Following the Lines

I've been doing family research for many years and have ran into many gaps or holes in the lineage or even incorrect or inconsistent information or dates. Imagine my interest when I managed to trace my lineage back to (potentially) 620 A. D. I've just been tracing the lines that others have put out there, but I have no reason to believe that it's all that wrong when I've found historical references to back it up.


So, to "celebrate" (of a sort) discovering my Viking roots, I give you a poem. ;)


The earliest surviving reference to the term "berserker" is in Haraldskvæði, a skaldic poem composed by Thórbiörn Hornklofi in the late 9th century in honour of King Harald Fairhair, as ulfheðnar ("men clad in wolf skins"). This translation from the Haraldskvæði saga describes Harald's berserkers:

I'll ask of the berserks, you tasters of blood,

Those intrepid heroes, how are they treated,

Those who wade out into battle?

Wolf-skinned they are called. In battle

They bear bloody shields.

Red with blood are their spears when they come to fight.

They form a closed group.

The prince in his wisdom puts trust in such men

Who hack through enemy shields.

I guess this could explain why (in part) I've always been fascinated with Norse mythology and history.