*Spoiler alert! If
you haven’t yet read The Hobbit, proceed
with caution.*
Beorn
In the chapter “Queer Lodgings” in The Hobbit, the Dwarves, Gandalf and Bilbo stays at the hall of
Beorn, a skin-changer.
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| Artwork of Beorn and part of the company by Ted Nasmith |
Gandalf says to Bilbo: “I shall introduce you slowly, two by
two, I think; and you must be careful
not to annoy him, or heaven knows what will happen. He can be appalling when he
is angry, though he is kind enough if humoured. Still I warn you he gets angry
easily. … If you must know more, his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he
is a skin-changer.” (Tolkien 2010:108)
Indeed, Beorn can turn into a bear and travel very fast in
this form, and is shown to be a formidable enemy when he shows the company of
guests “[a] goblin’s head … outside the gate and a warg-skin … nailed to a tree
just beyond” (Tolkien 2010:123). (“Wargs” are the wild wolves who are also
encountered in The Lord of the Rings.)
Berserkers
In Norse mythology and folklore the berserkers are “furious
warriors, in mythology associated with Odin” (Lindow 2002:75) and appears in
the Ynglinga Saga, written by Snorri
Sturluson. “After stating that Odin could make his enemies blind, deaf, or
overcome with fear in battle, their weapons useless, Snorri added, ‘but his men
went without armor and were crazed as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, were
as strong as bears or bulls. They killed men, but neither fire nor iron
affected them. That is called going berserk.’” (Lindow 2002:75)
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| Berserker Chess Pieces |
Beorn’s shape changing nature also harks back to one of the
etymologies suggested for the word “berserkr” – “bear-shirt”. The etymology of
“bare-shirt” has also been proposed (Lindow 2002:76), referring to the way in
which these warriors entered war without wearing armour.
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| "Beorn Finds Thorin" by Tulikoura |
Karl Mortensen, in his book A Handbook of Norse Mythology (2003) notes the many instances of
shape-shifting in the Norse mythology. Of Berserkers, he states the following:
“Men who had a peculiar aptitude for changing form were called hamramir, ‘strong in form’. We must
certainly regard the fury of the Berserk as the same category of Warriors who
in the heat of battle were attacked by wild and brutal frenzy were called Berserkir or Ulfhethinn, i.e. men who wears furs or bear or wolf skin; but the
original belief was really that they went about in the form of bears or
wolves.” (Mortensen 2003:44).
Beorn also plays a part in the Battle of Five Armies,
inflicting great losses on the goblins and wargs and carrying Thorin from the
battlefield –
“In that last hour Beorn himself had appeared – no one knew
how or from where. He came alone, and in bear’s shape, and he seemed to have
grown almost to giant-size in his wrath.
The roar of his voice was like drums and guns; and he tossed
wolves and goblins from his path like straws and feathers. He fell upon their
rear, and broke like a clap of thunder through the ring. … Then Beorn stooped
and lifted Thorin, who had fallen pierced with spears, and bore him out of the
fray.” (Tolkien 2010:263-4)
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| Berserker |
A very strong person and warrior taking the shape or
characteristics of a bear, and who fights ferociously, definitely fit with the
description of Beorn given in The Hobbit.
Tolkien, however builds a culture around the shape-shifting character, making
him much more than just a two-dimensional warrior whose only skill is that of
fighting and killing.
Just Because It’s
Interesting
It is also interesting to note that, Jesse Byock, when
describing the vengeance killings and aspects of feuds which were written into
the law in Medieval Iceland, states the following about someone who goes
“berserk”: “Private parties were also responsible for restraining violent
individuals in their midst: ‘If a man goes berserk, the penalty is lesser
outlawry. The same penalty applies to those men who are present except if they
restrain him.” (Byock 1990:26).
Sources:
Byock, J. 1990. Medieval
Iceland: Society, Sagas and Power. University of California Press,Berkeley.
Lindow, J. 2002. Norse
Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. University ofOxford Press, Oxford.
Mortensen, K. 2003. A
Handbook of Norse Mythology. Dover Publications Inc., New York.
Tolkien, JRR. 2010. The
Hobbit. Haper Collins Publishers, London.
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