Speidel, Michael P. Berserks: A History of Indo-European “Mad Warriors”: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
==Annotation== | ==Annotation== | ||
A history of berserk warriors and their role in battle from the bronze age to the Middle Ages. The first section discusses the appearance of berserk warriors in Mesopotamia in the late bronze age and their possible origin, while the second deals with Indo-European berserks in the bronze, iron and middle ages. The third section looks at the psychological and physiological state of berserk warriors ("battle madness"), while the fourth focuses on Greece and Rome and the relationship between "civilized" and "barbarian" fighting styles. Although Speidel's focus is on Indo-European berserk traditions, the final section is a discussion of "mad warriors" in other cultures. His conclusion is that the berserk warrior is a long-lived, well-defined and cross-cultural phenomenon with a three-thousand-year history and a possible Proto-Indo-European origin. | |||
==Lýsing== | ==Lýsing== | ||
| Line 19: | Line 24: | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
[[Egla,_55|Chapter 55]]: '''annarri brúninni ofan''': "When in the grip of fury, Celtic and Germanic berserks contorted their faces and bodies in frightening ways. Among Irish heroes, Cū Chulainn is famous for this. Likewise tenth-century Egil: when he came to claim the wergild for his slain brother, he showed the king how mad he was by drooping one eyebrow down towards his cheek, raising the other up to the roots of his hair and moving his eyebrows alternately up and down" (p. 260). | |||
==Links== | ==Links== | ||
Revision as of 22:49, 5 March 2012
- Author: Speidel, Michael P.
- Title: Berserks: A History of Indo-European “Mad Warriors
- Published in: Journal of World History 13/2
- Year: 2002
- Pages: 253-90
- E-text:
- Reference: Speidel, Michael P. "Berserks: A History of Indo-European “Mad Warriors”." Journal of World History 13/2 (2002): 253-90.
- Key words:
Annotation
A history of berserk warriors and their role in battle from the bronze age to the Middle Ages. The first section discusses the appearance of berserk warriors in Mesopotamia in the late bronze age and their possible origin, while the second deals with Indo-European berserks in the bronze, iron and middle ages. The third section looks at the psychological and physiological state of berserk warriors ("battle madness"), while the fourth focuses on Greece and Rome and the relationship between "civilized" and "barbarian" fighting styles. Although Speidel's focus is on Indo-European berserk traditions, the final section is a discussion of "mad warriors" in other cultures. His conclusion is that the berserk warrior is a long-lived, well-defined and cross-cultural phenomenon with a three-thousand-year history and a possible Proto-Indo-European origin.
Lýsing
See also
References
Chapter 55: annarri brúninni ofan: "When in the grip of fury, Celtic and Germanic berserks contorted their faces and bodies in frightening ways. Among Irish heroes, Cū Chulainn is famous for this. Likewise tenth-century Egil: when he came to claim the wergild for his slain brother, he showed the king how mad he was by drooping one eyebrow down towards his cheek, raising the other up to the roots of his hair and moving his eyebrows alternately up and down" (p. 260).
Links
- Written by:
- Icelandic/English translation:
