berserkr

Old Norse

Etymology

From bjǫrn (“bear”) and serkr (“shirt, coat”) thus literally "a warrior clothed in bearskin." Probably not from berr (“bare, naked”); see berserk.

Noun

berserkr m (genitive berserks, plural berserkir)

  1. a raging warrior of superhuman strength, who fights in a frenzy
  2. a Scandinavian warrior

Declension

Declension of berserkr (strong i-stem, s-genitive)
masculine singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative berserkr berserkrinn berserkir berserkirnir
accusative berserk berserkinn berserki berserkina
dative berserk berserkinum berserkum berserkunum
genitive berserks berserksins berserka berserkanna

Descendants

  • → Icelandic: berserkur (learned)
  • → Faroese: berserkur (learned)
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: berserk (learned)
  • → Swedish: berserk, bärsärk (learned)
  • → Danish: bersærk, berserk (learned)
  • → English: berserk
  • → Scots: berserk
  • → Finnish: berserkki

Further reading

  • Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “berserkr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive
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