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Cú Chulainn: Irish Folklore Hero; Irish Berserker?

Mythopoeika

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Another example from myth:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cú_Chulainn
Cú Chulainn
He is known for his terrifying battle frenzy, or ríastrad (translated by Thomas Kinsella as "warp spasm" and by Ciarán Carson as "torque"), in which he becomes an unrecognisable monster who knows neither friend nor foe.
 
Hold on there!
Why has my original post been split away from the thread I originally posted it in? It's now out of context.
In the context of the original thread (berserkers) it was relevant.
Now it's not!
 
Hold on there!
Why has my original post been split away from the thread I originally posted it in? It's now out of context.
In the context of the original thread (berserkers) it was relevant.
Now it's not!

It was neither in context nor relevant to begin with ...

The thread to which you posted was about Viking berserkers and discussion of what method they may have used to instill their legendary battle frenzy. The postings about Cú_Chulainn aren't about Vikings, and they don't address any method for inducing a battle frenzy.
 
It was neither in context nor relevant to begin with ...

The thread to which you posted was about Viking berserkers and discussion of what method they may have used to instill their legendary battle frenzy. The postings about Cú_Chulainn aren't about Vikings, and they don't address any method for inducing a battle frenzy.
We don't know that they even used anything at all, do we?
I was pointing out that a figure from ancient Irish mythology would become a 'berserker' too.
I suggest that the thread you created should be renamed to 'Irish Berserkers'.
 
It was neither in context nor relevant to begin with ...

The thread to which you posted was about Viking berserkers and discussion of what method they may have used to instill their legendary battle frenzy. The postings about Cú_Chulainn aren't about Vikings, and they don't address any method for inducing a battle frenzy.
Well, I'm not so sure that's the case. At least I think we should look deeper before we dismiss any chance of a connection. The Irish have a lot of norse ancestry. I don't know how well the legend of Cú Chulainn and norse migration correlate in time and space, whether earlier communication between Scandinavia and Ireland may have disseminated norse beliefs, or whether smaller, unrecorded immigration events could have led to that aspect of Cú Chulainn's legend. But it seems to me, if we're going to explore that proposition, it's best done on the berserker thread, since I doubt either subject has the material to carry a thread of its own for long.

EDIT A quick wikipedia search in my car before work this morning dates the earliest record of Cú Chulainn to the twelfth century, ample time after the viking era for stories of berserkers to have influenced it. The fact no more posts have been added to this thread since my first version of this one supports my assertion that it belongs as part of the berserker thread rather than on its own.
 
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