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61-536: Arngrim was a berserker , who features in Hervarar saga , Gesta Danorum , Lay of Hyndla , a number of Faroese ballads and Orvar-Odd's saga in Norse mythology . According to versions H and U , Arngrim went pillaging to Gardariki and met its king Svafrlami , who was in possession of Tyrfing at the moment. Tyrfing cut through Arngrim's shield and down into the soil, whereupon Arngrim cut off Svafrlami's hand, grabbed

122-589: A Danish king. However, when Frodi denied his request, Arngrim turned to Erik , the King of Sweden , and asked him for advice. Erik told Arngrim to earn Frodi's respect by killing Egther , the king of Bjarmaland and Thengil , the king of Finnmark . Arngrim first attacked Thengil and crushed the Saami . As the Saami fled they threw three pebbles behind them that they enchanted so that the pebbles looked like three mountains. As Arngrim

183-465: A berserker as " hamrammr " or "shapestrong" – literally able to shapeshift into a bear's form. For example, the band of men who go with Skallagrim in Egil's Saga to see King Harald about his brother Thorolf's murder are described as "the hardest of men, with a touch of the uncanny about a number of them ... they [were] built and shaped more like trolls than human beings." This has sometimes been interpreted as

244-492: A full carriage of reindeer hides. Then Arngrim took on Egther of Bjarmaland and slew him in single combat. He then forced the Bjarmians to pay him one hide each. Arngrim returned to Erik, who accompanied Arngrim to Frodi. Erik convinced Frodi that Arngrim was the best possible match for Frodi's daughter Eyfura. Frodi agreed to the marriage and by Eyfura Arngrim had twelve sons. Saxo Grammaticus agrees with Hervarar saga by giving

305-399: A glance from their evil eyes. This appears as early as Beowulf where it is a characteristic attributed to Grendel . Both the fire eating and the immunity to edged weapons are reminiscent of tricks popularly ascribed to fakirs . In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway outlawed berserkers. Grágás , the medieval Icelandic law code , sentenced berserker warriors to outlawry . By

366-400: A great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge of their shields, and cut down everything they met without discriminating between friend or foe. When this condition ceased, a great dulling of the mind and feebleness followed, which could last for one or several days. When Viking villages went to war in unison, the berserkers often wore special clothing, for instance furs of

427-400: A man called Kveldulf ( Evening-Wolf ) who is said to have transformed into a wolf at night. This Kveldulf is described as a berserker, as opposed to an ulfheðinn . Ulfheðnar are sometimes described as Odin 's special warriors: "[Odin's] men went without their mailcoats and were mad as hounds or wolves, bit their shields...they slew men, but neither fire nor iron had effect upon them. This

488-486: A royal bodyguard . It may be that some of those warriors only adopted the organization or rituals of berserk Männerbünde , or used the name as a deterrent or claim of their ferocity. Emphasis has been placed on the frenzied nature of the berserkers, hence the modern sense of the word "berserk". However, the sources describe several other characteristics that have been ignored or neglected by modern commentators. Snorri's assertion that "neither fire nor iron told upon them"

549-515: A scene indicative of a relationship between berserkgang ... and the god Odin". In Norse poetry, the word jǫfurr , which originally meant "wild boar", is used metaphorically for "a prince, monarch or warrior", which probably stems from the custom of wearing boar's heads as helmets or boar crested helmets in battle. Swine played a central role in Germanic paganism , featuring in both mythology and religious practice, particularly in association with

610-655: A style invented by Sondre Norheim , and the characteristic Telemark landing of ski jumping . Telemark is also known as the centre of the Bunad movement. Telemark has more buildings from medieval times than any other Norwegian region. Telemark is located in southeastern Norway, extending from the Hardangervidda mountain plateau in the North to the Skagerrak coast in the South. Telemark has

671-562: A varied and scenic landscape, including a rugged coastline, valleys, lakes, hills mountains, and mountain plateaus. Southern Telemark is the location of the Gea Norvegica UNESCO Global Geopark (UGG), established in 2006. The UGG carries significance to Norway with an abundance of larvikite along the Oslo Rift , Paleozoic fossils, geological artifacts of glacial retreat from the last glacial maximum , and rocks from

