What does berserk mean? Trans vs guns

“The berserkers roared, the battle was in full swing, those dressed in wolf skins howled and shook their swords,” - this is how Thorbjorn Hornklovi, the skald of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, first mentioned the berserkers in 872. Another equally famous Icelandic poet, Snorri Sturluson, described how “Odin’s men went into battle without chain mail, and they were wild, like wolves. They bit their shields and were as strong as bears or bulls. They killed their enemies, but neither fire nor sword took them; it was the rage of fierce warriors.”

Where did warriors come from who were not inferior in ferocity to wild animals, and was it only the Scandinavians who knew the secret of their warrior spirit?

BORN IN BEAR SHIRTS

The word “berserk”, known to many fantasy fans, is derived from the Old Norse berserkr. When translated literally, this linguistic unit can take on several meanings. The first is "bearskin" and the second is "shirtless". This ambiguity is explained, first of all, by the fact that the root ber means both “bear” and “naked”, and serkr is translated as “skin” and “shirt”.

But let's not go too far into the mysteries of linguistics.

The complex array of associations associated with the word includes madness in battle, bloodshot eyes, superhuman strength and memories of Vikings. It was this people, far from peaceful life, who many centuries ago had warriors who terrified enemy troops and instilled fear even in their own relatives. These were fighters who dedicated themselves to Odin, the supreme god of the Scandinavians. Berserkers disdained shields and chain mail that got in the way in battle and fought wearing only shirts or even naked to the waist. In battle, they were distinguished by great strength, quick reaction and insensitivity to pain. A berserker who lost a leg in battle could continue to fight, leaning the stump of a limb on a stone.

WITH BARE HANDS

Historians of late antiquity reported that even a close, disciplined formation of soldiers could not always withstand the attack of bestial warriors. It is no coincidence that they were part of the guard of the Roman Emperor Trajan, who knew a lot about military training, since he himself became famous for his enormous physical strength and incredible endurance.

Northern chroniclers of those years often described cases when berserkers who had lost their weapons began to tear apart enemies with their bare hands, how they fought furiously, receiving mortal wounds, and how, thanks to their inhumanly quick reaction, they avoided blows. Modern researchers are trying to find the answer to these abilities, going through one explanation after another.

IS IT ALL ABOUT THE FLIES Agaric?

How can one explain the unique qualities that distinguished the berserker warriors? What is the reason for the so-called berserker rage, to which the Scandinavian warriors in skins owe their reputation?

Perhaps it's all about the mushrooms. More precisely - in fly agaric mushrooms. And even more precisely - in muscarine, the poison contained in this beautiful but poisonous mushroom. A chemical substance called muscarine causes a state similar to intoxication in a person, as well as attacks of rabies and hallucinations.

Coming out of this state, a person experiences severe fatigue. The effect of the poison lasts about 20 hours, after which deep sleep sets in, into which berserkers often plunged after a battle.

Professor of psychiatry Hanskarl Leiner from the German town of Göttingen argued that fly agaric was used by tribes living in subarctic and arctic spaces for “ecstatic practices.” However, there is no exact evidence that the strength of berserkers appeared due to drug intoxication.

PAGET'S DISEASE

Representatives of medicine, pondering the phenomenon known in medicine as berserk syndrome, see the answer to it in Paget's disease. Professor D.L. Bayok, who studied this issue, writes: “Usually the human skeleton is completely renewed in eight years. However, Paget's disease increases the rate of destruction and repair, which ugly changes the structure of the bones, making them much thicker than before. The effects of Paget’s syndrome are especially noticeable on the skull; its bones become thicker.”

And indeed, the warriors “born in bear shirts” were distinguished by the excellent strength of their skeleton.

In one of the sagas of the Icelandic poet Egil, where he describes himself, it is said that he is a quick-tempered, angry and invincible man in battle. The poet's father and grandfather possessed qualities that were equally unpleasant for our contemporary, but useful for the men of those years. According to some historical documents, Egil's bones were so strong that after death his head could not be split even with an ax. History, however, is silent about who was so annoyed by the unfortunate poet that his body was not spared even after his death, but the fact remains that the murdered man’s skull was phenomenally strong. It can be assumed that Egil's family suffered from Paget's disease.

Finally, the unique capabilities of berserkers are explained by the internal reserves of the human body, which ordinary people do not know how to use. Proponents of this hypothesis believe that berserkers could concentrate energy. Among their arguments is the invulnerability of berserkers. And if anyone was lucky enough to cripple the brutal warrior, he did not notice the wound and rode on the wave of his anger until the end of the battle, actively sending his enemies to the kingdom of the dead.

A disinhibited consciousness helped berserkers avoid wounds, thanks to which the reaction speed significantly increased. They could remain unharmed after a blow by using a method reminiscent of the eastern “iron shirt”, in which strong bones and developed muscles, protected and strengthened by the concentration of internal energy, gave an amazing result, making the warrior’s body practically invulnerable to the blade.

TRANS AGAINST WEAPONS

Are there any references in the culture of other nations to warriors distinguished by unparalleled courage and insensitivity to pain? It turns out there is. For example, the Zulu, an African people of about ten million people living mainly in the Republic of South Africa, have a war dance technique called giya. It contains a set of combat techniques.

This peculiar dance was beautifully described by G. R. Haggard, the author of semi-fantastic novels, who spent a significant part of his life among the Zulus: “The dancing began... The warriors resembled large, fierce birds rushing at their prey. Stretching out their assegai (spears - editor's note) and raising their shields, they seemed to fly back and forth, accompanying each movement with such a sharp hiss that thousands of snakes could emit... Then each warrior in turn took a leap forward; having run a few steps, he seemed to rush into an attack, soared five feet into the air, threw himself on the ground, jumped up, stuck his head between his legs - in a word, he was everywhere and everywhere at the same time.”

Such elements of the martial art of the Balinese (people in Indonesia living on the island of Bali - editor's note) as amok and puputan are very reminiscent of berserkerism. As a dance type of trance, Puputan required a long time to enter. Then it was only necessary to support him with the rhythm of steps, drumming and shouts. The last example of mass puputan was demonstrated by the Balinese to the Dutch in 1906–1908. But this did not save the island from conquest. Whatever one may say, firearms have greatly simplified the task of exterminating fellow humans on the planet, even those put into a combat trance.

Amok looked more like violent madness. In this state, the fighter did not even notice mortal wounds. True, there was no way out of this state. The warrior who entered into the “deadly dance” was doomed to death from moral and physical exhaustion.

Berserkers were first mentioned by the skald Thorbjörn Hornklovi in ​​a drape (long poem) about the victory of King Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Havrsfjord, which supposedly took place in 872.

A little history. It is a mistake to assume that battle madness was the lot of the Norman Vikings. This art was everywhere where people were. And that means warriors. But the methods differed. So in Europe, during the Norman Campaigns, Berserkers were either by birth, or such qualities manifested themselves spontaneously during battle. Berserkers were feared not only by all of Europe and half of Asia, but also by the Normans themselves. The fact is that the attacks of combat madness were uncontrollable. A berserker could fall into a combat trance from any little thing: a cut, an insult, a great emotional load. And a bleak fate was in store for him: far from populated areas, as a rule, without a family. Only a few lived to be 30 years old. They were also not in danger of dying from old age. But giving birth to a berserker child was considered a very good sign. it was believed that Father Druzhin himself marked him with his mercy, and that means the family where he was born would not bypass his Horn of Plenty. In general, this is true, the Berserkers received prey second after the king. No one smiled at a quarrel with a berserker. Gradually, this ancient fighting custom died out - the fact is that a boy showing signs of being marked by Odin was given to be raised by a berserker, who accepted a successor. But the Vikings had a custom of incest, and therefore there were fewer and fewer successors and mentors. It's doping time.

The Nazis almost approached industrial production, modifying the original. German chemists developed a whole family of stimulants: from simple amphetamines to “combat cocktails” that were practically put into production.

I can’t help but say a few words about the East. As far as I know, such techniques were not practiced either in Tibet or China. But again, they are most likely secret, kept in the Great Secret. The Asians' passion for secrecy is known far beyond Asia itself. The only thing I know for sure is that Battle Madness was practiced in the ranks of assassins. Moreover, a rather unusual technique was practiced: Students were smoked with hashish (hence their other name: hashishins), and students prepared in this way were subjected to various suggestions, from blocking ones to removing all fears, even contempt for death. By the way, they practiced a special test ritual: the test subject is smoked with various potions until he falls into an artificial coma. After a certain time, he was revived using a special technique. Unfortunately, I don’t know the details (it’s unlikely that anyone knows them at all), but just general outlines. I can say that the Ritual of passing through Death, looking beyond the “Border,” was practiced everywhere, from Indian tribes in North America to shinobi clans in the Japanese mountains. But this is a separate topic. Let's talk about the “Shadow Warriors”. These are practically the only warriors who have developed in detail and developed the Art of Combat Madness. The ninja gained their main knowledge from the yamabushi - mountain warriors; according to legend, these were samurai who were defeated in battle, but did not commit ritual suicide - seppuku. In the mountains they continued to develop their martial arts. Most likely, they discovered and developed this type of Art of Combat. Ninjas identified 7 types of state changes. each type corresponded to the god-personification of the quality that was needed by the shinobi at the right moment. Each such “entry into the image” was accompanied by a magical formula and a special interlacing of fingers into a magical figure (the art of interlacing fingers with magical signs is called “fyukkë”). With this use of signs and formulas, the entry is almost 100%. By the way, modern intelligence services train their own precisely according to the method “hidden in the foliage”, but according to a simplified scheme, only 1 type, namely cold rage. (Don’t think, there are no fools sitting there, and they keep secret the basic principles of entry, and psychosomatic techniques, the well-known notorious non-contact battle.)

