle rage” of berserkers and common myths
As already mentioned, the main hypothesis accepted today in the scientific community is the version that the Viking berserkers (pictures based on this image are presented above) used psychotropic tinctures, in particular those based on fly agarics. In this regard, some researchers have expressed the opinion that after taking such a tincture, berserkers literally went crazy, feeling invincible, but when the effect of the drug wore off, the warriors quite obviously experienced severe withdrawal symptoms. In order to minimize negative sensations, only one of the berserkers drank the tincture, and the rest then drank his urine, which also contained the active substances, but in a lower concentration and without toxins.
There are also versions according to which the Viking berserkers did not use any drugs, and their “battle rage” is the result of a congenital disease, possibly mental and inherited. According to this hypothesis, berserkers could be subject to severe forms of hysteria.
There are other versions according to which the special state of berserkers is explained by directed meditation. Warriors could consciously put themselves into a combat trance through special psychological and spiritual practices. In this sense, the closest analogue is the combat trance of Muay Thai fighters; this practice is called “ram muay” and has ancient roots.
However, you need to understand that all of these are just hypotheses, and none of them has clear confirmation. In the same way, some researchers suggest that a warrior who wanted to become a berserker had to defeat a wild bear in a duel. And although this assumption is quite epic and generally corresponds to the spirit of the Viking warriors, there is not a single historical fact or evidence that could confirm this.
Thus, we don’t know much about the Viking cult of berserkers, although this image is very popular in popular culture. We do not know whether berserkers used any special weapons, whether they performed any rituals, and whether it was a full-fledged military subculture or whether the concept of a “professional berserker” actually did not exist. One thing we know for sure is that these were great warriors who possessed exceptional courage and were excellent in the art of war.
And here it is enough to cite just one fact: according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in the Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066), during the crossing of the English army across the bridge, their onslaught was held back for several hours by only one warrior. As a result, the Scandinavian was killed, but he gave King Harald enough time to form an army into battle formation, and in doing so managed to kill 40 Englishmen. Despite the fact that the information about this warrior and the course of the battle itself varies, many researchers are inclined to believe that we were talking about a berserker. Probably about the last berserker, because with the defeat of Harold the Severe at Stamford Bridge, the “Viking Age” actually ended.
His word: “ Can we talk about the berserker warriors? I wonder if I made it or not :)"
We made it, we can. An interesting topic of ancient legends, let's find out more...
The history of mankind is full of legends and myths. Each era writes a new page into this volume covered with the dust of time. Many of them have sunk into oblivion without living to this day. But there are legends over which centuries have no power. Stories about warriors with superhuman abilities - impervious to physical pain and knowing no fear in the face of death - are from this number. Mentions of supersoldiers can be found in almost every nation. But berserkers stand apart in this series - heroes of Scandinavian sagas and epics, whose very name has become a household word. And this is what an interesting thing about a legend is. Sometimes truth and fiction are so intertwined in them that it is hardly possible to separate one from the other.
For several centuries, the Vikings were Europe's worst nightmare. When the snake-headed boats of brutal aliens appeared on the horizon, the population of the surrounding lands, gripped by chilling horror, sought salvation in the forests. The scale of the devastating campaigns of the Normans is amazing even today, almost a thousand years later. In the east, they paved the famous path “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, gave rise to the princely Rurik dynasty and for more than two centuries took an active part in the life of Kievan Rus and Byzantium. In the west, the Vikings, since the 8th century. having settled Iceland and southern Greenland, they kept the Irish and Scottish coasts in constant fear.
And from the 9th century. moved the boundaries of their raids not only far to the south - to the Mediterranean Sea, but also deep into European lands, ravaging London (787), Bordeaux (840), Paris (885) and Orleans (895) . Red-bearded strangers captured entire fiefdoms, sometimes not inferior in size to the possessions of many monarchs: in the north-west of France they founded the Duchy of Normandy, and in Italy - the Kingdom of Sicily, from where they made campaigns in Palestine long before the Crusaders. Terrorizing the population of European cities, the warlike Scandinavians even received the honor of being mentioned in prayers: “God, deliver us from the Normans!” But among the northern barbarians there were warriors, before whom the Vikings themselves felt mystical awe. They knew very well that falling under the hot hand of a berserker tribesman was like death, and therefore they always tried to stay away from these brothers in arms.
WITH ALONE IN THE FIELD WARRIORS
Ancient Scandinavian sagas brought to us legends about invincible warriors who, overwhelmed by battle rage, with one sword or ax burst into the ranks of enemies, crushing everything in their path. Modern scientists do not doubt their reality, but much of the history of berserkers remains an unsolved mystery today.
Following established tradition, we will call them berserkers (although a more accurate term is bjorsjork, that is, “bear-like”). Along with the bear warrior, there was also an ulfhedner - “wolf-headed”, wolf warrior. Probably, these were different incarnations of the same phenomenon: many of those called berserkers bore the nickname “Wolf” (ulf), “Wolf’s skin”, “Wolf’s mouth”, etc. However, the name “Bear” (bjorn) is no less common.
It is believed that berserkers were first mentioned in a drape (long poem) by the skald Thorbjörn Hornklovi, an Old Norse literary monument. It talks about the victory of King Harald Fairhair, the founder of the Kingdom of Norway, in the Battle of Havrsfjord, which supposedly took place in 872. “The berserkers, dressed in bearskins, growled, shook their swords, bit the edge of their shield in rage and rushed at their enemies. They were possessed and did not feel pain, even if they were hit by a spear. When the battle was won, the warriors fell exhausted and fell into a deep sleep,” this is how an eyewitness and participant in those events described the entry into battle of the legendary warriors.
Most of the mentions of berserkers are in the sagas of the 9th-11th centuries, when the Vikings (Normans) terrified the peoples of Europe on their fast drake ships. It seemed that nothing could resist them. Such large cities as London, Bordeaux, Paris, and Orleans fell under the blows of the Vikings already in the 8th-9th centuries. What can we say about small towns and villages, the Normans devastated them in a matter of hours. They often created their own states in the territories they captured, for example, the Duchy of Normandy and the Kingdom of Sicily.
Who were these fighters? Vikings were called berserkers or berserkers, who from an early age devoted themselves to serving Odin - the supreme Scandinavian deity, the ruler of the wonderful palace of Valhalla, where after death the souls of warriors who heroically fell on the battlefield and earned the favor of heaven were supposedly sent to an eternal feast. Before the battle, berserkers put themselves into a special kind of combat trance, due to which they were distinguished by enormous strength, endurance, quick reaction, insensitivity to pain and increased aggressiveness. By the way, the etymology of the word “berserker” still causes controversy in scientific circles. It is most likely derived from the Old Norse "berserkr", which translates either as "bearskin" or "shirtless" (the root ber can mean either "bear" or "naked", and serkr - "skin", "shirt" "). Supporters of the first interpretation point to a direct connection between the berserkers, who wore clothes made of bear skins, and the cult of this totem animal. The “Holo Shirts” focus on the fact that berserkers went into battle without chain mail, naked to the waist.
Bronze plate of the 8th century. Thorslunda, Fr. Öland, Sweden
Fragmentary information about berserkers can also be gleaned from the Prose Edda, a collection of Old Icelandic mythical tales written by Snorri Sturluson. The Saga of the Ynglings says the following: “The men of Odin rushed into battle without chain mail, but raged like mad dogs or wolves. In anticipation of the fight, from the impatience and rage bubbling within them, they gnawed their shields and hands with their teeth until they bled. They were strong, like bears or bulls. With an animal roar they struck the enemy, and neither fire nor iron harmed them...” The Old Norse poet claimed that “Odin knew how to make his enemies go blind or deaf in battle, or be overcome by fear, or their swords become no sharper than sticks.” The connection of berserkers with the cult of the main god of the Scandinavian pantheon has other confirmations. Even the translation of Odin's many names indicates his mad and furious nature: Wotan ("possessed"), Ygg ("terrible"), Heryan ("militant"), Hnikar ("sower of discord"), Belverk ("villain"). The nicknames of the berserkers, who gave the “lord of wrath” a vow of fearlessness, also matched their heavenly patron. For example, Harold the Merciless, who got involved in battle before others, or the Norman leader John, who was defeated in 1171 near Dublin, who had the nickname Wode, that is, “Madman.”
It was no coincidence that berserkers were a privileged part of the military class, a kind of “special forces” of the Vikings. And it was not spontaneous rioting or sacrificial extravagance on the lists that made them so. They just always opened the battle, conducting a demonstration, and in most cases, a victorious duel in full view of the entire army. In one of the chapters of “Germany,” the ancient Roman writer Tacitus wrote about berserkers: “As soon as they reached adulthood, they were allowed to grow hair and a beard, and only after killing the first enemy could they style them... Cowards and others walked around with their hair flowing. In addition, the bravest wore an iron ring, and only the death of the enemy freed them from wearing it. Their task was to anticipate each battle; they always formed the front line.” A squad of berserkers made their enemies tremble with their very appearance. Storming cities as a combat vanguard, they left behind only mountains of corpses of defeated enemies. And behind the berserkers, well-armed infantry protected by armor advanced, completing the rout. If you believe the literary monuments, the Old Scandinavian kings often used berserkers as personal guards, which once again confirms their military elitism. One of the sagas says that the Danish king Hrolf Krake had 12 berserkers as his bodyguards.
FROM THE DOSSIER. “Berserk is a mechanism exploded by ferocious passion, adrenaline, ideological attitude, breathing techniques, sound vibrations and a mechanical program of action. He doesn't fight for anything, but only to win. The berserker does not have to prove that he will survive. He must pay back his life many times over. The berserker not only goes to die, he goes to receive furious pleasure from this process. By the way, that’s why he most often stays alive.”