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732-402: A vote of the county council of Vestfold og Telemark on 15 February 2022 to split the newly established county into its respective counties that existed before the merger took place; Telemark and Vestfold. Telemark county was established as the fief Bratsberg in the late Middle Ages, during Norway's union with Denmark . With the introduction of absolute monarchy in 1662 it became a county, and it

793-436: A wolf or bear, to indicate that this person was a berserker, and would not be able to tell friend from foe when in " bersærkergang ". In this way, other allies would know to keep their distance. Some scholars propose that certain examples of berserker rage had been induced voluntarily by the consumption of drugs such as hallucinogenic mushrooms , massive amounts of alcohol , or a mixture only known as 'butotens.' This

854-455: Is assumed to have most likely meant " bear ", with the full phrase, berserk , meaning just "bear-shirt", as in "someone who wears a coat made out of a bear's skin ". Thirteenth-century historian Snorri Sturluson , an Icelander who lived around 200 years after berserkers were outlawed in Iceland (outlawed in 1015), on the other hand, interpreted the meaning as "bare-shirt", that is to say that

915-408: Is called 'going berserk'." The helm-plate press from Torslunda depicts a scene of a one-eyed warrior with bird-horned helm, assumed to be Odin, next to a wolf-headed warrior armed with a spear and sword as distinguishing features, assumed to be a berserker with a wolf pelt: "a wolf-skinned warrior with the apparently one-eyed dancer in the bird-horned helm, which is generally interpreted as showing

976-494: Is from modern times (1970). It shows an old type of battle axe , significant for the county. The county coat of arms valid from 1 January 2024 is a redesigned version of the county coat of arms for Telemark county from 1970 until the county merger in 2020. The county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. Traditionally the county is mainly divided into Upper Telemark (historically called simply Telemark or more recently Telemark proper) and Grenland . Upper Telemark

1037-456: Is located in the inland and comprises more than two thirds of it according to its traditional definition. Both in medieval times and later (Upper) Telemark was the region of Norway with the most self-owning farmers. It retained Norse culture to a larger degree than any other region in Norway, with respect to its more egalitarian organisation of society, religion, traditional values and language. Thus

1098-753: Is more urban and influenced by trade with the Low Countries , northern Germany , Denmark and the British Isles . Telemark has been one of Norway's most important industrial regions for centuries, marked in particular by the Norske Skog Union paper mills in Grenland and the Norsk Hydro heavy water and fertilizer production in Upper Telemark . Telemark county was re-established on 1 January 2024, following

1159-430: Is much debated but the theory is further supported by the discovery of seeds belonging to black henbane ( Hyoscyamus niger ) in a Viking grave that was unearthed near Fyrkat, Denmark in 1977. An analysis of the symptoms caused by Hyoscyamus niger revealed that they are also similar to the symptoms ascribed to the berserker state, which suggest it may have been used to generate their warlike mood. Other explanations for

1220-610: Is named for the Thelir (Þilir in Old Norse), the ancient North Germanic tribe that inhabited what is now known as Upper Telemark since the Migration Period and during the Viking Age . The Norse form of the name was Þelamǫrk . The first element is the genitive plural case of Þilir while the last element is mǫrk "woodland, borderland, march ". Traditional Telemark, i.e. Upper Telemark,

1281-462: Is reiterated time after time. The sources frequently state that neither edged weapons nor fire affected the berserks, although they were not immune to clubs or other blunt instruments. For example: These men asked Halfdan to attack Hardbeen and his champions man by man; and he not only promised to fight, but assured himself the victory with most confident words. When Hardbeen heard this, a demoniacal frenzy suddenly took him; he furiously bit and devoured

