Berserkers

[[MKF]Kapten]

The mushroom would be the red mushroom with white dots on it; I dont know the name in English. That mushroom is very hallucogenic (and very hard on the liver) so I guess that one combined with alcohol could make you feel like a bear or something ^^

[ZenDog]

according to the book it wasn't the fly agaric, but the Psilocybin mushroom (which was the main tpoic of the book-I told you it wasn't a very reliable source).

back on topic found this link.

http://www.viking.ucla.edu/hrolf/berserkers.html

[Jake Norwood]

Also the film "The 13th Warrior" actually shows the raiders wearing bear skins.  The plot of this film is taken almost word for word from Beowulf.

Like hell it is! It's taken from the book Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton, who despite being a decent writer is a crap historian. I've read Beowulf in the original, and while there's a definite connection between the book/movie and the original, the one isn't even close enough to warrant the term "adaptation," but rather "interpretation and extrapolation on a theme."

I loved the movie. The book was decent (but sooooo off). Beowulf, however, is a classic.

Jake

[Ingenious]

Indeed I have to agree with Jake on his point of view...

That, and middle english is CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!(At least I think that's what I remember from reading Beowulf in high school...)

-Ingenious

[Tash]

I don't think its intended to be an adaptation, it just recasts the same plot in a glitzier, more Holywood friendly package.  Every key point in the moive is in Beowulf except for the origins of Antonio Banderas's character (I don't remmeber Beowulf's narrator taking part in the battles, or being Muslim for that matter).  Sort of like Apocolypse now being a (much better done) rehash of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness".

[bergh]

that much room is called "rød-fluesvamp" in danish, and its this large red mushroom with white dots, there are also a green variant, but this variant is very lethal hehe. like Kapten said.

Anyway they often also just did put it up there butt! for faster and better effect!

Anyway was what it you wanna ask about berskerkers?

[Brian Leybourne]

One thing I read that fits in with the shapechanger thing (kind of) is about the Beserker's magic poition.

Except for poor Obelix, because he fell in the cauldron as a baby...

Brian.

[silburnl]

That, and middle english is CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!(At least I think that's what I remember from reading Beowulf in high school...)

Early English (aka Anglo-Saxon) which is incomprehensible for modern English speakers (unless, like my g/f, you are bilingual in German - in which case its kinda-sorta comprehensible if you squint hard at it and concentrate).

Middle-english is the language of Chaucer. The written form looks very weird but when read out by someone who knows how the orthographic rules work, its readily comprehensible to modern English speakers.

Regards
Luke

[bottleneck]

according to the book it wasn't the fly agaric, but the Psilocybin mushroom (which was the main tpoic of the book-I told you it wasn't a very reliable source).

back on topic found this link.

http://www.viking.ucla.edu/hrolf/berserkers.html

Seems I entered the discussion a bit late. (BTW I'm norwegian, so I'm allowed to disagree with the swedes and the danes).

The link agrees with what I know. Read it.

The word 'berserk' is a bit confusing, 'serk' means shirt, but it is not clear whether they were naked (no shirt) or in bearskins.
I'd consider naked, erect and frothing junkies running around with axes to be a quite disturbing sight. Obviously insane and not afraid of death (going red/red...). On the other hand, guys in bearskin sincerely believing themselves transformed into (were)bears -running with axes- is not a lot better.

As for the mushroom, it's most certainly _not_ the red 'fluesopp'/ fly agaric, but rather 'fleinsopp' (psilocybin?) - which is still outlawed to grow in norway. It contains some strong neurostimulants (comparable to LSD), and this is probably the clue to their behaviour: the recklessness, possibly their erect manhoods (I'm not sure about that one, though), their status as dangerous (to their allies as well)...

[Lance D. Allen]

I wouldn't be surprised if Brian was just as right as Kapten and Bergh. There are a lot of ambiguities in etymology, and in this case where both are equally applicable and likely, I think it's pretty much a toss-up.

I think that the shapeshifting mythos definitely has merit, though, especially for narrative purposes. For fans of Eddings.. remember Barak?

[ZenDog]

Yes I remember Barak. Wasn't there a troublesome Bear cult as well?

[Lance D. Allen]

Yes, but the Bear Cult had more to do with the setting mythos than the shapeshifting mythology. Eddings just tied the shapeshifting mythology in with the whole archetypal culture which was based on the avatar of their God.

The idea I was trying to emphasize more was that he was the protector who would go into a berzerk fury, and would metamorphose into a bear when his ward was in danger. The agony and the dark despair that followed his first transformation, and the slow, painful acceptance of it, eventually becoming pride when he realized what it meant, and that his line would continue the tradition was one of my favorite themes throughout the series.

[Tash]

Barak was an awesome character in a book full of awesome characters.  I've heard Eddings called "trite" and "a lightweight" by many, but I love the Belgariad.  Its my 3rd favorite fantasy series after Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" and the Lord of the Rings.

Yes its a happy feel good type of book where everything turns out cool in the end (actually you can make this argument about Lord of the Rings as well, it just uses bigger words), and yes its simple enough that I've read the whole series in a single sitting, but how many books can keep your attention long enough to finish in a single sitting?

The bear spirit thing was probably the coolest part, I think it was handled even better than Garion and Belgarath's wolf changing powers.  Neither of them grappled with the fear that they were loosing their humanity when they assumed the power to alter their forms as Barak did.