“THERE IS A DROP IN BATTLE...”
EVERY SINGLE piece of evidence portrays berserkers as ferocious fighters who fought with a wild, almost magical passion. So what is the secret of the rage of berserkers, as well as their insensitivity to injury and pain: was it a consequence of drug intoxication, a hereditary disease or special psychophysical training?
Currently, there are several versions explaining this phenomenon. The first is possession by an “animal spirit.” Ethnographers confirm that something similar was observed among many peoples. At the moments when the “spirit” takes possession of a person, he does not feel any pain or fatigue. But as soon as this state ends, the possessed person almost instantly falls asleep, as if he is turned off. In general, werewolfism as a military practice was widespread in antiquity and the Middle Ages. Traces of “transformation into a beast,” of course, not in a literal sense, but in a ritual and psycho-behavioral sense, can be found in modern military lexicons and heraldic symbols. The custom of naming special forces after predatory animals in order to emphasize their elitism also dates back to the deep past. The ancient Germans imitated the beast; it played the role of a mentor during initiation, when a young man, joining the ranks of adult warriors, demonstrated his fighting skills, dexterity, courage and bravery. The victory of a person over a totem animal, considered the ancestor and patron of a given tribe, meant the transfer of the most valuable animal qualities to the warrior. It was believed that in the end the beast did not die, but was embodied in the hero who defeated it. Modern psychology has long identified the mechanisms by which a person “gets used to” the image of the creature whose role he is currently playing. Berserkers who growled and put on bear skins seemed to actually become bears. Of course, the animal masquerade was by no means the know-how of the Normans.
The famous Munich ethnologist Professor Hans-Joachim Paprot is confident that the cult of the bear appeared much earlier and was more widespread. “Already in Stone Age paintings, for example in the Trois-Frerets cave in Southern France, we find images of dancers in bearskins. And Swedish and Norwegian Laplanders celebrated an annual bear festival until the last century,” says the scientist. The Austrian Germanist Professor Otto Hoefler believes that there was a deep meaning in animal disguise. “It was understood as a transformation not only by the audience, but also by the person changing clothes themselves. If a dancer or warrior dressed in a bearskin, then the strength of the wild animal, of course, in a figurative sense, passed into him. He acted and felt like a bear. Echoes of this cult can still be seen today, for example in the bearskin caps of the English Royal Guards guarding the Tower of London,” he states. And in Danish folklore there is still a belief that anyone who puts on an iron collar can turn into a werebear.
Modern science knows that the human nervous system can produce substances that are similar in composition and action to drugs. They act directly on the “pleasure centers” of the brain. It can be assumed that the berserkers were, as it were, hostages of their own rage. They were forced to look for dangerous situations that would allow them to engage in combat, or even provoke them. One of the Scandinavian sagas talks about a man who had 12 sons. All of them were berserkers: “It became their custom, when they were among their own people and felt a fit of rage, to go from the ship to the shore and throw large stones there, uproot trees, otherwise in their rage they would have maimed or killed their relatives and friends.” The phrase “there is ecstasy in battle” took on a literal meaning. Later, the Vikings, for the most part, still managed to control such attacks. Sometimes they even entered a state that in the East is called “enlightened consciousness.” Those who mastered this art became truly phenomenal warriors.
During the attack, the berserker seemed to “become” the corresponding beast. At the same time, he threw away defensive weapons (or did things with them that were not intended: for example, he bit into his shield with his teeth, plunging the enemy into shock), and in some cases, offensive ones; all Scandinavian Vikings knew how to fight with their hands, but berserkers clearly stood out even at their level.
Many paramilitary groups considered unarmed combat shameful. Among the Vikings, this postulate took the following form: it is shameful not to be able to fight with weapons, but there is nothing shameful in the ability to fight unarmedly. It is curious that as an auxiliary (and sometimes main - if he fought without a sword) weapon, the berserker used stones, a stick picked up from the ground, or a club stored in advance.
This is partly due to the deliberate entry into the image: it is not appropriate for an animal to use weapons (a stone and a stick are natural, natural weapons). But, probably, archaism is also manifested in this, following the ancient schools of martial arts. The sword entered Scandinavia quite late, and even after widespread use, it was for some time out of favor with berserkers, who preferred the club and ax, with which they struck in a circular manner from the shoulder, without connecting the hand. The technique is quite primitive, but the degree of mastery of it was very high.
On Trajan's Column in Rome we see a “strike force” of such animal warriors (not yet berserkers). They are included in the Roman army and are partly forced to follow customs, but only a few have helmets (and no one has armor), some are dressed in animal skin, others are half naked and clutch a club instead of a sword... One must think that this did not reduce their combat effectiveness, otherwise Emperor Trajan, whose guard they were part of, would have been able to insist on rearmament.