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1342-463: Is sometimes subdivided into Vest-Telemark and Aust-Telemark . The name Lower Telemark traditionally refers to Grenland and Midt-Telemark , but was more of an administrative region than a cultural one. Regardless of definition, Upper Telemark constitutes the largest part by far. For example, the modern provostship of Upper Telemark comprises 12 municipalities and more than 80% of Telemark, also including Midt-Telemark. An additional district, Vestmar

1403-540: The Svarfdæla saga tells of a challenge to single-combat that was postponed by a berserker until three days after Yule. The bodies of dead berserkers were laid out in bearskins prior to their funeral rites. The bear-warrior symbolism survives to this day in the form of the bearskin caps worn by the guards of the Danish monarchs. In battle, the berserkers were subject to fits of frenzy. They would howl like wild beasts, foam at

1464-560: The Vatnsdæla saga , the Haraldskvæði and the Grettis saga and are consistently referred to in the sagas as a group of berserkers, always presented as the elite following of the first Norwegian king Harald Fairhair . They were said to wear the pelt of a wolf over their chainmail when they entered battle. Unlike berserkers, direct references to ulfheðnar are scant. Egil's Saga features

1525-515: The Rhine . There are warriors depicted as barefoot, bare-chested, bearing weapons and helmets that are associated with the Germani . Scene 36 on the column shows some of these warriors standing together, with some wearing bearhoods and some wearing wolfhoods. Nowhere else in history are Germanic bear-warriors and wolf-warriors recorded fighting together until 872 AD, with Thórbiörn Hornklofi 's description of

1586-556: The Sveconorwegian Orogeny . It it the first UGG in Scandinavia. The international road E18 goes through the southern parts of Telemark, namely Grenland and the municipality of Kragerø . E134 , another important motorway and the fastest route between Oslo and Bergen , goes through the municipalities of Vinje , Tokke , Kviteseid , Seljord , Hjartdal and Notodden . RV36 , stretching from Porsgrunn to Seljord, links

1647-706: The Vanir , Freyr and Freyja . It has been proposed that similar to berserkers, warriors could ritually transform into boars so as to gain strength, bravery and protection in battle. It has been theorised that this process was linked to the wearing of boar helmets as a ritual costume. Berserkers appear prominently in a multitude of other sagas and poems . Many earlier sagas portrayed berserkers as bodyguards, elite soldiers, and champions of kings. This image would change as time passed and sagas would begin to describe berserkers as boasters rather than heroes, and as ravenous men who loot , plunder, and kill indiscriminately. Within

1708-567: The battle of Hafrsfjord , when they fought together for King Harald Fairhair of Norway. In 1639 and 1734 respectively, two vastly decorated horns made of sheet gold, the Golden Horns of Gallehus , were discovered in Southern Jutland, Denmark. As part of its decoration, the first horn, the larger of the two, depicts two armed animal headed men facing each other. Dated to the early 5th century, these depictions could represent bearserkers. In

1769-553: The 12th century, organised berserker war-bands had disappeared. The Lewis Chessmen , found on the Isle of Lewis , Outer Hebrides , Scotland , and thought to be of Norse manufacture, include berserkers depicted biting their shields . Scholar Hilda Ellis-Davidson draws a parallel between berserkers and the mention by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII (CE 905–959) in his book De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae ("Book of Ceremonies of

1830-551: The Byzantine court") of a " Gothic Dance" performed by members of his Varangian Guard , Norse warriors in the service of the Byzantine Empire , who took part wearing animal skins and masks: she believes this may have been connected with berserker rites. The rage the berserker experienced was referred to as berserkergang ('berserk fit/frenzy' or 'berserk movement'). This condition has been described as follows: This fury, which

1891-640: The E18 and E134 motorways. Telemark is well served by railways. The Sørlandet Line runs through the traditional districts of Vestmar and Midt-Telemark, serving the municipalities of Drangedal , Nome , Bø and Sauherad . Grenland is primarily served by the Vestfold Line , but also has connections through the Bratsberg Line which runs between Skien and Notodden . From Langesund, Fjordline operates ferry services to Sweden and Denmark . The main bus lines in

