Berserker

Today I am back with an article in our Creatures from HELLas category. This means you'll have to guess whether this creature comes from or is inspired from Greek mythology, or somewhere else, like Hollywood or maybe even my imagination. Ready? Let's go!

Today's creature maybe sounds familiar to you, as the saying 'to go berserk' originates from it (or does it?). I am of course talking about the berserker. Berserkers are legendary warriors, that were feared far and wide, by both friend and foe. Why is that, you might ask. The reason that both the berserker's allies and their opponents avoided them on the battlefield is that the berserkers didn't differentiate between them. To them everyone was an enemy.

Now you might think: 'But wait, why did the people even let berserkers fight with them, if they were such a big risk?' The answer is simple: They were just that strong.

Legend has it, that before the beginning of a battle, the berserkers would howl like animals, bite their shields, and at one point just lose control. They found themselves in a incredible frenzy, killing everyone in their way. Once in this form, there was no telling how long the berserkers would keep on fighting. Usually it lasted for anywhere between 1 and 7 days, and the berserkers would then find themselves without any memories of what they did, often far from where they entered their blind rage.

But battles weren't the only times when berserkers would lose their ability to control themselves. Very strong emotions, such as a (verbal) fight with a close friend, could also trigger the trance-like state. This is why berserkers were often treated as social outcasts, but still held great respect in their community, being some of the best fighters and bodyguards at the time.

In times of war, they were often used as shock troops, charging into the enemy and breaking their formation at will. This was possible because of the berserker's spiritual connection to animals, most often bears, sometimes wolves or boars, which lent them extreme strength, invulnerability to bladed weapons and fire, and other incredible physical powers, depeding on the animal they are close to, such as even more speed, or stealth. It is said, that some very powerful bloodlines of berserkers even had the ability to transform into their respective spirit animal while in their rage.

Even though berserkers – once enraged – were immune to the most common forms of damage on the battlefield, there were ways to kill them. Due to the berserkers not feeling any pain and not getting hurt they did not pay a lot of attention to potential threats. Tales of heroes are told, who were incredibly strong warriors wielding hammers or big maces. These blunt weapons were able to harm the berserkers, and even kill them, should they recklessly charge into one of these strikes.

Now that I told you all about the berseker, what do you think? Does this creature have its origins in Greek mythology or did it come from my imagination?