The Elite Warriors in Medieval Scandinavia: The Berserkir and the Ulfhednar
Copyright (c) 2023 Beck Attila
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Abstract
In the early medieval military history of Scandinavia, battles and fights between local kings and warlords were common; furthermore, robberies and military actions targeting the British Isles and the European continent were frequent. The warrior elite of this age, including berserkir (singular: berserker) and ulfhednar (singular: ulfhedinn), played an important role in these events of war. In my essay, I will show, with the help of sources, the characteristics of these warriors and how they were integrated into the warfare of the early Middle Ages.
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