Historical Artifacts

1053 readers

80 users here now

Just a community for everyone to share artifacts, reconstructions, or replicas for the historically-inclined to admire!

Generally, an artifact should be 100+ years old, but this is a flexible requirement if you find something rare and suitably linked to an era of history, not a strict rule. Anything over 100 is fair game regardless of rarity.

Generally speaking, ruins should go to !historyruins@lemmy.world

Illustrations of the past should go to !historyillustrations@lemmy.world

Photos of the past should go to !HistoryPorn@lemmy.world

founded 10 months ago

MODERATORS

PugJesus@lemmy.world

244

Chesspiece (Rook equivalent) from Scotland, depicting a Norse berserker biting his shield, 12th century AD (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 months ago by PugJesus@lemmy.world to c/historyartifacts@lemmy.world

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 31 points 3 months ago (2 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen

Viking berserkers are often described as biting their shields out of battle madness and fury in Norse accounts.

[–] fed0sine@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Are they Vikings, or are they rodents?

[–] wieson@feddit.org 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

My sign's Thor's hammer

My hands are cold

[–] TheOneAndOnly@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

And I'm on my knees

Praying for an omen

[–] Klear@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality

[–] jawa21@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 3 months ago

I'm just a Norse guy who likes the taste of shields.

[–] Aggravationstation@feddit.uk 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Didn't they also used to take mushrooms before battles in some cases?

[–] nature_man@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Probably no.

We currently have no concrete evidence to how the berserkers worked themselves up into such a frenzy, with mushrooms being just one of many theories. The myth that they used mushrooms comes from several places, one of its biggest factors being that other warriors from different cultures did use mushrooms (the Aztecs are one culture that did so I believe) before or during battle.

[–] r4venw@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

I was under the impression that it was good old fashioned battle PTSD. Iirc, berserkers were reported to sometimes attack anyone nearby in their frenzy, not just the enemy faction.

[–] mudstickmcgee@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Another popular "theory" is that they would coat their shields in mushroom, ( either, fly agaric or liberty caps, depending on who you talk to) and bite them in battle to re-up their trip