New article on Inoreader

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQebyNJm9YRyO5h0eWEVhw5 Most Cold-Blooded Military Units in History -

The berserkers, a class of fierce Viking warriors whose actions were first recorded in the 9th century, were feared for their hysterical and wild-eyed fury while fighting. This group was so ferocious that they earned their own adjective, still used to this day.

The word Berserker is derived from the old Norse word serkr, meaning coat, and ber, the Norse word for bear.

The Berserker's ultimate goal was to transform themselves mentally and physically into beasts. After drinking animal blood, they assumed the identity and mannerisms of either a bear or a wolf, howling and attacking just like these beasts would. According to Norse mythology, these warriors acquired their animalic power through a ritualistic polytheist practice that included extended isolation, fasts, and exposure to extreme climates.

The men refused to wear chain mail or any other kind of armor to fight and went into battle wearing only bear or wolf pelts, or even bare-chested. Once in combat, they fought tirelessly, attacking their opponents mercilessly in cold-blooded fashion. Norse sagas referred to this fury act as berserkergang, as the men performed acts which would otherwise be impossible for an ordinary human.

Berserkers were particularly feared in battle because their enemy perceived them as invulnerable to fire, swords, and other weapons. According to an Icelandic poet from the 13th century, he once encountered a Berserker furiously devouring his own shield and using his bare hands to tear down an enemy.

Although the Berserkers were highly sought as soldiers and royal bodyguards, they were hated by their fellow Vikings, as they would often become so drunk with rage that they would turn on their friends, attacking and assaulting them and their loved ones to satisfy their bloodlust.

The mythology behind the Berserkers states that they got their power through the Norse god Odin, and it is widely hypothesized that they consumed a mix of magic mushrooms and obscene quantities of alcohol before charging into battle.

As Doctor Howard Fabing explained in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the Berserkers might have commonly eaten Amanita muscaria, a psychedelic mushroom that contains bufotenine, which causes hallucinations and other psychophysiological effects such as the ones described in Norse lore.

The word berserk is used to this day to describe someone out of control with anger, rage, or frenzy.