Usually it was the berserkers who started each battle, terrifying their enemies with their very appearance. According to the sagas, they did not use armor, preferring bearskin instead. In some cases, a shield is mentioned, the edges of which they gnawed furiously before the battle. The main weapons of the berserkers were a battle ax and a sword, which they wielded to perfection. One of the first references to us about invincible warriors was left by the skald Thorbjörn Hornklovi, who at the end of the 9th century wrote a saga about the victory in the battle of Havrsfjord of King Harald Fairhair, the creator of the Norwegian kingdom. There is a high probability that his description is documented: “The berserkers, dressed in bearskins, growled, shook their swords, bit the edge of their shield in rage and rushed at their enemies. They were possessed and did not feel pain, even if they were hit by a spear. When the battle was won, the warriors fell exhausted and fell into deep sleep.” Similar descriptions of the actions of berserkers in battle can be found in other authors.
For example, in the saga of the Ynglings: “The men of Odin rushed into battle without chain mail, but raged like mad dogs or wolves. In anticipation of the fight, from the impatience and rage bubbling within them, they gnawed their shields and hands with their teeth until they bled. They were strong, like bears or bulls. With an animal roar they struck the enemy, and neither fire nor iron harmed them...” Notice that this time it is mentioned that they were warriors of Odin, the supreme deity of the Scandinavians, to whom, after death in battle, the souls of great warriors go to feast with brave men like them and enjoy the love of heavenly maidens. Apparently, berserkers were representatives of a special group (caste) of professional warriors, who were trained for battles from childhood, devoting them not only to the intricacies of military skill, but also teaching the art of entering a combat trance, which heightened all the senses of the fighter and allowed the hidden capabilities of the human body to manifest themselves. Naturally, it was extremely difficult to defeat such fighters in battle. Fear, as they say, has big eyes, which is why similar lines appeared in the sagas: “One knew how to make his enemies go blind or deaf in battle, or they were overcome by fear, or their swords became no sharper than sticks.”
Traditionally, berserkers formed the vanguard of the battle. They could not fight for long (the combat trance cannot last long), having broken the ranks of the enemies and laid the foundation for a common victory, they left the battlefield to ordinary warriors who completed the defeat of the enemy. Apparently, bringing oneself to a state of trance could not be done without taking certain psychotropic drugs, which allowed berserkers to “transform” into powerful and invincible bears. Werewolfism is known among many nations, when, as a result of illness or taking special drugs, a person identified himself with the beast and even copied certain features of its behavior. It is not for nothing that the emphasis is placed on the invulnerability of berserkers in the sagas. In battle, they were guided not so much by consciousness as by the subconscious, which allowed them to “turn on” qualities that are not typical for humans in everyday life - heightened reaction, expanded peripheral vision, insensitivity to pain, and possibly some kind of extrasensory abilities. In battle, the berserker literally felt the arrows and spears flying at him, foresaw where the blows of swords and axes would come from, which means he could parry the blow, cover himself with a shield or dodge it. These were truly universal warriors, but they were needed only for the period of fighting.
The Normans fought often, which means that berserkers often had to reincarnate. Apparently, the ecstasy of battle became for them something similar to drug addiction, and perhaps it practically was. Consequently, berserkers were, in principle, not adapted to peaceful life, becoming dangerous to society, since they needed danger and thrills. And if there is no war, then you can always provoke a fight or engage in robbery. As soon as the Normans, fed up with the seizure of foreign lands, began to move on to a settled, quiet life, the berserkers turned out to be superfluous. This was clearly manifested in the sagas, in which, from the end of the 11th century, berserkers from former heroes turn into robbers and villains, to whom a merciless war is declared. It is curious that it was recommended to kill berserkers with wooden stakes, since “they are invulnerable” against iron. At the beginning of the 12th century, the Scandinavian countries even adopted special laws aimed at combating berserkers, who were expelled or mercilessly destroyed. Some of the former invulnerable warriors were able to join a new life; it was believed that for this they must be baptized, then faith in Christ would save them from battle madness. The rest, perhaps they made up the majority of the former military elite, were forced to flee to other lands or were simply killed.
