Description from original post (created 2013-05-29 09:05):
Berserkers (or berserks) were Norse Warriors who are reported in the Old Norse litterature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources. Most historians believe that berserkers worked themselves into a rage before battle, but some think that they might have consumed drugged foods.The name berserker arose from their reputed habit of wearing a kind of shirt or coat (OldNorse: serkr) made from the pelt of a bear (Old Norse: ber-) during battle.
The term comes from old Norwegian berserkr (plural berserkir), meaning bear shirt and suggests the hide of the animal was worn as a robe. Notably, the element ber- was sometimes interpreted as berr-, meaning "bare", which is understood to mean that the warriors went into battle bare-chested, or "without armor" as men of Odin, a Norse God.
Berserkers were the Elite-Warrior of Nordic nations. They were well known and fairly rich in the society. They had a very hard training, and were tough. They could beat extreme cold and hunger for weeks, with just a little food, mostly drugged, and cold water or beer.
Hope you like it,
-Dusty
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