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1952-578: The Haraldskvæði saga describes Harald's berserkers: I'll ask of the berserks, you tasters of blood, Those intrepid heroes, how are they treated, Those who wade out into battle? Wolf-skinned they are called. In battle They bear bloody shields. Red with blood are their spears when they come to fight. They form a closed group. The prince in his wisdom puts trust in such men Who hack through enemy shields. The "tasters of blood" (a kenning ) in this passage are thought to be ravens, which feasted on

2013-529: The Middle Ages, the agricultural society of Upper Telemark was considered the most violent region of Norway. Today, half of the buildings from medieval times in Norway are located here. The dialects spoken in Upper Telemark also retain more elements of Old Norse than those spoken elsewhere in the country. Upper Telemark is also known as the birthplace of skiing . The southern part of Telemark, Grenland ,

2074-628: The Skien fjord are flatter regions located closer to or at the coast. Historically Grenland referred to what is now called Midt-Telemark , but over time the name Grenland has come to refer to the Skien fjord area. The latter is traditionally characterized by its cities and its involvement in seafaring and trade. It also includes several larger agricultural properties and estates, as well as industry. The culture and social structure are more urban, far less traditional, more influenced by contact with continental Europe and far less egalitarian. The most important city of

2135-555: The St. Gallus Church in the Gutenstein district of the city of Sigmaringen , Germany. One of the graves contained, among other things, a silver sword scabbard, the Gutenstein scabbard  [ de ] . Highly ornate, it features a warrior figure with a wolf's head, holding a sword and a spear. It is thought this depicts an ulfheðinn (wolf warrior), as pre-Christian Central Europe was part of

2196-490: The band of men being " hamrammr ", though there is no major consensus. Another example of " hamrammr " comes from the Saga of Hrólf Kraki . One tale within tells the story of Bödvar Bjarki , a berserker who is able to shapeshift into a bear and uses this ability to fight for king Hrólfr Kraki . "Men saw that a great bear went before King Hrolf's men, keeping always near the king. He slew more men with his fore paws than any five of

2257-410: The berserk state at the heart of their most severe psychological and psychophysiological injuries. It has been suggested that the berserkers' behavior inspired the legend of the werewolf . Telemark The name Telemark means the " mark of the Thelir ", the ancient North Germanic tribe that inhabited what is now known as Upper Telemark in the Migration Period and the Viking Age . In

2318-487: The berserker rage of soldiers and the hyperarousal of posttraumatic stress disorder . In Achilles in Vietnam , he writes: If a soldier survives the berserk state, it imparts emotional deadness and vulnerability to explosive rage to his psychology and permanent hyperarousal to his physiology — hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans. My clinical experience with Vietnam combat veterans prompts me to place

2379-487: The berserker's madness that have been put forward include self-induced hysteria , epilepsy , or mental illness , among other causes. One theory of the berserkers suggests that the physical manifestations of the berserker alongside their rage was a form of self-induced hysteria. Initiated before battle through a ritualistic performance meant for effect, which included actions such as shield-biting and animalistic howling. Jonathan Shay makes an explicit connection between

2440-424: The edges of his shield; he kept gulping down fiery coals; he snatched live embers in his mouth and let them pass down into his entrails; he rushed through the perils of crackling fires; and at last, when he had raved through every sort of madness, he turned his sword with raging hand against the hearts of six of his champions. It is doubtful whether this madness came from thirst for battle or natural ferocity. Then with

2501-599: The king's champions." Wolf warriors appear among the legends of the Indo-Europeans, Turks, Mongols, and Native American cultures. The Germanic wolf-warriors have left their trace through shields and standards that were captured by the Romans and displayed in the armilustrium in Rome. Frenzy warriors wearing the skins of wolves called ulfheðnar ("wolf-skin-ers" or possibly "wolf-heathens"; singular ulfheðinn ), are mentioned in

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2562-514: The modern English word berserk , meaning 'furiously violent or out of control'. Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources. The Old Norse form of the word was berserk (plural berserkir ), a compound word of ber and serk . The latter part is an old germanic word, meaning "shirt" and thereof (also found in Middle English , see serk ). The first part, ber , on the other hand, can linguistically mean several things, but

2623-451: The mouth, and gnaw the rims of their shields. According to belief, during these fits, they were immune to steel and fire, and made great havoc in the ranks of the enemy. When this fever abated, they were weak and tame. Accounts can be found in the sagas. To "go berserk" was to " hamask ", which translates as "change form", in this case, as with the sense "enter a state of wild fury". Some scholars have interpreted those who could transform as

2684-505: The original list. A medieval ballad collected in Telemark ( The restless men ) relates to the "sons of Arngrim" in the refrain: "Those sons of Arngrim of the north pray for homeward passage". Berserker In the Old Norse written corpus, berserkers ( Old Norse : berserkir ) were those who were said to have fought in a trance -like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to

2745-586: The people of Telemark were often described during the Middle Ages and early modern era as the most violent in Norway. The dialects of Upper Telemark are also the dialects of Norwegian that are closest to Old Norse . The farmers of Telemark were marked by a strong-willed conservatism and belief in their traditional values that often defied the central authorities of Denmark-Norway; for example they held on to aspects of both Old Norse religion and later of Catholicism longer than other regions in Norway. (Upper) Telemark traditionally lacks cities entirely. Grenland and

2806-471: The region are operated by Telemark Bilruter , serving western and middle parts of the region, and Nettbuss which serves the middle, eastern and southern parts of the region. Drangedal Bilruter serves the Vestmar region. The largest population centres are Skien , Porsgrunn , Notodden , Rjukan and Kragerø . Other important places are Bø , Seljord , Fyresdal and Vinje . The coat of arms of Telemark

2867-574: The region, Skien , was historically one of Norway's most important cities, although its importance declined after the Napoleonic Wars. The playwright Henrik Ibsen was a native of Skien, and many of his plays are set in places reminiscent of the city and area. During the Dano-Norwegian union the traditional regions of Telemark and Grenland/the Skien fjord became the fief ( len ) and later county ( amt ) of Bratsberg (Bradsberg). The fief and county

2928-432: The remaining band of his champions he attacked Halfdan, who crushed him with a hammer of wondrous size, so that he lost both victory and life; paying the penalty both to Halfdan, whom he had challenged, and to the kings whose offspring he had violently ravished... Similarly, Hrolf Kraki 's champions refuse to retreat "from fire or iron". Another frequent motif refers to berserkers blunting their enemy's blades with spells or

2989-694: The sagas, Berserkers can be narrowed down to four different types. The King's Berserkr, the Hall-Challenging Berserkr , the Hólmgangumaðr , and the Viking Berserkr . Later, by Christian interpreters, the berserker was viewed as a "heathen devil". The earliest surviving reference to the term "berserker" is in Haraldskvæði , a skaldic poem composed by Thórbiörn Hornklofi in the late 9th century in honor of King Harald Fairhair , as ulfheðnar ("men clad in wolf skins"). This translation from

3050-868: The same names for nine of the twelve sons: Angantyr , Hjörvard, Hervard, Hrani, Biarbe, Tyrfing, Tand, two Haddings, Brand, Brodd and Hiarrande. Kings of the Danes are in bold and marked with an asterisk (*). Kings of the Swedes are marked with a dagger (†). Name spellings are derived from Oliver Elton 's 1905 translation, The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus , via Wikisource . The lay of Hyndla also mentions Arngrim and Eyfura, but only relates that they lived on Bolmsö and that they had as sons twelve ravaging berserkers named Hervard, Hjorvard, Rane, Angantyr, Bue, Brame, Barre, Reivner, Tind, Tyrving and two Haddings. It appears that Lay of Hyndla preserves

3111-596: The same tradition as the Norse. Other animal headed figures have been found, such as an antlered figure on the Gundestrup cauldron , found on northern Jutland, Denmark, in 1891, which has been dated from 200 BC to 300 AD. It is proposed by some authors that the berserkers drew their power from the bear and were devoted to the bear cult , which was once widespread across the northern hemisphere. The berserkers maintained their religious observances despite their fighting prowess, as

