berserkr
Old Norse edit
Etymology edit
From bjǫrn (“bear”) and serkr (“shirt, coat”) thus literally "a warrior clothed in bearskin." Probably not from berr (“bare, naked”); see berserk.
Noun edit
berserkr m (genitive berserks, plural berserkir)
- a raging warrior of superhuman strength, who fights in a frenzy
- a Scandinavian warrior
Declension edit
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 edit
- → Danish: bersærk
- Norwegian Bokmål: berserk
- → English: berserk
- → Finnish: berserkki
- → Faroese: berserkur
- → Icelandic: berserkur
- → Norwegian Nynorsk: berserk
- → Scots: berserk
- → Swedish: berserk, bärsärk
References edit
- “berserkr”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press