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The Fiercest Viking Warriors:The Berserkers -In the Old Norse written corpus, Berserkers (or "berserks") were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word "berserk." Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources, as were the Úlfhéðnar ("wolf-coats"). -The Berserkers are particularly violent, wild, blood thirsty and battle crazy Norse warriors. -The English word berserk is derived from the Old Norse words ber-serkr (plural ber-serkir) possibly meaning a "bear-shirt"— a wild warrior or champion of the Viking age. -The element ber- was interpreted by the thirteenth-century historian Snorri Sturluson as "bare", which he understood to mean that the warriors went into without armour. This word is also used in ber-skjaldaðr that means "bare of shield", or without a shield. Others derive it from berr (Germ, bär = ursus, the bear); Snorri's view has been largely abandoned. -It is proposed by some authors that the northern warrior tradition originated in hunting magic. Three main animal cults appeared: the bear, the wolf, and the wild boar. -In sea battles they were usually stationed at the prow, to take the leading point of an attack. -In the battle of Hafrsfjord, c872, berserkers appear as shock troops for Harald Hårfagre (Finehair), in groups of 12. - In his book Germania, the historian Tacitus describes correspondingly fantastic elite warriors among the German tribes in northern Europe. -“Berserkers roared where the battle raged, wolf-heathens howled and iron weapons trembled”.-Torbjørn Hornklove, 9TH CENTURY -It is proposed by some authors that the berserkers drew their power from the bear and were devoted to the bear cult. -The Úlfhéðnar (singular Úlfheðinn), another term associated with berserkers, mentioned in the Vatnsdæla saga, Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga, were said to wear the pelt of a wolf when they entered battle. -The boar-warriors fought at the lead of a battle formation known as Svinfylking ("the boar's head") that was wedge-shaped, and two of their champions formed the rani ("snout").