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)

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

Declension

Declension of berserkr (strong i-stem, s-genitive)

masculine	singular		plural
masculine	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
Faroese: berserkur
Norwegian Bokmål: berserk
Old Swedish:
- Swedish: bärsärk
→ English: berserk
→ Finnish: berserkki
→ Scots: berserk

References

“berserkr”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

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