CHAMPIONS AND BERSERKS.
The warrior’s aim to be a Berserk—Berserk frenzy—The twelve sons of
Arngrim—They fight without coats of mail—Hrolf’s champions—Hakon
Jarl’s Berserks—The life of a Berserk—Disregard for death.
To be considered the foremost champion or _Kappi_ was the greatest
ambition of every warrior; and to attain this proud position was no easy
task among so many men who were equally brave and perfectly reckless of
their lives, and thoroughly skilled in the handling of weapons.
After such a reputation had been acquired, the champion had either to
challenge or be challenged by those who vied with him, and these duels
or trials of strength and skill generally took place before a large
assembly.
The aim of every champion was to become a “Berserk” (so called,
probably, because they fought without serk (shirt)), who was regarded as
the bravest of men. When within sight of their foe Berserks wrought
themselves into such a state of frenzy, that they bit their shields and
rushed forward to the attack, throwing away their arms of defence,
reckless of every danger, sometimes having nothing but a club, which
carried with it death and destruction.
“In the time of Hákon, Æthelstan’s foster-son, there lived in Norway
Björn the Pale, who was a Berserk. He went round the country and
challenged men to _holmganga_ (duel) if they would not do his will”
(Gisli Sursson’s Saga, p. 1).
This berserk-fury was not only utilised in war, but for the performance
of hard feats which were held to be out of the power of ordinary people.
In some cases this fury seems to have come over the Berserks apparently
without cause, when they trembled and gnashed their teeth.
“The Berserk Arngrim of Bólm had twelve sons; Angantýr was the oldest,
the second Hervard, the third Seming, the fourth Hjörvard, the fifth
Brani, the sixth Brami, the seventh Barri, the eighth Reytnir, the ninth
Tind, the tenth Bui, the eleventh and the twelfth both called Hadding.
They were both together equal to one of the others, but Angantýr was
equal to two, and was a head taller than any of them; they were all
great Berserks. They went on warfare when they were quite young and
ravaged far and wide, but met with no equal in strength and courage;
thereby they got renown and victory. The twelve brothers went together
on one ship with no others; but they often had more ships. Their father
had taken in war the most excellent weapons; Angantýr got Tyrfing,
Hervard Hrotti, Seming Mistiltein (Mistletoe), which Thráin[365]
afterwards took out of his mound. All the brothers had excellent
holmganga-swords. It was their custom if they were only with their own
men when they found the _berserks-gang_ (berserk-fury)[366] coming over
them, to go ashore and wrestle with large stones or trees, otherwise
they would have slain their friends in their rage. Never did they engage
in battle without gaining the victory; therefore great sayings were told
of them. There was no king who would not give them what they wanted
rather than suffer their overbearing. They were on warfare during the
summer, but during the winter they remained at home in Bólmey with their
father” (Hervarar Saga, c. 3).[367]
In the following Sagas we have an example of the stuff the men of the
North, or the Vikings, were made of.
“When Fridthjof landed after a storm ... in the Orkneys, one of the
Berserks of the jarl said: ‘Now we will try if it is true that Fridthjof
has made a vow that he will never be the first to ask peace of another.’
They were ten wicked and greedy men, and often had berserk-rage; when
they met (Fridthjof) they took their weapons. Atli (one of the Berserks)
said: ‘Now it is best, Fridthjof, to look us in the face, for the eagles
must fight with their claws face to face, and now it is best to stand by
one’s words, and not be the first to ask for peace’” (Fridthjof’s Saga,
c. 7).
It was believed that neither fire nor weapons could harm the Berserks.
In war they fought without coats of mail in a bare shirt or kirtle;
hence their name.
“King Hálf went up to King Asmund’s farm, where there were many men,
with one-half of his men. The entertainment was good, and the drink was
so strong, that Hálf’s champions fell fast asleep. King Asmund and his
hird set fire to the hall. The one of Hálf’s champions who awoke first
saw the hall nearly full of smoke. He called out: ‘Now it will smoke
round our hawks,’ and then again lay down to sleep. Then another woke
and saw the hall burning, and said: ‘Wax will now drip from our saxes,’
and then lay down.