FLY ASMIC MADNESS
There have been other attempts to explain the inhuman rage of berserkers. In 1784, S. Edman, referring to the customs of some East Siberian tribes, suggested that berserkers also stupefied themselves with an infusion of fly agarics. The peoples of the Far North - the Tungus, Lamut or Kamchadal - until recently, in the practice of rituals (fortune telling), they used powder from dried fly agaric mushrooms, which, when licked from the palm of their hand, shamans fell into a trance. The behavior of berserkers in battle really resembles a state of intoxication with muscarine - the poison of the fly agaric: stupefaction, outbursts of rage, insensitivity to pain and cold, and then incredible fatigue and deep sleep, about which they wrote that “Vikings fall to the ground from fatigue, and not from wounds” . This is precisely the picture dispassionately recorded by the saga of the battle near the Norwegian city of Stavanger in 872, when the berserkers, after the victory, fell ashore and slept like a dead person for more than a day. The action of muscarine, like any other hallucinogen, is based on a change in the speed of impulses of nerve endings, which causes a feeling of euphoria. And an excessive dose can be fatal. But something else is interesting here: the condition caused by poison in one individual soon spreads to everyone around him. Some historians believe that the berserkers knew about this technique, and therefore only the leaders of the squads or a select few used fly agaric doping. However, there is still no reliable evidence of the “mushroom” theory. Some ethnographers still suggest that berserkers belonged to certain sacred unions or families in which knowledge about the mysterious properties of plants was passed on from generation to generation. But in the Old Norse sagas there is no mention of psychotropic drugs at all. Therefore, a discussion on the topic of “berserkers and fly agarics” is a waste of time, no matter how attractive this version may seem.
Now about another semi-mythical property of berserkers - invulnerability. A variety of sources unanimously claim that the beast warrior could not actually be killed in battle. The berserkers were protected from throwing and striking weapons by a kind of “wisdom of madness.” Disinhibited consciousness enabled extreme responsiveness, sharpened peripheral vision, and likely enabled some extrasensory skills. The berserker saw, or even predicted, any blow, managing to parry it or jump away from the line of attack. The belief in the invulnerability of berserkers survived the heroic age and was reflected in Scandinavian folklore. Berserkers of the 11th and 12th centuries. skillfully took advantage of the image inherited from their ancestors. And they themselves, to the best of their ability, refined their image. For example, fueling rumors in every possible way that they can dull any sword with just one glance. The sagas, with their love of all things supernatural, easily absorbed such colorful details.
Doctors also made their contribution to solving the mystery of the frantic warriors. “The legendary power of the berserkers had nothing to do with spirits, drugs, or magical rituals, but was only a disease transmitted by inheritance,” says Professor Jesse L. Byock. They are ordinary psychopaths who lost control of themselves at the slightest attempt to contradict them. Over time, the berserkers learned to perform a well-rehearsed performance, one of the elements of which was biting the shield. It is well known that exhaustion that occurs after an attack of rage is typical for people with mental disorders. Hysterics easily cross the line separating pretense from reality, and the learned technique becomes a symptom of a real illness. Moreover, the psychoses that engulfed medieval society were often epidemic in nature: just remember the dance of St. Vitus or the flagellant movement. As a striking example, Jesse L. Bayok cites the unbridled in anger, cruel and greedy Viking, and also the famous Icelandic poet Egil, who lived in the 10th century. So, if you believe the “Saga of Egil,” he possessed all the traits of a berserker who adopted his wild disposition from his ancestors. Moreover, his head was so massive that even after death it could not be split with an ax. Analysis of the text of the Old Norse literary monument also allowed Bayok to conclude that Egil's family suffered from Paget's syndrome, a hereditary disease in which uncontrolled bone enlargement occurs. Human bones renew themselves gradually, usually within 8 years. However, the disease increases the rate of bone destruction and new formation so much that they become significantly larger and uglier than before. The effects of Paget's syndrome are especially noticeable on the head, where the bones become thicker. According to statistics, in England today this disease affects from 3 to 5 percent of men over 40 years of age. It is very difficult to confirm or refute an exotic hypothesis due to historical remoteness.
HEROES OR VILLAINS?
FROM CHILDHOOD we have learned the immutable law of fairy tales and myths: all the characters in them are divided into “good” and “bad”. There are no halftones here, with rare exceptions - this is the specificity of the genre. What category can berserkers be classified into?
No matter how strange it may sound, the frantic warriors were most likely anti-heroes for their contemporaries. If in early sagas berserkers were portrayed as selected warriors, bodyguards of the king, then in later family legends they are marauders and rapists. The Earthly Circle, a collection of stories compiled by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, contains many such evidence. Most of the episodes are stereotypical in content and composition. Shortly before Christmas, someone of enormous stature and endowed with extraordinary strength, often accompanied by eleven people, appears as an uninvited guest on a farm with the intention of taking everything of value and forcing the women into cohabitation. If the farmer is at home, he is either sick or infirm and cannot fight back the villains. But more often he is many miles from home, in a distant province of Norway. The leader of the aliens is a berserker, ready to prove in a duel his right to dispose of someone else's household. There are no people willing to fight the strongman, skilled in such fights (and all his previous opponents are dead). But just at this time, a courageous Icelander accidentally turns up on the farm, who either accepts the challenge or defeats the villains with cunning. The result is always the same: the berserkers are killed, including those who hoped to escape. When the troubles are over, the owner returns and generously rewards the savior, who, in memory of what happened, composes a visa - a skaldic poem of eight lines - thanks to which his feat becomes widely known.