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3172-618: The slain. The Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) wrote the following description of berserkers in his Ynglinga saga : His ( Odin 's) men rushed forwards without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild oxen, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon them. This was called Berserkergang . King Harald Fairhair's use of berserkers as " shock troops " broadened his sphere of influence. Other Scandinavian kings used berserkers as part of their army of hirdmen and sometimes ranked them as equivalent to

3233-517: The spring of 1870, four Vendel era cast-bronze dies, the Torslunda plates , were found by Erik Gustaf Pettersson and Anders Petter Nilsson in a cairn on the lands of the farm No 5 Björnhovda in Torslunda parish, Öland, Sweden, one of them showing what appears to be a berserker ritual. In 1887, the graves of two 7th century Alemanni men were found during construction work in the immediate vicinity of

3294-467: The sword and slew him with his own weapon. Then Arngrim captured Svafrlami's daughter Eyfura and forced her to marry him. Version R , however relates that Arngrim became Sigrlami's war-chief and won many battles and conquered land and subjects for the old king. In recompense, Arngrim was given a high position in the realm, Eyfura and Tyrfing. In all versions of the saga, Arngrim returned to Bolmsö with Eyfura (although versions H and U say that it

3355-471: The two Haddings (in version R only six are mentioned: Angantyr, Hjörvard, Hervard, Hrani and the two Haddings). For the continued adventures of the sword Tyrfing, see Angantyr and Hjalmar . According to Saxo Grammaticus , Arngrim was a Swedish champion who had killed Skalk the Scanian . This made him very proud of himself and he consequently ventured to ask for the hand of Eyfura , the daughter of Frodi ,

3416-637: The warriors went into battle without armour , but that view has largely been abandoned due to contradicting and lack of supporting evidence. It is proposed by some authors that the northern warrior tradition originated from hunting magic. Three main animal cults appear to have developed: the cult of the bear , the wolf , and the wild boar . The bas-relief carvings on Trajan's column in Rome, completed in 113 AD, depict scenes of Trajan 's conquest of Dacia in 101–106 AD. The scenes show his Roman soldiers plus auxiliaries and allies from Rome's border regions, including tribal warriors from both sides of

3477-421: Was called berserkergang , occurred not only in the heat of battle, but also during laborious work. Men who were thus seized performed things which otherwise seemed impossible for human power. This condition is said to have begun with shivering, chattering of the teeth, and chill in the body, and then the face swelled and changed its colour. With this was connected a great hot-headedness, which at last gave over into

3538-486: Was named after the farm Bratsberg, since this was the seat of the governor. In 1919 Bratsberg county was renamed Telemark. Despite this, Grenland retains a separate identity that is distinct from Telemark proper; the minority in the Storting voted for the name Grenland–Telemark in 1918. Upper Telemark, particularly Kviteseid , is known as the birthplace of skiing as a modern sport. Telemark lent its name to Telemark skiing ,

3599-404: Was renamed Telemark in 1919 and was a county until 2020. The county administration was in the port town Skien , which was in the early modern period Norway's most important city, ahead of Christiania. Telemark consists of several distinct historical regions. It takes its name from the largest of them, which is now called Upper Telemark , but which was historically simply called Telemark. Telemark

3660-453: Was the island Bolm in Hålogaland ). They had twelve sons who all followed in their father's footsteps and became berserkers. According to the U version, they were called Angantyr , Hjörvard, Hervard, Hrani, Barri, Tyrfing, Tind, two Haddings, Bui, Bild and Toki. According to the H version, their names were Angantyr, Hjorvard, Hervard, Hrani, Brami, Barri, Reifnir, Tind, Saeming and Bui and

3721-407: Was tricked he called back his men. The next day, they again started to chase the Saami, but the Saami threw snow on the ground and made it look like a river, and this made the Swedes stop the pursuit. The third day, the battle recommenced and this time the Saami had no more magic to resort to, and they were defeated. The Saami agreed to the peace terms, and every third year every Saami was forced to pay

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