If someone thinks that there were no such fighters in Rus', then this is a delusion. Were. And the most interesting thing is that they trained this Art. I can’t say that this is the ultimate truth, but there are arguments that it was practiced by the Magi. (Battle Madness and Shamanic Kamlania are very similar in sensations, and the state is approximately the same). And they achieved considerable success. So one of the rituals was as follows: In winter, a half-naked warrior sat on the ground, cross-legged, performed a concert I Live in the Spring Womb (solar plexus), he was covered with snow up to his neck, and he had to melt the snow with his inner strength. Judge for yourself: this is a very severe test. And the warriors who passed such tests (there were a great many of them) bore the nickname: Ardent, which emphasized their high skill. It is enough to remember the words where the root “Yar” is used. Fury, Bright (then its meaning was different, it meant courage and fearlessness in battle).

Many people are now interested in the Cossack SPAS, the secret knowledge of the Cossacks and the ancient traditions of fighting among the Cossacks. There are legends about the Cossacks CHARACTERISTICS, some compare them with berserkers.
I would like to discuss this topic, join us and express your opinions. Is this MYTH or REALITY?

And although it is quite legitimate to ask the following question: “What is there in the East that would not be in the West?”, berserkers are an incomparable phenomenon. Furious berserkers rushing headlong into an attack can perhaps create the impression of their desperate hopelessness if their actions are motivated from the point of view of a normal person. However, the feat was never the norm of behavior. The feat is the result of the highest intensity of forces - spiritual, mental, physical. That is, this is a transcendental state. Most often, the feat is a spontaneous phenomenon. It seems to be the result of a person’s personal capabilities, drawing a line under upbringing, will, character, and beliefs. Berserk is a completely different phenomenon; The berserker is created for feat. His heroic abilities are accumulated by his berserker status itself. In general, this phenomenon has been studied quite little. Perhaps because it is hidden from the eyes of outsiders, allowing chivalry to pass ahead. However, mystery always hypnotizes people. Creates speculation, almost true stories and “miraculous” revelations. The mystery of the berserkers is not even worthy of delirious fantasies. She has been cast into oblivion. There is a taboo on it, a curse.

Literally, “berserker” can mean “baron of the battle.” This is exactly what I assumed before. During the time of the berserkers, baron had not yet emerged as a title, but had the meaning of “experienced warrior.” The ancient Germanic "berserker" can be translated in different ways. In “The Saga of the Tomsk Knights” the root “serker” is used, which comes from the concept of “axe”. Hence, the not entirely correct version of the name has been preserved - “berserker”. This reconstruction is typical for an average historian who does not fully understand the subject of his research, but not for a linguist. There is another interpretation of the meaning of the roots of the word “berserker”. Ber is "bear" (in Old Norse - "bersi"), and "serk" can mean "shirt". Most often this is how this term is interpreted - “bear shirt”. However, here’s the bad luck, the totem of the berserkers was the wolf and only the wolf, they had nothing to do with the bear. I've been dealing with this issue since the 70s. Then a curious article appeared in one central newspaper, with which, one might say, Aridan originates (primarily Aridan was the style of berserkers). The Slavic-Goritsky struggle did not yet exist, and Aridan was tied more to the peculiarities of human behavior in extreme situations than to a specific school of martial arts. The article I mentioned, unfortunately, did not survive, but I remembered it almost verbatim. It was about an amazing thirteen-year-old boy, who, due to his clumsiness and lack of athleticism, became an object of ridicule among his peers. He came to the boxing sports section, but also things didn’t work out for him there. Which is quite natural, since real sport is not only not a salvation from an inferiority complex, but rather a test even for physically developed children. And so, when the coach of the group, a master of sports in boxing, a fighter who knows how to take a punch,... Moreover, he was several tens of kilograms superior to this young man, which is also an important fact for those who understand what we are talking about, “taught” the careless teenager, he suddenly became furious, lost control of himself for a short time and knocked out his teacher, moreover, with a blow. .. on the body! I remember this detail very well. Experienced boxers probably know about such knockouts. This phenomenon is quite rare. The article did not say a word about berserkers, its conclusion sounded like an assumption about a possibly already known future Olympic boxing champion. , about a young, unexpectedly revealed talent. It was absolutely obvious to me that this phenomenon was more than just athletic talent. So, “shirt”. Not everything is in order with the shirt either, since among the characteristics of the berserker is his demonstrably naked torso. Remember, at Klyuchevsky’s, Demyan Kudenevich rode out against the Polovtsian army “without a helmet or armor”? And the bare-bodied hobras of Svyatoslav the Great? As it turned out, the first root of this word has another meaning and, apparently, the most correct one. "Berr" translated from Old Low German means... "naked"! Thus, no “bears”, “shirts”, and, probably, “barons” have anything to do with the berserker. This concept is literally translated - naked slasher.” And although the term that reflected for posterity the amazing phenomenon of “invincible rage” was created by the Germans, berserk is typical of many European peoples. What’s strange about this? Are there not enough foreign words in everyday use today that have no ethnic consonance? Among the Celts, for example, the Sequani tribe, which in the East Slavic tradition could sound like “Vyatichi berserkers,” plunged the ancient Romans into panic with the sight of the wild rage of their naked warriors. It was in 385 BC when the Celts took Rome. I dare to suggest that the phenomenon of berserkers gave rise to European barbarism. It is always opposed to the supposedly more organized and cultivated Antique. However, only the fusion of these two concepts can demonstrate a truly harmonious geopolitical structure, one of the facets of which is military culture. Russian berserkers. What is known about Russian berserkers? “Olbeg Ratiborich, take your bow and lay an arrow, and strike Itlar in the heart, and beat up his entire squad...” Eloquently. The Nikon Chronicle speaks no less eloquently about Ragdai: “And this man went against three hundred soldiers” (!). What is this, hero worship? Where there! The chronicler is disgusted by the “ungodliness” of the bloody showdowns. Barbarian beauty is not his path at all. This is the real point. What makes us doubt the chronicle line? Ability. The ability to do something like this. Ability in general. What God has divided so unevenly among people. It’s surprising that no one questions the composer’s gift, which explodes the silence of the world with a storm of sounds of rushing passions. Or the gift of a sculptor, gnawing on stone to delight us with the impossibility of the living in the dead. What about the art of combat? Or is this not art at all, but only a routine of mutual self-mutilation? Not at all! After all, you believe in the omnipotence of mythical ninjas. In their mind-blowing antics and abilities. Agree that you believe in the almost impossible. So isn’t the point that persuasiveness is covered up by a stream of eloquence? A stream of words. Or maybe stunt films?

Berserk is a mechanism exploded by ferocious passion, adrenaline, ideological attitude, breathing techniques, sound vibrations and a mechanical program of action. The berserker does not have to prove that he will survive. He must pay back his life many times over. The berserker not only goes to die, he goes to receive furious pleasure from this process. By the way, this is why he most often remains alive. Is the berserker a fanatic? Yes. But not the religious one who kills himself “for the sake of Allah.” No one has yet proven that Allah exists at all. God exists as long as there is faith in him. The berserker does not perform a spiritual feat. For him, the highest application of spiritual powers is the norm of behavior. Like shaving for you. He experiences death dozens of times and rebirth, and a fanatic - only once. But this is precisely one of the amazing manifestations of barbarian superhumanity. I am ready to agree that berserkers are an exceptional phenomenon. But isn’t it the deformation of the barbarian’s personality, for the most part tamed by Christian doctrine, that makes such phenomena exceptional. ? Berserk is a necessity, it is an imprint of the struggle of the Northern European peoples for survival. If the East is capable of putting tens, thousands of people “under arms,” then the barbarian squads of Europe numbered only hundreds of warriors - this is always a problem of the Personality. something the East never knew, completely devaluing the very concept of human life. “The filthy ones had 9 hundred mines, and Rus' had ninety copies. Those who hope for strength, the abominations are in vain, and ours are against them... And the wallpaper was dreamed of, and the slaughter of evil came, and the Polovtsian fled, and ours chased after them, they slashed..."* That's the whole story for you. The barbaric essence is that you should never, under any circumstances, “run away” yourself. Then the enemy will run. Because he won't have a choice.

It would be wrong to think that a berserker is just a psychopath with a weapon in his hands. Freedom is an expensive thing. Freedom is what is asked in full. It is no coincidence that berserkers are a privileged part of the military class. The complex mechanism of military labor gives them not at all spontaneous riots and sacrificial extravagance on the lists, but a completely definite, developed role. It is this that makes berserkers the elite. Berserker opens the battle! It was specially created in order to hold an exhibition match in full view of the entire army. True, this is a European tradition, and it did not affect the East Slavic military affairs. Of course, berserkers are used for different purposes. For example, it is reliably known that they formed the personal guard of the kings. Gridneys were used for this purpose in Rus'. Although the gridneys are never mentioned in connection with their mind-blowing individual abilities. Moreover, it is difficult to prove that the most famous Russian berserkers: Ragdai, Olbeg, Demyan Kudenevich, Evpatiy Kolovrat were someone’s vests. Fate had prepared completely different roles for them. Evpatiy, for example, was a voivode, that is, a commander. Remember Evpatiy Kolovrat. With one regiment he liberated the Ryazan region from the Tatars for six months, at the very height of the invasion. And Evpatiy did not give up his last battle. The Tatars were never able to take his warriors in hand-to-hand combat. They were simply pelted with stones from throwing weapons. A gesture of despair and at the same time resourcefulness of Batu. This beast was so amazed by what he saw that, having won, he ordered the living to be dug up and released, and the dead to be buried with honors. The “Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”, written by the medieval writer Eustathius from Zaraysk, says that for each of these soldiers of the “desperate regiment” there were up to a thousand Mongols. Let us restore the true picture of the events of those days. In the fall of 1237, Evpatiy Kolovrat had to stay in Chernigov. The Mongols have already trampled the Ryazan region. Evpatiy returned in December to the ashes. Instead of Ryazan - charred firebrands. It didn’t take him long to look for something to do, he gathered 1,700 people ready to tear the enemy with their teeth. There was no time left to prepare for battle. But his people could not be called beginners in the martial art. The "Regiment of Desperados" chased the retreating hordes. “And they began to flog without mercy, and all the Tatar regiments were mixed up. It seemed to the Tatars that the dead had risen..." - this is what the chronicler says. There was no Eurasian policy in Rus' yet, and Kolovrat did what he had to do. The frightened Batu allocated the best regiments under the command of his brother-in-law Khostovrul. The Great Slaughter took place on Suzdal soil. The commanders themselves started the battle. They converged in front of the frozen shelves. The spears broke as they were being knocked down, but neither the horses nor the riders wavered. Let's use the sabers. And then Kolovrat cut Khostovrul in half, right down to the saddle. The Horde trembled and ran. But the Russian success was temporary. Batu surrounded the “desperate”. They repulsed all attacks, and then Batu ordered to shoot them with stone throwers. The fighters were covered with stones. Only five remained alive. Batu ordered to dig up Kolovrat’s body. Batu’s words over the dead berserker are known: “If such a one served with me, I would keep him close to my heart!” Batu gave Kolovrat’s body to the five surviving Ryazan residents and demanded that the knight be buried with proper honors. He let them go, something he had never done to an enemy before.

If a mere mortal, picking up a weapon, still sees the difference between being killed or staying alive, then this question does not face the berserker. Berserker individualism is the principle of maximum dedication. And, of course, the berserker’s dedication is not aimed at acquiring his own benefits and benefits. In this regard, berserkers are absolute unmercenaries. In the berserker, like no other, there is an instinct of the family, pushing the bully to the most unimaginable acts of courage... Of course, for such combat, frenzy alone is not enough. Mechanical principles brought to perfection apply here.

Space, as you know, is organized according to the principle of a circle. The zone of motor convenience for an ordinary person is the half-radius circle in front of him. To build movement in other directions, a person involves more complex and even structurally dangerous evolutions of the musculoskeletal system. For example, with an incorrectly organized movement behind the back, the menisci of the knee joints often “scatter” when turning the body, vertebral discs are pinched, etc. This happens mainly for two reasons. Firstly, a person evolves in frontally directed walking, and, secondly, he also does not have a special motor skill in constructing an atypical action. That is, not only is this method of movement structurally unjustified, it has also not been mastered. The human body has a large margin of safety, but it must, of course, be used intelligently. For a berserker, in this case, the concept of a back does not exist. Otherwise, he could not fight in the thick of battle, surrounded on all sides by the enemy. The half-radius of action “in front of your eyes” is an ordinary, combatant army. For him, no matter how you turn around, the idea of ​​inconveniently repelling attacks from behind and the usual frontal attack will remain. The movements of the berserker are structured in such a way that he always slides along the blows, displacing the blow and moving himself. As a result, not a single blow hits a penetrating lesion. The berserker's reflexes react not to the blow as a whole, but to its individual phases! This is a very important circumstance. For example, if you are hacked with a sword year after year, you first begin to suppress the panic fear caused by the instinct of self-preservation, and then you notice that there are some patterns in the actions of the enemy. And really; If you learn to use them, then it becomes not scary at all. What kind of patterns are these? In its development, the blow goes through three successive phases.

1. Starting phase. Sometimes it is expressed by a swing. The swing creates momentum. This makes it quite easy to predict the impact trajectory. It's worse when the enemy hits from a short distance. Although such a blow is much weaker than the previous one given in the example, it is still quite combat-ready, and, in addition, leaves very little chance for your reaction. It must be said that any type of weapon affects the motor pattern of use. For example, you immediately want to hit with a saber - with a swing along an oblique trajectory, with an ax - from above, with a sharp blade - to make a piercing lunge, etc. I once paid for my overconfidence. Calling a man from the crowd, I handed him a military weapon and asked him to strike me with any blow to kill. The reaction of my random partner turned out to be instantaneous, but the worst thing was that he was a person of unconventional thinking. Everything happened in a split second. The last circumstance left me no chance to choose the right reaction. I am grateful to fate that I remained alive, although I lost a lot of blood He struck with the blade in a way that was unimaginably difficult and awkward - along a broken trajectory, from under himself, with an undercut. I understand perfectly well now that it was the starting phase that confused me.

2. The strike itself or the phase of hitting the target. This is the phase not so much of the result itself as of confirming the accuracy of the action. About the same as thread getting caught in the eye of a needle. The phase is very fast. They fear her most of all. If it is she who overtakes your reaction, consider that you are already a corpse.

3. Finally, the final phase of the impact. Release of force, release of muscle contractions or inertia. She creates consequences. From a light scratch to dismemberment, depending on the amount of impact applied. This phase interrupts the blow. It is quite natural that the berserker tries to avoid a collision with the second phase. First, he will have to hold the blow. And, secondly, the second phase is always followed by the third, therefore, the berserker will have to lose the pace of movement, reacting to the release of the enemy’s strength, and slow down spatial coordination. Thus, you try to get ahead of the enemy’s strike or, if you don’t have time to do this, you dodge, attacking in the third phase, that is, the failure of the strike when the enemy is quite helpless. The fullness of the movement directly depends on the ability to completely cover the space. This is where we started. Space is a circle. The movement is structured in such a way as to constantly turn you into the zone of least reach, that is, behind your back. Strikes with weapons are performed here at maximum amplitude, immediately grasping opposite sides. But it's a weapon. In martial arts, this method is not advisable. However, high mobility of the body is maintained on each blow. And what is equally important is that the idea of ​​​​attacking the first and third phases of the enemy’s attack is preserved. In martial arts, the reaction to the second phase is called a block. Slavic-Goritsky wrestling is inseparable from the idea of ​​the berserker - “It is better to attack yourself than to be attacked!” Of course, combat, being a complex conglomerate of various situations, does not always provide such an opportunity. In this case, the action includes wedging the enemy’s blow, which we have brought to perfection and has a much greater potential for defeat than simply knocking down the hand. I dare say that with normal training, all of the above does not at all look like a mind-blowing theory. Of course, I am not revealing all the tricks of the movement. Agree, you need to leave something for full-time school. However, the volume of the base that falls on their shoulders could hardly fit even in the most voluminous textbook. I have always been convinced that detailed textbooks are created for lazy people. They answer all questions, making it difficult to think for yourself. Remember that it is not knowledge that should compensate for your craving for martial art, but developed reflexes. The body itself carries within itself a gigantic action potential. Of course, motor abilities, like abilities in general, are developed differently in each person. And yet, twenty-three years of practice allow me to conclude that the basis of everything is not talent, but hard work. If you are sensitive to the correctness of body movement, be it Slavic-Goritsky wrestling or swimming, or athletics, no distorted, physically defective form will attract you. You will simply feel it. Therefore, from the very beginning of classes, you should develop not so much erudition, not so much knowledge of techniques, but motor coordination and muscle memory.

Modern science knows that the human nervous system - including those parts of it that are subject to conscious control - is capable of producing substances that are similar in composition and action to drugs. They act directly on the “pleasure centers” of the brain. If these substances are released when a person falls into a certain state of consciousness, then in this state he experiences a complete analogue of a “high,” and when he leaves it, “withdrawal” begins.
“Professional” berserkers became hostages of their own rage. They were forced to look for dangerous situations that would allow them to engage in combat, or even provoke them. Hence the berserker asociality, which arouses wariness even among those who admired their courage and combat effectiveness. And from here comes this very combat capability, which manifests itself in the condition of “opening the floodgates.”
The phrase: “There is ecstasy in battle” took on a literal meaning...
Later, the Vikings, for the most part, still managed to control such attacks. Sometimes they even entered a state that in the East is called “enlightened consciousness” (although they usually went to it not through detachment, not through meditation, but through fighting rage; such a path is sometimes fraught with the fact that the “beast” will prevail over a person) . This made them phenomenal warriors:
"... Thorolf became so furious that he threw his shield behind his back and took the spear with both hands. He rushed forward and chopped and stabbed enemies right and left. (Some types of Scandinavian spears allowed chopping blows.) People ran away from him in different directions , but he managed to kill many..." ("The Saga of Egil"). The sagas (which, as modern experts have found, convey events with amazing accuracy) are replete with references to how a skilled warrior fights off one against many, manages to pave the way to the leader of an enemy detachment through a wall of shields and a crowd of bodyguards, cuts the enemy from shoulder to thigh, etc. .p.
Now is the time to talk about another semi-mythical property of the berserker: his invulnerability. A variety of sources unanimously claim that the beast warrior could not actually be killed in battle. True, the details of this invulnerability are described differently. A berserker supposedly could neither be killed nor wounded with a military weapon (from which it followed that non-combat weapons must be used against him: a wooden club, a hammer with a stone top, etc.); sometimes he was invulnerable only against throwing weapons (arrows and darts); in some cases it was clarified that with skillful use of weapons he could still be wounded, even fatally, but he would die only after the battle, and before that he would not seem to notice the wound.
Everywhere and always, legends have formed around high-level martial art. But I think here we can get to the bottom of the truth. The easiest way to resolve the issue of invulnerability with military weapons: as long as the sword remained among the Scandinavians the weapon of a small elite (somewhere before the 8th-9th centuries), such “elite” warriors very often could not cope with their competitors - animal warriors, who used ancient techniques of club fighting. Eventually, the two fencing techniques merged: many berserkers became the “elite,” and many of the “elite” mastered berserker skills.
Berserkers were protected from throwing (and also from striking) weapons by a kind of “wisdom of madness.” Disinhibited consciousness enabled extreme responsiveness, sharpened peripheral vision, and likely enabled some extrasensory skills. The berserker saw (or even predicted) any blow and managed to parry it or bounce away.
King Harald, who first united Norway, had a “special forces” formed from berserkers who joined the military elite. By that time, there were no “wild” animal warriors who were not part of squads and similar formations left in Norway. One of the battles with their participation looked like this:
“The king’s twelve berserkers were at the bow of the ship. The king’s ship was moving forward, and there was a fierce battle. When the army was checked, many were killed and many had dangerous wounds... There was no one on the king’s ship who stood in front of the front mast and was not wounded, except for those whom the iron did not take, and these were berserkers."
One of the best warriors in Iceland, who by the way did not consider himself a berserker, describing his actions in battle against a numerically superior enemy, says the following words:
“Then I took a sword in one hand and a spear in the other and began to chop and stab. I did not cover myself with a shield, and I don’t even know what protected me” (“Njal’s Saga”).
It was berserkerism that protected him - already “civilized” and therefore not considered as such. This is all the more remarkable since the Viking, who had mastered only “technique,” ​​needed a shield: he could not fully fight back with offensive weapons.
Berserkerism helped to fend off dangerous blows, but if the blow was missed, it made it possible to “not notice” it. It’s hard to believe, but many independent sources report: the Viking to some extent retained combat capability even after monstrous wounds, from which a modern person would instantly lose consciousness. With a cut off leg or arm, a cut chest, a pierced stomach, he continued to fight for some time - and could have taken his killer with him to Valhalla...
And yet, descriptions of cases have been preserved when a berserker not only avoided a wound, and not even just endured it, but, having received a blow, remained unharmed! Also an exaggeration? Maybe... But this is very similar to the eastern “iron shirt method”, in which hardening of bones and muscles, and most importantly, the ability to concentrate internal energy, in certain cases makes the body difficult to vulnerable even to a blade. But the Viking blades are no match for the eastern ones: no matter how much the northern warriors admired them, this admiration stems from a lack of material for comparison. At least in the time of the berserkers, the hardening of the blade was only superficial and it was far from the sharpness and elasticity of the samurai katana.
Moreover, even “energy” did not always save the berserker. Sometimes a missed blow with a sword did not actually cut the body, but caused such a serious bruise that it could ensure the end of the fight. After all, the berserkers’ opponents were a match for them...
And not every berserker knew how to competently use internal energy. Sometimes they spent it too extensively - and then after the battle the warrior fell into a state of “berserker impotence” for a long time, which could not be explained only by physical fatigue.
The attacks of this powerlessness were so severe that the beast warrior could sometimes die after the battle, without even being wounded in it!
Intuitive penetration into the depths of martial art clearly needed to be “polished” by creating a school that would provide a culture of movements, stances, combinations of techniques...

Odin's warrior elite - berserkers

When looking at what the current politicians have done to our living space, Germany, a cold rage arises inside and demands release. “He was raging like a berserker,” that’s what the media would say if we gave her vent. What is this supposed to mean, and who exactly were the berserkers?

More than a thousand years ago, Harald Fairhair founded the Kingdom of Norway. This was far from a peaceful enterprise, since noble families did not want to lose their lands. He needed an army. He chose especially strong, determined and young men, those very berserkers, for the front battle formations. They dedicated their lives to Odin, the God of War, and at the decisive battle of Boxfjord, dressed in bearskins, they stood on the bow of the ship, “biting the edge of their shield in rage and rushed at their enemies. They were possessed and did not feel pain, even if they were hit spear. When the battle was won, the warriors fell exhausted and fell into deep sleep." This is what one of the participants in that battle said - Thorbjorn Hornklofi; This is also confirmed by lines from the Norwegian and Icelandic sagas.

They appear in the Ynglinga Saga of the famous Icelandic poet Snorri Sturlusson: “The men of Odin went into battle without mail, and they were wild like wolves. They bit their shields and were strong like bears or bulls. They killed their enemies when they themselves were not taken by anyone.” fire, nor sword; it was the rage of fierce warriors."

It is likely that the old songs were somewhat embellished. However, it is striking that all the descriptions depict ferocious warriors who fought with a wild, downright magical passion. In chapter 31 of Germania, the Roman writer Tacitus writes: “As soon as they reached adulthood, they were allowed to grow hair and a beard, and only after killing the first enemy could they style it... Cowards and others walked around with their hair flowing. In addition, , the bravest wore an iron ring, and only the death of the enemy freed them from wearing it. Their task was to precede every battle; they always formed the front line." Only such warriors could continue the tradition of berserkers.

The rampage of berserkers is proverbial. Popular speech has received repeated evidence of "biting the top of the shield." Animals bare their teeth before attacking. In the same way, we “show our teeth to someone” if we want to do something similar. Skilled fighters pursued the goal of “hardening”, but we also know about their bearskins. And this gives rise to all sorts of talk. Were they half-wild young warriors who went into battle with their bodies unprotected to prove their courage? Are we talking about sacred male unions dedicated to the God of the Dead Odin, and serving him as warriors? Were they just crazy, fighting-to-the-death fanatics? Did they have supernatural powers that protected them from injury? Or was it a drug effect? Did they suffer from hereditary diseases?

Asking the specialist and head of Scandinavian philology at the University of Munich, Professor Kurt Schier: “In principle, everything is possible, but you cannot prove everything only with written sources. They do not date back to the time of Harald Fairhair, but were written down much later. The oral testimony of eyewitness Thorbjörn Hornklofi was the first in which The word “berserker” was used in the 12th century, only 300 years after the Battle of Boxfjord. Historical sources are rare, and it is not even completely reliable about the origin of this word “Serkr” means “shirt” in the Old Norse language. from which Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic later developed. The syllable "Ber" can come from "Bersi" (bear), or from "berr" (unveiled). Depending on how you look at the word berserk, its meaning is either "clad in". bearskin" or "going into battle naked." This is a small difference, but very important. If they really went into battle naked, then there would be nothing strange about it. Tacitus even reports that the soldiers of the German auxiliary units traditionally fought with their upper torso uncovered. If berserkers dressed in animal skins, which is what most researchers suggest, then this was already a feature typical only of Norway and Iceland."

Of course, the Icelanders and Norwegians did not invent this kind of dressing up. “Previously, the bear cult was more widespread,” explains Munich ethnologist Professor Hans-Joachim Paprot. "Already in Stone Age rock paintings, such as the Trois-Freres cave in Southern France, we find images of dancers in bear skins. Both the Swedish and Norwegian Laplanders celebrated their bear festival until the last century." The old Viennese Germanist Professor Otto Höfler says: “There is something mysterious in this animal disguise. It was understood as a transformation, not only by the spectators, but also by the dresser himself. If a dancer or warrior dressed in a bearskin, then the power of the wild animal, of course, in figuratively, passed into him. He acted and felt like a bear. This can be perceived as a special northern development of a custom that is rooted in the ancient cult of animal faces." In the bearskin caps of the English guards guarding the Tower, one can see the remnants of this cult.

Dressing in bear skins may have been the reason why warriors were considered wild and invulnerable while wearing these skins. But why did they become furious and rage like berserkers? It is possible that they were overcome by something like magical ecstasy and felt that they were possessed by a furious animal spirit. This assumption is supported by the description of the berserker's rage from the Ynglinga saga. There the wild warriors are called "Men of Odin." One (among the southern Germans Wotan) is in many ways similar to these warriors. One of his aspects is the God of War, "Lord of Fury". He awakens military courage, courage, endurance in German fighters, and makes sure that the best warriors are in his squad in the decisive battle of the end of the world. Like Wotan, he leads the wild hunt (wilde Jagd), which roars with night storms and which no one can stop. Another aspect of him is that he is the wisest of the Gods, gifted with powers that no one is initiated into and dares to wield as skillfully as he. Shaman, keeper of knowledge, religious and secret mysteries. Master of magic served by animal spirits, master of wolves and ravens - animals of the battlefields. If he sits in Asgard, then at his feet sit the wolves Geri and Freki, the ravens Hugin and Munin, who inform him of all the events of the world.

The berserkers' supposed belief in animal possession, the "animal spirit," is quite common. Ethnographers confirmed that similar things happened in other countries. If the “spirit” takes possession of a person, then he does not feel any pain or fatigue. But when this state ends, the possessed person falls into a deep sleep.

Other attempts have been made to explain the "berserker rage", where the source of such power is not transcendental forces. The state of intoxication, attacks of rage, hallucinations and subsequent fatigue could be caused by chemical substances, namely muscarine, fly agaric poison. Today we know that when people are poisoned by fly agaric, they beat wildly around themselves, they are excited, and they are visited by delusional thoughts. In others and doctors, they see fairy-tale creatures, gods, spirits. The toxic effect stops after 20 hours, and then people fall into deep sleep, from which in most cases they wake up only after 30 hours. Researchers know why people become like this after consuming fly agarics: chemical processes arise due to hallucinogens similar to LSD, muscarine is one of them, changes the speed of impulses of nerve endings, causing a feeling of euphoria. But there may also be the opposite effect, due to its large amount, a bad trip (literally “bad trip”), which can end in death. However, the ongoing changes caused by this substance are surprising, which initially occur in only one person, and then spread to everyone. At any techno party you can observe a similar effect. The behavior of a person who has taken a hallucinogen, rhythmic music, monotonous clapping, stomping, lead others to the same state. This “synchronization” is carried out by activating the body’s neurotrans system, the action of which is similar to the actions of drugs. Thus, a dynamic arises that can be called "collective ecstasy." It is believed that the berserkers knew this and only a few leaders “encouraged themselves with doping” from fly agaric. It is certain that they knew what effect it has on a person. Göttingen professor of psychiatry Hanskarl Leuner: “Fly agaric has played since early times an exceptional role as a mythological remedy in the subarctic and arctic spaces. It was used by the tribes living here for ecstatic practices.” However, there is still no exact evidence for such a theory. There is no mention of such an increase in strength in any sources. But this does not stop some historians. They believe: “It was precisely because only the northern warriors knew the effect of the fly agaric, they hid this knowledge, preserving the fearlessness and invulnerability of the Gods.” But is this true?

Some ethnographers suggest that berserkers belonged to certain secret unions or families in which knowledge of mysterious forces or “plants of power” was passed down from generation to generation. Others believe that there were berserker "male unions" and that the display of berserker rage was a test of courage required of every young man upon entering an adult union. Among many primitive peoples, such rituals could be observed with dancing in masks and ecstatic states. What remains inexplicable in this theory, however, is that nothing like this exists in any of the Scandinavian sources.

Doctors also contributed to the issue of berserkers: “The legendary power of berserkers has nothing to do with spirits, drugs, or magical rituals, but was a disease transmitted by inheritance,” thinks Professor Jesse L. Bayock. The Icelandic poet Egil was hot-tempered, angry, invincible just like his father and grandfather. He had a stubborn character, and his head was so massive that even after Egil’s death it was impossible to split it with an ax. So it is written in the saga of Egil. The descriptions therein allowed Bayok to learn that Egil's family suffered from Paget's syndrome, a hereditary disease in which uncontrolled bone enlargement occurs. Professor Bayock: “Human bones renew themselves gradually and usually the bone structure is renewed in 8 years. However, the disease increases the rate of destruction and new formation so much that it changes the structure of the bones too much, ugly, and they become much larger than before.” The effects of Paget's syndrome are especially noticeable on the head; its bones become thicker. In England, between 3 and 5% of men over 40 are affected by the disease. But can the myth surrounding berserkers be attributed only to a hereditary disease?

History still mysteriously and stubbornly resists solution. Consider all of the above and imagine yourself in the place of King Haarld Fairhair: you want to conquer Norway, found a kingdom, a significant number of ships are at your disposal, many good, brave and experienced warriors, but your opponents also have the same capabilities. You can only improve your chances when your opponents are unable to do anything against you. These could be elite units, berserkers. They occupy special places on the ship, where the first collisions will occur. And now think about what this elite should be like. Hysterically possessed? Inexperienced young drug addicts? Pumped up with fly agaric dope? Probably, most likely, it was the members of the “male union” who devoted themselves to Odin. The best were placed at the bow of the ship, and they were trained not only in excellent use of weapons, but were also psychologically prepared for such a role. And the elite warriors knew how to intimidate the enemy with growls, aggressive behavior and how to protect themselves from slashing blows with thick bear skin, and only with the highest tension, undiminished “bitterness,” could they in most cases win victory. This elite was convinced of the greatness of the task they were solving, they were motivated, their nature was in agreement with the goal. And the personal devotion of these warriors finds parallels with our recent past. And perhaps this is why the French researcher J. Dumezil did not pay attention, and completely in vain, to German paramilitary organizations before 1945, such as the SA and SS, as social and psychological phenomena.

In literature, berserkers often appear in pairs, often twelve of them at once. They were considered the personal guard of the Old Scandinavian kings. This indicates the elitist nature of this warrior caste. Would rulers surround themselves with crazy, deranged warriors? Definitely not, only the most skilled were here. Unwavering loyalty to one's ruler is found in several places in the old sagas. In one of the sagas, the Danish king Hrolf Krake had 12 berserkers who were his personal guard: Bödvar Bjarki, Hjalti Hochgemut, Zvitserk Kün, Wert, Veseti, Baygud and the Svipdag brothers.

But only King Harald Fairhair could not have berserkers. Tacitus mentions a special caste of warriors, which he calls "Harier" and who bear all the signs of berserkers, this was 800 years before the Battle of Boxfjord: "... they are stubborn warriors. They are characterized by natural savagery. Black shields, painted bodies, choose dark nights for battle and instill fear in opponents. No one can resist their unusual and seemingly hellish appearance." "Harier" means "Warrior" and Odin was called among them "Herjan", "Lord of Warriors". None of them had their own house or field, or any care. They came to anyone, they were treated to food, they took advantage of strangers, they were careless in their affairs, and only the weakness of old age made them unsuitable for military life. They considered it a shame to die in their own beds from decrepitude, and when death was imminent, they were stabbed to death with a spear.

It is likely that the idea of ​​a warrior fighting against overwhelming odds comes from even earlier Indo-European times. The drawing on a Greek vase from Care shows us a European in a fight against many different but powerful opponents. Some researchers explain the picture because of the altar located there as follows: “The Aryan chosen for sacrifice is freed from his captors.” But for the most part we are talking about the “normal” struggle of a Nordic man against the “habitual” superiority of his enemies.

Can we revive the berserkers for our time, the time of the defeat of freedom, our own religion, the original identity and forms of it all? Several things are necessary: ​​fearlessness, courage, perseverance, loyalty to goals. "Teutonic Fury" is detrimental in modern use and involves great losses. Modernity produces a new type of fighter, who is distinguished by absolute secrecy, invisibility from the environment. He plans an action, an action with extreme care, does not talk to anyone about it, carries out the project and becomes the same “harmless neighbor” as before. He is an unknown, nameless underground fighter.

Let's return to the berserkers. 200 years after the Battle of Boxfjord, Christian missionaries descended on Scandinavia. Old pagan customs and lifestyles were prohibited, in particular, wrestlers wearing animal skins. A law issued in Iceland in 1123 states: “A berserker caught in a rage will be sentenced to 3 years of exile.” Since then, the bearskin warriors have disappeared without a trace.

Dr. Wilant Hofner

Path of the Berserker
Evgeniy Zaitsev

Preface

Before you is a work that, I hope, will help you develop the abilities of a berserker. This is not a joke and has nothing to do with mysticism.

Unfortunately, this is only a small part of the knowledge that once existed. Although the basic talents of a berserker can be developed with the help of these trainings. Some of it you will have to develop yourself. But it won't be so difficult if you go through the training well.

Personally, I myself did not use some of the training because I was not confident in my psyche. But to develop berserker abilities, you can partially modify some classes, you can skip Lesson 4. If you are not confident in your mental health, I do not advise you to use this knowledge.

The author is not responsible for possible damage to the psyche and health caused by training, and the author is not responsible for the actions of people who have developed berserk abilities. You use all the workouts given here at your own peril and risk.

For some reason, lately a lot of people (including, unfortunately, scientists) have been mixing berserkers with mythical characters, denying them the right to exist in real life. In fact, the word "berserker" was used in relation to warriors who had extraordinary fighting abilities. But in fact, almost all earthly tribes had berserkers. Everyone just called them differently.

In battle, berserkers began to behave like beasts, and in fact their powers became similar to the powers of beasts. Their appearance and wild growl alone put the enemy into a state of horror, making it impossible to properly defend themselves. The berserkers themselves believed that they actually turned into beasts during battle. It seemed to them that they were hitting not with swords, but with paws. Berserkers could turn off the sensation of pain. Some berserkers even became beasts in their thinking. This loss of control of the mind over the actions of the body often frightened those who fought alongside the berserkers on the same side. After all, such a warrior could turn around and attack his own. But still there were a minority of such among the warriors. Most of the people who showed abilities were trained by masters to properly master these abilities. But almost any warrior could train.

The art of the berserker was best developed by the Vikings, Arabs and some African tribes. Africans often did not train their berserkers to control their abilities.

Currently, berserker schools do not officially exist. You can only find a master with great luck.

Before using the following workouts, I advise you to check whether it suits you.

Health: strong nervous system, but with good imagination, healthy heart. (Muscles, physical health does NOT play a role.)

Social: think about what your goals are. If you use your abilities, realizing that you are wrong, then everything can end very badly. The whole point is that the consciousness of your own rightness and the justification of using the berserk abilities allows you to control yourself and prevent serious damage to the enemy. If you realize that you are wrong, it will only make you angrier, and it will be more difficult to stop. You must be able to control your emotions and be able to stop in time.

Berserker abilities can be innate or acquired. Natural berserkers are easier to train (in fact, they become one without training), but they have certain problems. There is a concept - "curse of the berserker". They are often born weak and often get sick. Only at the age of 12-17 do they finally begin to gain strength and health. But when they begin to develop, everything happens very quickly. What distinguishes them most from other people is their enormous endurance (although their strength may still be lacking), from time to time such people can completely lose themselves in their dreams, while their bodies continue to perform work on “autopilot”.

Also, natural berserkers have a stronger reaction of “berserker weakness” - after prolonged use of berserker abilities, severe weakness occurs when leaving this state. But entering the state of “berserker rage” is much easier.

Berserkers who have acquired abilities during training have fewer problems (health, “berserker weakness”), but fewer opportunities (endurance, control, speed of entering a state of altered consciousness).

Terms in the text:
Berserker Weakness (SB) - powerlessness caused by wasted strength while using berserker abilities.
Curse of the Berserker (CB) - natural berserkers are often born sickly, and only become strong as they grow up.
Berserker Rage (RB) is a state of altered consciousness when using berserker abilities.

Application of berserker abilities in life:
1. Work involving heavy physical activity.
2. Hiking long distances.
3. Fight (I really hope that you will use berserker rage only for self-defense and only to keep yourself under control).
4. Survival (lost in the forest, ended up in some other situation).
5. Hunting.

You must get used to patience. All training may take you years. The main thing in learning is to get used to the fact that some things will happen very slowly. You must get used to enduring not only long periods of waiting, you must be able to not get irritated in any situation. Patience must be learned before anything else. Then it will be too late. Now you do not yet automatically come to YaB and will not be able to do much harm. Previously, the master put his student in various situations, simultaneously testing his endurance and ability to fight. Often after these checks, the student began to hate his master and tried to attack him. Subsequently, hatred and the desire to win pushed the student to the initial stages. The ensuing skirmishes taught the student to humble himself outwardly, taught him to lie low, waiting for the right moment, and at the same time made him devoted to his master. After some time, the student finally began to understand that the master was his friend, not his enemy.

Only after this did the real training begin. I don’t know how you will learn patience. Such lessons, I think, can be found in many books on psychology.

At the same time, it is necessary to develop muscles. I especially advise you to develop the muscles of your legs and back. These are precisely the areas that bear the greatest load (usually) during a BU.

So, we have to omit the first stage of training. It included combat training (you must practice it until it becomes automatic), teaching patience and endurance. The second step is connecting with nature. You must learn to live in peace with nature and take strength from it. The first thing you should do is go out into nature, look around, find beauty in your surroundings, understand that everything around you is alive and beautiful. You should just sit and enjoy the world around you. Try to evaluate the world from the point of view of each of the life forms around you. Merge with nature, feel like just a small part of nature.

Continue these trainings until you can freely place yourself in the shoes of any life form, be it a blade of grass or a tree, a mouse or an elk. Everything in nature should give you pleasure, you should receive strength and energy from nature. I think the following experience can help with this: first of all, you need to go into the forest and find a clearing where you will not be disturbed. There should also be no extraneous sounds (only sounds of nature). It's best if it's summer and you can take off all your clothes (although this is not a requirement). Spend a couple of hours there first, enjoy your vacation, free your thoughts from extraneous worries. If you want, you can take a nap on the ground.

After this, walk along the perimeter of the clearing, look at what is wrong with it (garbage, broken tree branches). Clear the clearing of debris (natural things are not classified as garbage), carefully remove broken branches, cover the resulting wounds on the trees with varnish or something similar to protect the tree. Take care of this clearing. This will help you more easily find a common language with nature.

After you have ideally mastered the second lesson, I advise you to start collecting books on nature, hunting, and herbal treatment. All this will help you better understand nature and make your life easier in the future.

By this moment, you should already have decided on the choice of the animal that will become your second “I”, the qualities of which you will acquire when entering a state of berserker rage. It doesn't have to be just one animal, but it's best not to take too many. 1-3 is the most acceptable number. If you develop the characteristics of 1 creature, they will develop faster and better, but you will not have the ability to select the best image for different situations. But if you choose more than 3, your abilities will develop too slowly (if at all). But I still recommend intensively developing only one skill; others - only for the first degree of ulcer. In fact, only now will the real training begin. Before this there was only a preparatory stage.

After you have chosen an animal, you must find the places where it lives. You must go outdoors to these places. It is advisable that no one monitors your training. If the animal you choose is not too dangerous, try to find it. Watch his life. Try to gradually get used to his image, identify yourself with him. Try to try on the actions of this beast, how would it move if it were in your body?

Try to find pieces of tissue from this animal - wool, feathers. Only, if you take these particles from a dead animal (you can choose both birds and insects), make sure that the animal died in battle, boldly defending itself from an attack (does not apply to insects). But you don't have to kill yourself. Then you will be able to hunt and eat these animals, but not during the ritual.

Make yourself some piece of clothing from selected feathers or wool. Think about this animal all the time, imagine yourself as it, practice the movements. Before going to bed, start trying to think only about him. This will help you see this animal in your dreams. When you finally feel completely fused with the image of the animal, move on to the next lesson.

It is worth starting this activity in the warm season and being confident in the state of your health, both physical and spiritual. You must go to the places where the animal you have chosen lives. Now no other person should be watching you. You should be able to relax completely.

Take off all your clothes. You can only keep on yourself what you made yourself from selected animal particles. It could be a necklace made of teeth, a cape made of feathers, moccasins made of hide, bracelets, loincloths... anything in any combination. It will be good if you can buy a good combat knife with a wide, long blade (Finnish, “commando”), but it should not interfere with your running. Make a sheath for it and wear it on your belt. It is advisable that the belt be made from the same animal. Some even managed to make belts from insects. But you can wear it around your neck or constantly in your palm. After this, you must live the life of this animal for some time (as much as you can, but the more the better). Eat their food (if the animal is a herbivore, berries, mushrooms, edible rhizomes), sleep on bare ground. Now you will need the skills obtained from books on the structure of nature. The resulting products can be cooked over a fire, but the fire must be lit without matches, a lighter or a magnifying glass. Only natural methods (friction of branches, fire from lightning, self-ignition from drought). Do not use pots, plates, etc. under any circumstances. (Only sticks, leaves, bury in coals, etc.).

All this time you must think, act, move like the animal you have chosen. Learn to make the sounds that this animal makes. After some time, you will catch yourself in the fact that it is no longer difficult for you to act like this animal. Two things can happen here: either you will be able to control yourself and calmly get out of this state, or you will begin to be completely pulled into a state of altered consciousness. If you completely merge with the image of the animal, then (only if you have good mental health) after some time you will find yourself lying on the ground. It may take minutes or even hours until this moment (depending on your stamina). You will not remember what happened between these events and are unlikely to ever remember. This means that you have completely gone into a state of “uncontrollable berserker rage.”

There are 3 levels of berserker rage:
1) controlled - you acquire small abilities and have complete control over yourself. But at the same time you do not gain any strength or animal agility. The maximum that is added is endurance. It is the easiest to move to and the easiest to stay on.
2) semi-control - you get almost the entire set of berserk abilities, you begin to feel like an animal, you feel paws instead of hands (in weapon combat). You continue to control yourself, but your body forgets that it is human. You lose the ability to speak clearly. It may seem to you that you have completely turned into an animal. But this state is the most difficult to maintain, although you always find yourself first in it, and then in the 3rd degree. If you don’t have enough training, then you will either return to the 1st degree or move to the third. It is this degree that makes you most tired, but you continue to keep all your actions under control.
3) uncontrolled - one thing can be said for sure about this degree - in it you completely become an animal in your soul. You can't control your body. All your abilities are manifested to an absolute degree, you receive a sharp influx of strength. But this degree can only be used during combat and only to the death. You become very dangerous to others. In this state there are no friends or strangers for you. You are a beast and act like it. You can get out of this state only when the berserker becomes weak. If you have been practicing the path of the berserker for a long time, then it may take several days before you become weak. Therefore, I advise all experiments with this degree to be carried out as far as possible from people. After leaving this state, you will not clearly remember what you did. You can remember if you have been doing this for some time. But at first you will not clearly remember what happened (if you remember anything at all).

In part, having reached this point, you will be able to develop everything yourself. The main thing is the ability to achieve berserker rage. Having reached it once, you will be able to understand how to do it more consciously. The rest is just training so that your abilities develop.

After completing 3-4 lessons, I think you should have well remembered the area where the animal you chose lives. Now, to facilitate the transition to berserker rage, imagine that in place of what surrounds you now, there is exactly this territory. That there is only this type of nature in the whole world. You look at the world simultaneously from the eyes of an animal in that world and with your own eyes at our world. The outlines of the earth in that world should exactly replicate the real ones.

To go into a berserker rage, you can close your eyes and focus on the imaginary world (go into the body of an animal).

At first, it will be very difficult for you to simultaneously hold an imaginary world in your mind, think, and carefully observe your surroundings. But in fact, with practice, you will be able to instantly recreate such an imaginary world, and you will not have to constantly keep it in your mind.

Music also helps well with the transition to YaB. For each one you need to select special music. Properly selected music puts you in a state of excitement; She will make you want to fight, sing, and find any outlet for your energy. Personally, for me such music is “Ride of the Valkyrie” by Wagner.

By mixing 5-6 lessons (+ you can fantasize about the battle, getting yourself into an excited state and increasing the release of adrenaline into the blood) you can quite easily and quickly go into a berserk rage.

Personally, I myself did not use lesson 4 to develop berserk abilities. The rest of the training was enough for me (but I have the rudiments of berserk abilities from birth). I think that if you are not confident in your psyche, you can easily bypass Lesson 4, although without it the training may take longer. But you won't harm yourself.

Berserkers

Berserk is not a Slavic word. Our ancestors have their own sound for this word - borsek. There is another interesting term - “knight”, that is, a screaming warrior. But they say that a knight is an unconventional concept for us, supposedly coming from the German “reiter” - “horseman”. I wonder what is phonetically closer to the modern Russian word “knight” - the German “reitor”, the English “knight”, the French “chevalier” or the Old Russian “knight”? I think the answer is obvious.

Oh, how sweet it is for our “independent” historians to admit that East Slavic Rus' had its own berserkers. But you have to admit, where can you go, sources are stubborn things. For example, the Nikon Chronicle names the name of one of the ancient Russian berserkers - Ragdai, who went alone against three hundred warriors. Or Klyuchevsky mentions Demyan Kudenevich, who drove the Polovtsian army away from Pereyaslavl. Only a berserker can do this. Maybe it’s worth reminding how Evpatiy Kolovrat died? In the winter of 1238, with his regiment of 1,700 people, he defeated the troops of Batu Khan and held the Vladimir-Suzdal lands for a whole year. His last battle is very interesting for researchers of Russian military art. Suffice it to say that the Mongols never managed to take a handful of berserkers led by Evpatiy in hand-to-hand combat. All their attacks were interrupted. And then the Mongols retreating in a ring shot the berserkers from all sides with stone throwers. Batu Khan was satisfied with the victory, but expressed his admiration by releasing the wounded berserkers, ordering them to bury the killed commander with honors. What exactly is “Kolovrat”? Kolovorot, that is, “rotating in a circle.” This is the nickname of a berserker.

Berserk means "mad." He never defends, he always attacks. It's not hard to understand. When you defend yourself, you unwittingly become a target. When one or two blows are sent at us at once, we can defend ourselves, but when we receive ten, we cannot. Purely physiologically. But you can attack ten people yourself and scatter them. Don't believe me? - Watch the Russian fight. In it, every subject is attacked. Fiercely, assertively. Those who cannot stand it and “break down” often simply run away, because the enemy can no longer be stopped. And they're screaming! And they start with a scream.

Another interesting point is that the berserkers, putting themselves in a deranged state, freeing themselves from clothes, simply tore them off. Such behavior in the language of prisoners now means: “ready to kill.” So this is why people lose their heads in a Russian fight. This fight is called “hunting” and is symbolized by wolves tearing each other apart. Their image is first found on a ritual goblet-rhyton from a 10th-century mound called the “Black Grave.” They lose their heads because they activate a complex physiological mechanism that changes the course of the body’s nervous reactions. In this state, the berserker's speed of motor reflexes increases significantly. His movements are impetuous and light, the activity of peripheral receptors is inhibited, which is why the berserker does not experience, for example, pain if he is wounded at this moment. The detail may be minor, but it left its own special imprint on the mystified mind of the ancients. For example, someone fighting with an arrow in his back and not experiencing pain is unlikely to cause superstitious fear in his enemy. And the wild power of a berserker, capable of tearing apart an enemy with his hands at these moments? This is where the “cutting into halves”, known from the chronicles, comes from, that is, in half. Let me remind you that in a ritual massacre, the Horde hero Khostavrul, Evpatiy Kolovrat cut his enemy to the saddle.

Where did berserkers come from, what gave birth to them as a phenomenon? I think this question can be answered quite definitely: the presence of a hostile camp, many times superior in numbers. Among the Germans, berserkers appeared as a reaction to the invasion of Central and Northern Europe by hordes of Huns in the second half of the 4th century. The geographical position of the East Slavic lands prevented the movement of nomadic Turkic-speaking masses to the West, being a kind of barrier. Moreover, East Slavic Rus' has always managed with a small professional military contingent. The squad, consisting of a younger (later forming a social stratum - “children of the boyars”) and an elder, even in the Great Duchies of Rus' rarely reached 2000 people. Let me remind you that on her shoulders fell not only a massacre in an open field, but also the defense of strategically important objects, the throne, the collection of tribute containing the treasury, the formation of an army in subject territories, etc. Of course, in such an army a special role was played by the individual qualities of each . In a sudden raid you cannot gather an army - it takes time. In addition, the military arsenal is also under the prince’s castle, and therefore, the men on the estates are armed with whatever they can and have no armor of any kind. Organizing an army is a complex matter. It is not enough to gather people; they need to be formed into combat units. And where to do this when the throne encampment is already surrounded from everywhere by nomads? Then the final word belonged to the lone suicide bomber, capable of neutralizing the enemy for some time. But in the East there were no berserkers. What is the need for them where tens of thousands of human lives are not worth a penny?

Forget everything you knew about berserkers - Vikings who ate fly agarics and fell into a battle rage.
They say they were almost impossible to kill.
They say that one berserker was worth a dozen trained warriors.

Forget it.
Everything was completely wrong...

Modern ideas about berserkers are, in many ways, a castle in the air, built by a number of scientists in the 20th century. Moreover, most of them were not narrow specialists in medieval Scandinavia, but linguists, collectors of folklore and researchers of myths.

The bright idea of ​​superhumans, immersed in the surroundings of the ancient Vikings, attracted many. One of the pillars of berserkism, Otto Hoefler, was also a prominent Nazi ideologist during the Third Reich.

It was he who came up with the idea that berserkers were members of military alliances associated with the cult of Odin, perhaps wearing animal masks (Hoefler compared them with the Einherjar - warriors who eternally feasted and fought in Valhalla).

As historian Carlo Ginzburg, who explored the connection between German mythology and Nazism, noted: “Berserkers were viewed through the prism of stormtroopers, and vice versa.”

Then the question arises: maybe then berserkers are a myth that was exalted in the twentieth century to create Nazi ideology? This is what we will try to figure out. We need to do two things.

• First, analyze the meaning of the word itself,
• and secondly, to study what exactly the texts say about berserkers.

What is the meaning of the word "berserker"?

The word comes from Old Icelandic and has no cognates in other Germanic languages. Moreover: it falls into them no earlier than the 16th century, that is, half a millennium after the end of the Viking and Berserker era.

But, nevertheless, let's analyze this word. It consists of two parts, and we will consider each in turn.

How is the root “BER-” translated?

There are two translation options here.

• ber – meaning “naked”(a more popular option lately).

But the shirt ( — serkr) there is no such thing as naked, a conditional word like “naked” requires a suffix that does not exist. Closest parallels such as Berskjalda?r– “holo-shielded” (= “without a shield”) and berbrynja?r– “holokolchuzhny” (= “without chain mail”), – they have suffixes.

• ber – meaning “bear”(although for some reason in the mass consciousness, a berserker is associated with a wolf).

For this reason, berserkers are often associated with the cult of the bear and the cult of Odin. In Scandinavia, the cult of the bear is well known from medieval and folklore data. However, of the 169 known names of Odin (the god of war, magic and death), only two are identified with a bear - this is clearly his secondary attribute.

And there is another reason for doubt.
noun berr with the meaning "bear" - does not exist
neither in Icelandic nor in any other North Germanic language.

The main word for this animal is bjorn. It is also known in the form of the proper name Bjorn, particularly in runic inscriptions. But there are no BJORNSERKS in the sources, there are only BERSERKS.

How is the root “-SERK” translated?

Now consider the element -serkr. It is usually believed that everything is clear here - “shirt” or “chain mail”, that is, real or figurative nudity.

But there is a version according to which - serkr also has the meaning of a certain number of skins ( hence the Russian numeral forty).

There is something else - serkr– singular of the word serkir- “Saracens”, which means serkr- "Saracin".
Formally, it occurs only as part of the word Serkland- Country of the Saracens.

Once the words “berserker” and “Serkland” even appear in the same text.

It is impossible to dismiss the word Serkland as a reality of later times - the times of the Crusades. The fact is that it is mentioned in 6 runic inscriptions from 1000-1050, and this is the end of the Viking era.

Then how to interpret this word? Most likely, it came to Scandinavia from the Roman (Greek/Byzantine) language, where it designated the Arab peoples.

Persian version

And finally, there is generally an alternative etymology of the word from Persian bezrek, bezerk – “huge”, i.e. "giant". This version gives the berserkers additional mythology.

What exactly do the ancients say about berserkers?

First of all, we note that in this text we will not touch upon the appearance of berserkers in the sagas. The sagas were recorded in the 12th-14th centuries and, according to M. V. Eliferova, “convey not so much pagan ideas as their own idea of ​​these ideas.”

Therefore, when Ewart Oakeshott, in his book “The Archeology of Weapons,” describes a duel with a berserker, you should not trust him. He was a great specialist in bladed weapons, and his typology of swords is extremely important.

However, the duel with the berserker is a fragment of the Icelandic “Saga of Egil”. Throughout its text, berserkers are mentioned nine times, and one gets the feeling that half of the inhabitants of Scandinavia were in their ranks.

There's just one caveat. This saga was written down between 1220 and 1240. And its hero, Egil Skalagrimson, lived three centuries earlier. And since his death, his biography has acquired very vivid details.

The same goes for the chess pieces of warriors gnawing on shields - typical berserker behavior, as is considered today. These chess pieces (found on the Isle of Lewis) date from the 12th century and cannot be considered contemporaneous.

But let's get back to the texts. We simply won’t be able to find and separate the information added later: it has already taken root in ancient texts and is intertwined with them. Therefore, we need to look for such sources that have come to us from antiquity in a “preserved” form. And these are definitely not sagas.

These are the results M. V. Eliferova obtained during her research.

Varangians in skins in front of the Byzantine emperor

Byzantine emperors also happened to be writers. Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus left behind a treatise “The Book of Ceremonies”, in which he allegedly mentioned the ritual dance of the Varangians dressed in animal skins.

Alas, but not in the Byzantine , neither in Arabic, nor in Frankish, nor in Anglo-Saxon texts is there a single mention of berserkers as a special category of warriors.

Icelandic law book "Grey Goose"

Legal texts are very important because they reflect less literary tradition and more reflect social reality. There is one passage in the Icelandic law book “The Gray Goose”, but it does not appear there, but berserksgangr- “berserker state.”

This mention is in the section on church punishments for pagan religious actions, and it is unclear whether this refers to the worship of the highest gods of the Scandinavian pantheon, or lower spirits. Basically this refers to the fight against everyday magic: spells, damage, amulets.

There, at the end of the list of offenses is “oberserkie.” But what kind of practice this is and who used it is unclear.
There are also no references to military culture and battles.

Mass murder of berserkers

There are several Icelandic place names preserved in the sagas that may date back to the Viking Age: e.g. "Tomb of the Berserkers" And "Berserk Coast".

However, the names of geographical objects often carry legends about their formation. For example, in the saga “The People of the Sandy Coast” there is an episode about how the berserkers were forced to do heavy construction work and then killed. Hence the toponym – “Tomb of the Berserkers”.

Moreover, exactly the same episode is told in the main book of Scandinavian mythology - the Younger Edda. Only in it there were giants instead of berserkers. This means that the story of their murder in the saga was invented.

In the name “Tomb of the Berserkers” the berserkers are definitely part of the myth.

Another toponym considered berserk is “Hawk Gorge” or “Hawk Gorge.” The legend, described in four sagas, says that two berserkers were killed in the gorge - both with the name Hauk. There is not even a word here, but the word haukr- it's just a hawk. The whole structure looks artificial.

Runic inscriptions on memorial stones

Let's explore further. The ancient Scandinavians had the following custom: in memory of an event or person, they erected a stone covered with inscriptions. The inscriptions were made exclusively in runes, which were treated exactly like the alphabet.

Rune stones carry very valuable information. In fact, these are letters from the early Middle Ages. In addition, unlike birch bark letters, they are much stronger and more noticeable.

From the texts on such stones we learn a lot of interesting things about the realities of ancient life,
about heroes, about campaigns, but not about berserkers.

That is, one of two things: either the berserkers were not worthy of monuments, or their relatives kept silent about their essence. In addition, the reference to the top secrecy of berserkers does not work - after all, in the sagas of later times they are well known.

Skaldic and Eddic poetry

These are not sagas, but individual verses and inserts into them, which are considered more ancient than the main text. It is believed that poetry, especially skaldic poetry, is a serious source. The strict form of the text reduces the number of variations, and the reason for writing, as a rule, is real events.

Eddic poetry is less reliable. It is a more free form, where stylization is often found.

We will now look at a few excerpts from both.

Drape about Icelanders

M. V. Eliferova counted nine texts mentioning berserkers: three texts of skaldic poetry and six texts of Eddic poetry. Skaldic poetry provides almost no information.

In it, berserkers are only mentioned as the enemies of the lyrical hero, whom he defeated. For example, here is a translation by M. V. Eliferova from “Drappa about the Icelanders”:

The Song of Khabard and the Berserker Women

Consider Eddic poetry. In the Elder Edda there is a mention of berserkers in the Song of Khabard.
But there appears a female version of berserkers - bru?ir berserkja.

This gives two possible interpretations:

• or should we imagine brutal women warriors (which brings to mind the legendary Amazons and modern warriors from fantasy books and computer games),
• or we must admit that in the text this phrase is a synonym for the word giantess.

Interpreters prefer the second, since the plot of the song leaves almost no other options. In it, Hubard (Odin) talks with Thor, who boasts of his victory over these female creatures.

A dispute arises between them about whether it is worthy to boast of victories over women.
Those who are familiar with Scandinavian mythology remember that the relationship between Thor and the giantesses was tense.

Twelve Sons of Angrim

The following is a group of related texts:

• "The Song of Hyndal"
• poetic inserts from “The Saga of Odd the Arrow”,
• "The Grimm Sagas Furry Cheeks"
• "Hervör Sagas".

These works belong to the so-called sagas of ancient times and have no references to real historical events. In these texts there is a mention of berserkers - the twelve sons of Angrim.

These same sons appear in the 12th century Danish chronicler Saxo Grammar, but in his Latin text there are no berserkers or similar words.

We learn about the twelve brothers that they are enemies of the heroes of the sagas and that they will “go to visit Odin.” This is the only poem where the word "berserkers" appears in the text next to the name of the supreme god of the Scandinavians. But here, according to the context, it is clear that they are not his warriors, but simply must die at the hands of heroes:

will go soon / to visit Odin /
twelve berserkers, / and we two will survive.

(translation by M.V. Eliferova)

In addition, it turns out that these berserkers are by no means naked or wearing shirts or animal skins. Moreover, they " i gram serkjum", that is, “dressed in chain mail.”

Berserkers who fled the battlefield

Finally, analyzing the “Song of Harald”, the researcher comes to the conclusion that its main text must be dated back to the 12th century. And therefore it cannot be considered the author of a contemporary named Thorbjörn Hornklovi.

Inside the work there is a skaldic poem of five stanzas - “The Naval Battle of Havrsfjord”. And this one, unlike the rest of the text, is ancient.

From the analysis of the verse it is clear that the berserkers and “wolf skins” are not Harald’s elite squad at all, but rather those who fled from him in battle. The fact is that the third and fourth stanzas are dedicated to the flight of Harald's enemies.

It was not very clear at first who was running. All that was said was “they had to run away.” However, the only characters mentioned before are berserkers:

“The berserkers roared, / the battle was in full swing, /
those dressed in wolf skins howled / and shook their swords.”

The logic of text construction confirms this. If the berserkers were Harald’s warriors and they fled, then this was an insult to the king, for which the skald could seriously pay.

Wolf Warriors and others faith people of pagan times

Not a single historical figure in the sources mentions a squad of berserkers, including those dressed in wolf skins. These are the so-called ulfhednar (ulfhe?nar) –"wolf skins" , which in popular and sometimes scientific literature are considered a wolf type of berserker. They appear only in the above-mentioned “Song of Harald”.

Even Odin's berserkers from the Ynglinga Saga are not ulfhe?nar. In the text of the poem about the naval battle at Havrsfjord there is no indication of the social status and religion of the berserkers. It is also unclear how to understand their “bestiality” - in the literal or figurative sense. That is, are they really dressed in skins or are they simply depicting animals?

In general, we can quote the conclusion of M. V. Eliferova that “all that can be said about berserkers on the basis of these groups of sources is that someone in Iceland and, perhaps, even in Norway was called berserkers, that these characters could be attributed zoomorphism and that they could be associated with pagan culture.”

All this is not enough to confirm the existence of the classic image of the berserk, known in popular culture and even science. As usual, I advise you to read the works from the bibliography.

And the warrior-beasts dissolve in the fog of centuries under the quiet wolf howl and bear grunt.

Is this all?

Of course not. Berserkers remain in fiction. To console myself and my readers, I suggest reading Maria Semyonova’s wonderful story “Solveig and We Are All” from the 1993 collection “Vikings”.

There you will find the story of one “real” berserker, contrary to all sources, of course, a positive character. By the way, he received his illness (and in the story it is a mental illness) - possession by the spirit of a bear, when they tried to “hit the eagle” on him.

For those who don’t know, “blood eagle” is a semi-legendary Viking execution. Wikipedia says: “... the ribs were cut on the back of the convicted person, they were spread apart like wings and the lungs were pulled out. The cause of early death in this case would have to be traumatic shock or pneumothorax.”

By the way, a beautiful version of the “oberserken” of the hero, who thus escapes execution.

Acknowledgments

The author expresses gratitude to the “Ulvdalir” website and members of the “Ulvdalir (Wolf Valley)” group on VKontakte for valuable advice and links to literature. He is especially grateful to Maria Eliferova for permission to use her work in his article. We look forward to the release of her book about the berserker myth.

Photo - from the page of Tina Rybakova and Vasily Mizgirev on social media. VKontakte network.
As well as a still from the film “The 13th Warrior” and photographs without attribution found on the VKontakte social network.

References

• – article in the English version of Wikipedia.
• Berserkergang– article on the website “The Viking answer lady” (http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/berserke.shtml)
• Liberman A. Berserk Rage through the Ages. – Book review: Samson, Vincent. Les Berserkir. Les guerriers-fauves dans la Scandinavie ancienne, de l’Age de Vendel aux Vikings (VIe–XIe siecles). – Lille: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2011.
• Eliferova M.V. Inventing berserkers, or what Constantine Porphyrogenitus actually wrote. / Valla. No. 1(5), 2015.
• Eliferova M.V. Berserkers - a secret warrior cult or an obvious scientific myth?– Introduction and Chapter 2. Source studies of the cult hypothesis (as a manuscript) are freely available on the website www.academia.edu.
• Zimek R. Vikings: myth and era. Medieval Viking Age concept./The most ancient states of Eastern Europe - 1999. - M.: “Eastern Literature” RAS, 2001.
• Cardini F. Origins of Medieval Knighthood. Sretensk 2000.
• Bloody Eagle– Wikipedia article.
• Liberman A.S. Germanists attacking the berserkers. / The most ancient states of Eastern Europe - 2003. - M.: “Eastern Literature” RAS, 2005.
• Shkurlatov R. Berserkers: the frantic "special forces" of the Vikings. “Brother” (magazine of special forces units) (www.bratishka.ru).

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