“But then King Hálf awoke, rose and roused the warriors, and told them
to arm themselves. They then rushed at the walls with such strength that
the joints of the timbers broke” (Half’s Saga).
They were also believed to change shape, and in their greatest fury to
take the outward shape of an animal[368] of great strength and ferocity.
It was the aim of every great chief to gather round him the greatest
champions of the land, and if he was renowned for bravery, liberality,
and convivial qualities, they would come to him from even the remotest
parts of the North. When a new champion came who wished to be the
foremost, he asked his future companions if they objected to his
becoming so among them, and if any one objected, he would at once
challenge him to a holmganga to assert or prove his claim. In some cases
the fame of a new-comer was so great that he was at once recognised to
be foremost.
Among the great champions whose fame and name were sung for generations
were the champions of Hrólf Kraki and King Hálf.
Hrólf’s champions flocked to him from every part of the North; among the
most celebrated were Bodvar Bjarki, from Norway, and Svipdag, from
Sweden. Other kings seem to have had twelve Berserks in their train.
“King Hrólf made himself ready for his journey with one hundred men,
besides whom he had his twelve champions and twelve Berserks. Nothing
more is told of their journey before they came to a bondi” (Hrolf
Kraki’s Saga, c. 39).
“Haki and Hagbard were the names of two very famous brothers. They were
sea-kings and had a large host; sometimes they went together, sometimes
each went by himself; many champions followed each of them. King Haki
went with his host to Sweden against King Hugleik, who gathered a host;
two brothers, Svipdag and Geigad, both far-famed and great champions,
came to help him. Haki had with him twelve champions, among whom was
Starkad the old; Haki himself was a very great champion. They met on the
Fýrisvellir (plain of Fýri) in a great battle; Hugleik’s men fell fast.
The champions Svipdag and Geigad then made an onset, but six of Haki’s
champions went against each of them and they were captured. Then Haki
went into Hugleik’s shieldburg and slew him and his two sons. Thereupon
the Swedes fled, and Haki conquered the land and became king over the
Swedes. He stayed at home for three winters, and during that time his
champions went away on viking-expeditions and thus earned property”
(Ynglinga, c. 25).
The twelve Berserks of Hrólf Kraki followed King Adils of Sweden in a
battle against King Áli of Norway, on condition that they were to get
pay, and be allowed to choose three costly things for Hrólf.
“After the battle, each of them asked three pounds of gold as pay, and
to take with them three costly things which they might choose for Hrólf:
they were, the helmet _Hildigölt_ (war-boar), the brynja _Finnsleif_,
which was impenetrable to weapons, and the gold ring _Sviagris_ (the
Svia-pig) which the forefathers of Adils had owned” (Prose Edda
(Skáldskaparmál), c. 44).
“With Hákon Jarl were two brothers of Swedish kin: one was named Halli,
the other Leiknir. They were much taller and stronger men than were to
be found in Norway or in other places. They went a-berserking, and when
they were angry lost their human nature and went mad like dogs; they
feared neither fire nor iron, but in everyday life they were not bad to
have intercourse with if they were not offended, though they were most
overbearing if offended. Eirik Sigrsæli (the victorious), King of
Sweden, had sent the Berserks to the Jarl, and told him to be careful to
treat them well, and said, as was true, that they could be a great help
if regard was had to their tempers” (Eyrbyggja, c. 25).
The following account gives a picture of the life of these champions:
“The bóndi Svip lived in Sweden far away from other men; he was wealthy
and had been the greatest champion and not all he looked, as he knew
many things. He had three sons, Svipdag, Geigad, and Hvitserk, who was
the oldest; they were all well skilled, strong, and fine-looking men.
When Svipdag was eighteen winters old he said one day to his father:
‘Our life here in the mountains, in far-off valleys and unsettled
places, where men never visit nor receive visits, is dull; it would be
better to go to Adils and follow him and his champions, if he will
receive us.’ Svip answered: ‘I do not think this advisable, for King
Adils is a cruel man and not trustworthy though he uses fair words, and
his men are jealous and strong, but certainly he is powerful and
famous.’ Svipdag said: ‘A man must risk something if he wishes to get
fame; he cannot know, before he tries, when luck will come to him.’ His
father gave him a large axe and said to his son, ‘Be not greedy; do not
boast, for that gives a bad reputation, but defend yourself if attacked,
for a great man should boast little and behave well in difficulties.’ He
gave him good war clothes and a good horse. Then Svipdag rode and at
night came to the burg of King Adils; he saw that games were taking
place outside the hall, and Adils sat on a large gold chair and his
Berserks near him. When Svipdag came to the fence[369] the gate of the
burg was shut, for it was then customary to ask leave to ride in;
Svipdag did not take that trouble, and broke open the gate and rode into
the yard. Then the King said: ‘This man comes here recklessly, as this
has never been done before. It may be that he has great strength and has
no fear.’ The Berserks at once got very angry and thought that he
asserted himself too much. Svipdag rode before the King, and saluted him
well in a skilful manner. Adils asked who he was, and he told him. The
King soon recognized him, and every one thought he was a great and
high-born champion. The games were continued; Svipdag sat on a fallen
tree and looked on. The Berserks eyed him angrily, and said to the King
that they wanted to try him; the King answered: ‘I think that he has no
little strength, but I should like you to try whether he is such a man
as he considers himself.’
“When men gathered into the hall the Berserks walked towards Svipdag and
asked him if he was a champion, as he made so much of himself: he
answered that he was as great a one as any of them. At these words their
anger and eagerness (to fight) increased. But the King told them to be
quiet that night; they began to frown, and howled loudly, and said to
Svipdag: ‘Darest thou fight us? Then thou wilt need more than mere big
words and boasting. We will try how much there is in thee.’ Svipdag
answered: ‘I will consent to fight one at a time and will see if more
can be done.’ The King was well pleased that they should do this. Queen
Yrsa said: ‘This man shall be welcome here.’ The Berserks answered her:
‘We knew before that thou didst want to send us all to Hel, but we are
too big to be killed by words alone or ill-will.’
“In the morning began a hard _holmganga_, and there was no lack of heavy
blows; the new-comer knew how to use his sword with great strength and
the Berserks gave way. Svipdag killed one, and another wanted to avenge
him but suffered the same fate, and Svipdag did not stop before he had
slain four; then Adils said, ‘Great loss hast thou caused to me, and now
thou shalt pay for it,’ and he asked men to rise and kill him. The Queen
got men and wanted to help him, and said that the King could see that
there was much more skill in him alone than in all the Berserks. The
Queen made peace between them, and every one considered Svipdag to be a
man of great prowess. Now he sat on the lower bench opposite the King,
by the wish of Queen Yrsa. He looked round and thought he had not done
harm enough to the Berserks, and wished to urge them to fight, and
thought it likely that if they saw him alone they would attack him; it
was as he thought, for they began at once to fight. The King came when
they had been fighting for a while and parted them. Afterwards the King
outlawed the remaining Berserks as they could not all together fight a
single man, saying he had not before known that they were great only in
boasting. They had to go, but threatened to make warfare in the realm of
King Adils. The King replied that he did not care for their threats.
“Adils asked Svipdag to help him as much now as all the Berserks had
done before, especially as the Queen wanted him in their place. Svipdag
stayed there for some while” (Hrólf Kraki, c. 18, 19).
“Now the winter passed, and the time came when the Berserks of King
Hrólf were expected home. Bödvar asked Hjalti about their customs; he
answered that it was their habit when they came home to the hird to walk
first up to the king, and then to every man, and ask if the man thought
himself their equal. The king used to answer, that is hard to tell as
you are such valiant men, and as you have won renown in bloody battles
against several people in the southern and northern half of the world.
He gives this answer more from his good-will than unmanliness, for he
knows their temper and they win great victories and much property for
him. They then walk up to every man in the hall and put the same
question, and no one answers that he is their equal. Bödvar said: ‘Few
good warriors are here with Hrólf, as they are all cowed by the
Berserks.’ No more was said. Next yule-eve Bödvar had been one year with
Hrólf, and when they sat at table the door of the hall was thrown open,
and in came twelve Berserks, all over grey with iron (coat of mail),
which looked like broken ice. Bödvar asked Hjalti in a low voice if he
dared try himself against one of them. ‘Yes,’ said Hjalti, ‘not against
one, but against all of them, for I cannot get frightened though there
is an overwhelming strength against me, and not one of them shall scare
me.’ The Berserks first walked up the hall, and saw that the champions
of Hrólf had increased in number since they left. They looked carefully
at the new men, and thought that one of them was no small man, and it is
told that the one who walked foremost was a little startled. They went
as they used before King Hrólf, and asked him the customary question; he
answered what he thought fit, as he was wont. They walked up to every
man in the hall, and last up to the comrades (Bödvar and Hjalti); the
foremost one then asked Bödvar if he thought himself his equal. Bödvar
said he thought himself not equal, but superior to him in anything they
might try; that foul son of a mare should not treat him like a sow. He
jumped up at the Berserk who was in full war dress, and threw him down
so strongly that he came near breaking his bones; Hjalti did the same,
so that a great tumult arose in the hall, and the king saw that a great
loss was likely to take place if his men were to be killed. He rushed
from his high seat to Bödvar, and asked him to take it all in a quiet
and friendly manner. Bödvar said the Berserk should lose his life unless
he acknowledged himself to be a lesser man than he. The king said that
would be easily done, and allowed the Berserks to rise to their feet.
Hjalti did the same after the king’s order. Every man sat down in his
seat, and the Berserks likewise in theirs with grief in their mind. The
king spoke long to them, and told them that now they might see that no
one was so great, strong, or renowned but that he might find his equal,
and said: ‘I forbid you to cause any trouble in my hall, and if you do
not obey that you will forfeit your lives; be as fierce as you can when
I fight my enemies, and thus win fame and renown to yourself. Now I have
so chosen champions that I need not depend upon you. All agreed with the
king’s words and were fully reconciled. They were then seated thus that
Bödvar was most honoured. He sat next to the king on the right hand; at
his side sat Hjalti the Bold-minded, which name the king gave him....
Bödvar was so highly honoured by King Hrólf that he married his only
daughter Drifa” (Hrólf Kraki’s Saga, c. 37).
“Thereafter King Adils had his hall cleaned; the dead men were carried
out, for many of Adils’ men were slain and wounded. He said: ‘Now we
will make long fires (on the floor) for our friends, and treat well such
men as they are. Now men were put to kindle the fire. Hrólf’s champions
always sat with their weapons, and never let hold of them. The fire was
soon burning, for pitch and dry fire-wood was not spared. King Adils
seated himself and his hirdmen on the one side of the fire, and Hrólf
Kraki and his champions opposite. They sat on long benches, and spoke
very friendly together. King Adils said: ‘The bravery and hardihood of
the champions of Hrólf is not exaggerated; you think yourself better
than others, and no lies have been told about your strength; now
increase the fire, for I do not see distinctly where the king is, and
though you may be warmed somewhat you will not flee from the fire.’ This
was done. He wanted to see where King Hrólf was, for he knew that he
could not stand the heat as well as the champions, and thought he would
get at him more easily when he knew where he was, for truly he wanted to
slay him. Bödvar and others saw this and sheltered him from the heat as
well as they could, but not in the way that he could be known. As the
fire advanced very rapidly King Hrólf remembered the vow he had made
neither to flee from fire nor iron weapons; he saw that King Adils tried
to burn them or let them break their vow. They saw that Adils’ seat had
moved (of itself) to the door of the hall, and also those of his men.
