Berserker

Berserker / Ulfheðinn

Artifact

Sketch

One of the Vendel era Torslunda plates found on Öland, Sweden. It probably depicts one-eyed Odin guiding a berserker or ulfheðinn.^[1]

In the Old Norse written corpus, berserkers (Old Norse: berserkir) were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word berserk, meaning 'furiously violent or out of control'. Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources.