The Vikings: Berserkers Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

One side of the etymology debate is that the term Berserker may mean "bare-sark", or "bare of shirt". Snorri Sturluson, a thirteenth century Viking poet and historian, wrote "they went without coats of mail, and acted like mad dogs...."; it is believed they went into battle bare-chested or without armour.

Answer: Bear

Other people believe the term should be "bear-sark," and that it came from the fact that a Berserker would normally wear the pelt of a bear when going into battle. The bear was an animal associated with Norse gods, and by wearing the pelt, a Berserker could hope to win the gods' favor and the animal's strength.

Answer: Odin

Berserkers are sometimes described as Odin's special warriors. The name Odin, or the old Norse Óðinn, means rage or fury. It is related to the German "Wut" (Wóden), which means rage and in Old High German also meant "possession" in the sense of being possessed (with fury).

There are over 170 names for Odin, which all describe the various aspects of his persona. Of course, the attributes ascribed to Berserkers are just part of the multifaceted Odin, but the madness of the Berserker seems to fit Odin's name.

Answer: Wolf

It was believed that Berserkers could shift-shape into either a bear or wolf. Berserkers are also called "Úlfhéðnar", or "men clad in wolfskins" in one of the oldest surviving poems called the "Haraldskvæði":
"I'll ask of the berserks, you tasters of blood,
Those intrepid heroes, how are they treated,
Those who wade out into battle?
Wolf-skinned they are called."
Of course, shape-shifting is also a talent ascribed to Odin!

Answer: He could blunt them by his gaze.

Stories about Berserkers say that "no weapon could bite them" or "iron could not bite into him." In fact, while in animal-form, it is said that a Berserker could not be harmed, that "blades and weapons glanced off" him. It is believed that while a Berserker was in his rage, that he had some kind of immunity from harm; even though he might receive severe wounds, he would make no note of them until the madness had passed.

Answer: Mushrooms

Modern scholars believe the Berserkers may have used hallucinogens, especially the mushroom "amanita muscaria". This idea was first suggested in 1784 by the Swedish professor Samuel Ödmann, who based his theory on reports that the mushroom had been used by shamans in Siberia. No evidence of this type of intoxication has been found in Viking writings.

It has also been suggested that the Berserkers may have consumed massive amounts of alcohol, self-induced the fits of hysteria, or have been mentally unbalanced.

Answer: Bjorn

Bjorn, from the Old Norse for "bear", or some form of the name, would be chosen for the leader of the group. It is thought that Berserkers went through some sort of initiation rite and that battle, either real or imaginery, with a bear was part of the action.

In the "Grettirs Saga" there is a story of a man named Bjorn throwing Grettir's cloak into the den of a bear. Grettir retrieves the cloak, kills the bear, and comes out of the den with the bear's paw.

Answer: He dyed his body.

As if the fit of rage was not terrifying enough, the Berserker also dyed his body. So, does the image of the shape-shifter, wolf or bear, raging mad, body-colored Berserker fill you with terror?

Answer: Like a troll

The Viking sagas describe Berserkers as being very ugly; in fact, they were so ugly that sometimes they were mistaken for trolls. There is a story that a Berserker, Egil, was invited to the court of King Æthelstan. At the feast, Egil was making such terrible faces at the king, that he paid Egil a gold ring to stop! "His eyes were black and his eyebrows joined in the middle.

He refused to touch a drink even though people were serving him, and did nothing but pull his eyebrows up and down, now this one, now the other...." In another saga it was said that "for size and ugliness they were more like monsters than like men".

Answer: Varangian Guard

An elite guard in the Byzantine army, the Varangian Guard served as personal bodyguards to the emperor. Primarily composed of Germanic people such as Scandinavians, the Guard swore an oath of loyalty to the emperor and had ceremonial and police duties.

They were only used in battle when the situation was exceptionally grave. Contemporary writers describe them as "frightening both in appearance and in equipment, they attacked with reckless rage and neither cared about losing blood nor their wounds".