The fire advanced fast and they saw they would get burnt if they stayed.
Their clothes were much scorched, and they threw their shields on the
fire. Bödvar and Svipdag said: ‘Now let us increase the fire at Adils’
burg (hall). Each of them took one of the men who had kept up the fires
and flung them into them, and said: ‘Now warm yourselves at it for your
work and toil; we have got warmth enough; now warm yourselves, as you
were so busy for a while to make fire for us. Hjalti took the third one
and flung him into it where he sat, and then he did the same with all
those who kept up the fires, and they were burnt to ashes, and not
helped, for no one dared to come so near. When they had done this King
Hrólf said: ‘He flees not the fire who jumps (leaps) over it.’ Then they
all leapt (on their shields) over the fire, and wanted to take King
Adils. When he saw this he saved his life, and ran to the tree which
stood in the hall, and was hollow inside, and thus he got out with
witchcraft and sorcery. He came into the hall of Queen Yrsa and talked
to her, and she received him disgracefully, and spoke many big words to
him: ‘Thou first didst slay my husband Helgi, and betray him and keepest
the property from its owner, and besides this thou wantest to slay my
son, and thou art much crueller and worse than any other; now I will in
every way help Hrólf to get the property, and thou wilt get shame as
thou deservest.’ Adils answered: ‘Here neither will trust the other, and
hereafter I shall not come before their eyes.’ Thereupon they ceased to
talk” (Hrólf Kraki’s Saga, c. 41).
In those days of incessant warfare, the life of the warrior was a
magnificent drama from the beginning to the end; his death the closing
of a grand career; and his entrance into Valhalla the reward for a life
of bravery, in which he showed entire disregard of death, and in which
he often exhibited the highest qualities of manhood. As he saw life
ebbing away he sang the deeds he had accomplished, and when his eye
became dim, and darkness was for ever to close from him the light of the
sun, he could hear resounding in his ears the lay of the scald
recounting the deeds of his life.
No other literature that has come down to us from ancient times
describes so vividly and minutely as that of the North the deeds of the
grand heroes of old. We can imagine ourselves on the battle-field, can
hear the clatter of arms, and the whistling of arrows and spears, the
blows resounding against helmet, shield, or coat-of-mail, and the fierce
onslaught; and see before our eyes the boarding of vessels and the
carnage on deck.
In the Sagas which speak of the earliest times we find a magnanimous and
chivalrous spirit, for the contest had to be equal, ship against ship,
man against man. In a great battle chief was against chief, champion
against champion, while the combatants of both sides were looking on,
and he who was successful had to fight with the rest, himself at last
falling mortally wounded, or standing victorious over all. In these
deadly fights, more than anywhere else, do we see this cool daring and
courage of the hardy Norsemen, men looking death in the face calmly and
unflinchingly, feeling that it was better to die with honour or fame
than live with shame, as is so often told in the Sagas; for it is only
towards later times that we see the decay of this spirit of chivalry.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1358.—Bracteate of gold found in a field, Jutland.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1359.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 1360.
]
Gold bracteates, Norway, ⅔ size, found with many other gold
bracteates.
-----
Footnote 365:
Thráin, some unknown champion.
Footnote 366:
Berserks-gang = going like a Berserk into fits of frenzy.
Footnote 367:
Cf. also Ynglinga Saga, 6; Njal, 104; Egil, 27, 40; Vatnsdæla, 46;
Fornmanna Sögur, i. 132; Svarfdæla, 7; Orvar Odd, 14; Droplaugar Sona
Saga, 19.
Footnote 368:
Landnama, Part V., ch. 5; Hrolf Kraki’s last fight, 50, 51.
Footnote 369:
The wall of the burg is called here fence.