It is quite natural that berserkers, to put it mildly, were disliked for such “actions”. Reliable historical evidence has been preserved that in 1012, Earl Eirik Hakonarson outlawed berserkers in Norway, and they apparently began to seek their fortune in other places, including Iceland. Most likely, berserker marauders are gangs of homeless warriors left out of work. They were born for battles: they were excellent with weapons, psychologically prepared, they knew how to intimidate the enemy with growls, aggressive behavior and protect themselves from slashing blows with thick bear skin. But when the berserkers were no longer needed, they suffered the fate of any forgotten army - moral degradation.
The end of the era of the Norman campaigns, Christianization and the formation of early feudal statehood in the Scandinavian lands ultimately led to a complete rethinking of the image of the berserker. Already from the 11th century. this word takes on an exclusively negative connotation. Moreover, berserkers under the influence of the church are credited with pronounced demonic traits. The Saga of Vatisdola tells that in connection with the arrival of Bishop Fridrek in Iceland, war was declared “possessed”. Their description is given in a completely traditional spirit: berserkers commit violence and arbitrariness, their anger knows no bounds, they bark and growl, gnawing at the edge of their shield, walk on hot coals barefoot and do not even try to control their behavior. On the advice of the newly arrived clergyman, those possessed by evil spirits were scared away with fire, beaten to death with wooden stakes, because it was believed that “iron does not hurt berserkers,” and the bodies were thrown into a ravine without burial. Other texts noted that the baptized berserker forever lost the ability to transform. Pursued and persecuted from all sides, finding themselves in the new social conditions as dangerous outcasts and criminals, accustomed to living only by raids and robbery, berserkers became a real disaster. They broke into settlements, killed local residents, and ambushed travelers. And the law of ancient Scandinavia outlawed bloodthirsty madmen, making it obligatory for every resident to destroy berserkers. A law issued in Iceland in 1123 stated: “A berserker caught in a rage will be sentenced to 3 years of exile.” Since then, the warriors in bearskins disappeared without a trace, and with them the hoary pagan antiquity sank into oblivion.
NO ONE knows where and when the last berserker died: history jealously guards this secret. The only reminders of the former glory of the fierce Vikings today are heroic tales and mossy rune stones scattered along the slopes of the Scandinavian hills...
On INFOGLASE The article turned out to be a little more complete, so those who are especially interested can read it there - http://infoglaz.ru/?p=24429
sources Roman SHKURLATOV http://bratishka.ru/archiv/2007/10/2007_10_17.php http://slavs.org.ua/berserki
http://shkolazhizni.ru/archive/0/n-29472/
"The time of heroes has died. The Christian God killed him. Leaving people with nothing but passion-bearers, fear and shame"
Beowulf (literally "bee wolf", that is, "bear")
The essence of this phenomenon was the conditional “reincarnation” of a person into a ferocious beast, most often a wolf.
WOLF is an ancient totemic ancestor of peoples. He is the patron of military alliances, many nations called him their progenitor. In legends, he eats devils, vampires, the dead, blood-drinking people and cattle. In nature, it vomits sick and old animals, controls the number of foxes and stray dogs; in the areas where it lives, rabies in wild animals cannot be found.
Wildlife is also impossible without a wolf, just as a fairy tale or myth is unthinkable without it. The wild she-wolf fed Romulus and Remus, Dietrich, Cyrus, the ancestor of the Turks, and the Slavic heroes Valigora and Vyrvidub with her milk. The Gagauz swore by wolves, such an oath was considered more convincing than the usual word of honor or traditional oaths in the name of God.
The wolf is, first of all, the highest symbol of freedom in the animal world, a symbol of independence, while the so-called king of beasts, the lion, is trained in the circus. The wolf is also a symbol of fearlessness. In any fight, the wolf fights until victory or death.
Beast-like transformations were considered the highest form of manifestation of combat rage in many military traditions. These were suicide warriors, seeking in battle not to save their lives, but to sell them as dearly as possible, taking more enemies to the next world. Berserk is typical for many European peoples.
We can judge what the image of the warrior-beast was, first of all, from Scandinavian sources, for in Scandinavia such warriors existed until the 12th-13th centuries. Ber - “bear” (in Old Scandinavian - “bersi”), and "serk" can mean "shirt". Most often this is how this term is interpreted - “bear shirt”, but literally translated from Old Norse “berserker” means “one who is in the skin of a bear”. However, bad luck, the totem of the berserkers was the wolf, and they had nothing to do with the bear; sometimes they were also called “ulfhedners,” that is, wolf-heads. Probably, these were different incarnations of the same phenomenon: many of those who are called berserkers bore the nickname “Wolf” (ulf), “Wolf’s skin”, “Wolf’s mouth”, etc. However, the name “Bear” (bjorn) is no less common. Not everything is in order with the shirt either, since among the characteristics of the berserker is his demonstrably naked torso; they usually fought half naked - dressed to the waist, or in bear or wolf skins.
