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Originally Posted by Nogrod
I'm not sure if the berserkers were vicious in the first place... just soldiers that got themself into a trance with some aids (mushrooms, alcohol or stuff like that) or just with some rituals. But anyhow Gunnar from Njall's saga is the very person that came into my mind as I hastily read through this thread. And knowing the prof's familiarity with the scandinavian legends it might have been a starting point - among the general idea of the berserkers.
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I think that the Berserkers like Vikings are unjustly branded as evil. They where not much more war like than the rest of Europe at this time. . .they where just slightly better and traveled.
Other sources tell that they made their thrails eat these mushrooms and stuff and that they would then drink their urin in order to "Gå Berserker-gang" (walk berserker-walk). That is gross and therefor I like the stories about them doing it in a more spiritual way better. . .
But back to the topic. . .the problem with Beorn for me is that he has decendant who seem to get share of his powers and all that jazz, he seems to human like. He might have been a decndant of a Maia-Human thing or something of the sort, but I think that very thing that he dies before the war of the ring speaks for the argument that he him self was no maia.