Heidegger

In a message dated 11/04/2007 01:30:07 GMT Standard Time, Bernx at aol.com
writes:

The German bersirker (wearer of the bearskin)

Jud:
Hi Bernado,
Though most sources give the etymology as deriving from Bear - the
connection in my opinion is tenuous. Bear in Old Islandic is Bjarn [Byarn] Swedish
is Björn [pron. roughly: *byern* - My third son’s name] Nowadays many [all the
Scandinavians I mix with] believe *Beserker* means entirely the opposite
- it means *without shirt/skirt * and was a celebrated as the manner in which
the fiercest warriors amongst the Svensk, Norsk and Dansk Vikingarna and
other sundry Nordic types spurned protection in battle [for thick animal skins
acted like a rudimentary armour] fought stark naked. In other words - they
went berserk. [cf. Scots *sark* as in *Cutty Sark* little shirt] Some blame a
certain drug.

_berserk_  http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term…)
 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q…) 1822, introduced by Sir Walter Scott,
from O.N. berserkr (n.) “raging warrior of superhuman strength,” probably from
*ber- “bear” + serkr “shirt,” thus lit. “a warrior clothed in bearskin.”
The -r was O.N. masc. singular ending, mistaken for agent noun suffix. The adj.
is 1867, from such phrases as go berserk.

The above etymology in my opinion and in the opinion of my Swedish friends
is false. The *be-* means *without* marking deprivation [cf: beheafdian -
behead etc] and does not necessitate the unlikely elision of the *yer* as in;
B*yer*serkr sound.

“The term berskr was once thought to refer to the wearing of a bearskin, a
‘bear-shirt’ derived from ber-, ‘bear’. This would fit well with the idea of
the ulfhednar as ‘wolfskin-wearers’, which is an uncontroversial derivation
(cf. Muller 1967), but it would certainly not explain the practical encumbrance
of actually wearing a bearskin. Curiously, very few of those advocating the
‘bear-shirt’ variant seem to have considered this. However, the term is
usually interpreted now as meaning ‘bare-shirted’, following Noreen (1932) and
Kuhn (1968) which would refer either to a man entering battle wholly or partly
naked, or else without armour in the sense of a ’shirt’ of mail. Whichever
interpretation is followed, there are clearly a number of bear-like associations
consciously intended in the name…”

An Italian souce confirms this:
L’origine dei berserker è sconosciuta. Tacito menziona gruppi di guerrieri
Germanici con una furia simile.. Tradotto come “maglia nuda” (ovvero senza
vestiti).

The origin of the berserkers is unknown. Tacitus mentions groups of
Germanic warriors with a similar fury. Translated as naked or without shirt.

Regards,

Jud Evans.

Personal Website. http://evans-experientialism.freewebspac…

Posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 2:45 am
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