There is another interpretation of the meaning of the roots of the word “berserker”. The Old German "berserker" can be translated in different ways, "Berr" translated from Old Low German means... "naked"! This concept is literally translated as “naked slasher.” In “The Saga of the Tomsk Knights” the root “serker” is used, which comes from the concept of “axe”. Hence, the not entirely correct version of the name has been preserved - “berserker”. In the Russian tradition, the “berserker” option is more often used.
The only documented evidence of their existence is the poetic images preserved in the Scandinavian sagas about invincible warriors who, overwhelmed by battle fury, burst into the ranks of enemies with one sword or ax, crushing everything in their path. Modern scientists do not doubt their reality, but much of the history of berserkers remains an unsolved mystery today.
In written sources, berserkers were first mentioned by the skald Thorbjörn Hornklovi, in a song about the victory of King Harald Fairhair in the Battle of Hafsfjord, which supposedly took place in 872. There is a high probability that his description is documented: more than a thousand years ago, Harald Fairhair founded the Kingdom of Norway; this was far from a peaceful enterprise, since noble families did not want to lose their lands. He needed an army. He chose especially strong, determined and young men, those very berserkers, for the front battle formations. They dedicated their lives to Odin, the God of War, and at the decisive battle of Boxfjord, dressed in bearskins, they stood on the bow of the ship. “Berserkers, dressed in bearskins, growled, shook their swords, bit the edge of their shield in rage and rushed at their enemies. They were possessed and did not feel pain, even if they were hit by a spear. When the battle was won, the warriors fell exhausted and fell into deep sleep.” Similar descriptions of the actions of berserkers in battle can be found in other authors. For example, in the saga of the Ynglings by the famous Icelandic poet Snorri Sturlusson: “The men of Odin rushed into battle without chain mail, but raged like mad dogs or wolves. In anticipation of the fight, from the impatience and rage bubbling within them, they gnawed their shields and hands with their teeth until they bled. They were strong, like bears or bulls. With an animal roar they struck the enemy, and neither fire nor iron harmed them and, like rabid animals, foam flowed from their mouths...” In battle, berserkers entered a state of combat trance, they fell into an uncontrollable rage (amok) which the Vikings called fighting spirit, and demonstrated a complete disregard for death. The berserker could remove the spear from the wound and throw it at the enemy. Or continue to fight with a severed limb - without an arm or a leg. Probably, we should look for an analogy in this with the invulnerability of werewolves, who could not be killed with conventional weapons.
In chapter 31 of Germania, the Roman writer Tacitus writes: As soon as they reached adulthood, they were allowed to grow hair and beard, and only after killing the first enemy could they style it... Cowards and others walked with their hair loose, in addition, they wore iron ring, and only the death of the enemy freed them from wearing it. Their task was to anticipate each battle; they always formed the front line. Tacitus mentions a special caste of warriors, which he calls "Hariers" and who bear all the signs of berserkers (800 years before the Battle of Hafsfjord): "... they are stubborn warriors. They are characterized by natural savagery. Black shields, painted bodies, choose dark nights for battle and instill fear in their opponents. No one can resist their unusual and seemingly hellish appearance."
Unwavering loyalty to one's ruler is found in several places in the old sagas. In one of the sagas, the Danish king Hrolf Krake had 12 berserkers who were his personal guard: “Bedvar, Bjarki, Hjalti, Hochgemut, Zvitserk, Kun, Wert, Veseti, Bajgud and the Svipdag brothers.” This indicates the elitist nature of this warrior caste.
After the adoption of Christianity in Scandinavia, old pagan customs were prohibited, in particular, fighters wearing animal skins. A law issued in Iceland in 1123 states: “A berserker caught in a frenzy will be imprisoned for 3 years in exile.” Since then, the berserker warriors have disappeared without a trace.
In literature, berserkers often appear in pairs, often twelve of them at once.
Even the Vikings themselves treated berserkers in their pure form with a feeling halfway between admiration, fearful respect and contempt. These are the true “dogs of war”; if they were able to be used, it was mainly in the position of “tamed animals.” Under normal conditions, berserkers were not tolerated. They were forced to leave the villages and retire to mountain caves, to which they were careful not to go. But in the Viking troops, berserkers found worthy use for themselves.
None of them had their own house or field, or any care. They came to anyone, they were treated to food, they took advantage of strangers, they were careless in their affairs, and only the weakness of old age made them unsuitable for military life. They considered it a shame to die in their own beds from decrepitude, and when death was imminent, they were stabbed to death with a spear.
The sword entered Scandinavia quite late, and even after widespread use, it was for some time out of favor with berserkers, who preferred the club and ax, with which they struck in a circular manner from the shoulder, without connecting the hand. The technique is quite primitive, but the degree of mastery of it was very high.
Traditionally, berserkers formed the vanguard of the battle. They could not fight for long (the combat trance cannot last long), having broken the ranks of the enemies and laid the foundation for a common victory, they left the battlefield to ordinary warriors who completed the defeat of the enemy.
Not every berserker knew how to competently use internal energy. Sometimes they spent it too extensively - and then after the battle the warrior fell into a state of “berserker impotence” for a long time, which could not be explained only by physical fatigue. After fits of rage, berserkers fell into deep depression, until the next nervous breakdown.
The attacks of this powerlessness were so severe that the beast warrior could sometimes die after the battle, without even being wounded.
There are official theories according to which the aggressiveness of the berserker is explained by the intake of psychotropic substances before the fight, namely muscarine, fly agaric poison. Today we know that when people are poisoned by fly agaric, they beat wildly around themselves, they are excited, and they are visited by delusional thoughts. In others and doctors, they see fairy-tale creatures, gods, spirits. The toxic effect stops after 20 hours, and then people fall into deep sleep, from which in most cases they wake up only after 30 hours. This view is the most common, but other possible causes have been cited, such as hysteria, epilepsy, mental illness and heredity.
“The legendary power of the berserkers had nothing to do with spirits, drugs, or magical rituals, but was a disease transmitted by inheritance,” thinks Professor Jesse L. Byock. The Icelandic poet Egil was hot-tempered, angry, invincible just like his father and grandfather. He had a stubborn character, and his head was so massive that even after Egil’s death it was impossible to split it with an ax. So it is written in the saga of Egil. The descriptions therein allowed Bayok to learn that Egil's family suffered from Paget's syndrome, a hereditary disease in which uncontrolled bone enlargement occurs. But can the myth surrounding berserkers be attributed only to a hereditary disease?
The image of a werewolf may be associated with the psychiatric disorder “clinical lycanthropy”, in which a person considers himself to be some kind of animal, for example, a wolf. The first known description of werewolf was given by the Greek physician Marcellus of Sidia
BERSERKERS OF ANCIENT Rus'
What is known about Russian berserkers?
The wolf is the totemic ancestor of many Slavic tribes and the memory of this is still strong.
Vilktaki is a lycanthrope in Lithuanian mythology. A werewolf is a lycanthrope in German and Anglo-Saxon mythology. Bisclavert is a lycanthrope in the Breton tradition. Ulfhednar - literally "wolf-heads" - a man who turns into a wolf in Norse mythology.
The Russians had Volkolaki (Volkodlak, Vovkulak, Vovkun) - a person capable of turning into a wolf (bear).
In Slavic mythology, warrior-werewolves are half-humans - half-wolves from the retinue of Yarila and Veles (among the Scandinavians in the retinue of the god Odin). Volkolak has enormous physical strength, many times greater than human, as well as an impressive speed of movement: a werewolf is able to cover several hundred kilometers during the night.
The Tale of Igor's Campaign describes the capture of Novgorod by Vseslav of Polotsk and the Battle of Nemiga. Vseslav is represented as a sorcerer and a werewolf. - Prince Vseslav ruled over the people, ruled over the city for the princes, and he himself prowled the night like a wolf: from Kyiv he scoured the roosters of Tmutorokan, he scoured the path of the great Horse like a wolf....
“The Slavs are superior to the Germans both in body and spirit, fighting with bestial ferocity...” (Jordan, ancient historian, 6th century).
In the Nikon Chronicle there are amazing lines dated to the year 1000: “Ragdai died as a daring warrior, as if he had run into three hundred warriors” (Ragdai died as a daring warrior, who fought alone against 300 warriors).
It is known from legends that Raghdai was like a wolf, and tales about the treasure sword originate from this character. Which he waved as if it had no weight.
The Byzantine writer Leo the Deacon wrote about the Russians, who, with huge shields, before going on the attack, growled, shouting something incomprehensible. The historian Klyuchevsky wrote: Demyan Kudenevich rode out against the Polovtsian army “without a helmet or armor,” and the naked hobras of Svyatoslav the Great are also eloquently described in the chronicles:
“Olbeg Ratiborich, take your bow, and lay a shot, and strike Itlar in the heart, and beat up his entire squad... “(Radziwill Chronicle: L.: Nauka, 1989, p. 91.)
“The filthy ones had nine hundred mines, and Rus' had ninety copies. Those who rise to the strength, the abominations of the pond, and ours are against them... And the wallpaper was dreamed of, and evil was coming... and the Polovtsians fled, and ours chased after them, they slashed..." (Radziwill Chronicle, p. 134. 26)..
“And they began to flog without mercy, and all the Tatar regiments were mixed up. It seemed to the Tatars that the dead had risen..." ("Tales of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu")
Were they just crazy, fighting-to-the-death fanatics? Did they have supernatural powers that protected them from injury? Or was it a drug effect? Did they suffer from hereditary diseases?
So who are the berserkers?