Editing Berserker (section)

== Early beginnings ==
It is proposed by some authors that the northern warrior tradition originated from hunting magic.<ref name=jones1997/><ref name=hallowell1925/> Three main animal [[cult]]s appear to have developed: the [[#Berserkers|cult of the bear]], [[#Ulfheðnar|the wolf]], and the [[#Jǫfurr|wild boar]].<ref name=jones1997/>

=== Germanic mercenaries in the Roman army ===
[[File:027 Conrad Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Tafel XXVII (cropped).jpg|thumb|Bearhooded Germanic warriors on [[Trajan's column]]]]
The [[bas-relief]] carvings on [[Trajan's column]] in Rome, completed in 113 AD, depict scenes of [[Trajan]]'s conquest of [[Dacia]] in 101–106 [[Anno domini|AD.]] The scenes show his Roman soldiers plus auxiliaries and allies from Rome's border regions, including tribal warriors from both sides of the [[Rhine]]. There are warriors depicted as barefoot, bare-chested, bearing weapons and helmets that are associated with the [[Germanic peoples|Germani]].{{sfn|Speidel|2004|pp=3–7}}

Scene 36 on the column shows some of these warriors standing together, with some wearing bearhoods and some wearing wolfhoods. This is the only potential record of Germanic bear-warriors and wolf-warriors fighting together until 872 AD, with [[Thórbiörn Hornklofi]]'s description of the [[battle of Hafrsfjord]], when they fought together for King [[Harald Fairhair]] of Norway.{{sfn|Speidel|2004|pp=3–7}}

=== Migration Period depictions ===
In 1639 and 1734 respectively, two vastly decorated horns made of sheet gold, the [[Golden Horns of Gallehus]], were discovered in Southern Jutland, Denmark. As part of its decoration, the first horn, the larger of the two, depicts two animal headed men facing each other, armed with what appears to be a [[sickle]] and a wood-splitting [[axe]]. Dated to the early 5th century, these depictions could represent something related to berserkers.

In the spring of 1870, four [[Vendel era]] cast-bronze dies, the [[Torslunda plates]], were found by Erik Gustaf Pettersson and Anders Petter Nilsson in a [[cairn]] on the lands of the farm No 5 Björnhovda in Torslunda parish, Öland, Sweden, one of them showing what appears to be a berserker ritual.<ref name="MedievHistoriesOdin">{{cite web|last1=MedievHistories|title=Odin from Levide|url=http://www.medievalhistories.com/odin-levide/|website=Medieval Histories|access-date=1 December 2017|date=12 June 2014|archive-date=3 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703054514/http://www.medievalhistories.com/odin-levide/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=stjerna1903/>

In 1887, the graves of two 7th century [[Alemanni]] men were found during construction work in the immediate vicinity of the St. Gallus Church in the Gutenstein district of the city of [[Sigmaringen]], Germany. One of the graves contained, among other things, a silver sword scabbard, the {{Interlanguage link|Gutenstein scabbard|de|Schwertscheide von Gutenstein}}. Highly ornate, it features a warrior figure with a wolf's head, holding a sword and a spear. It is thought this depicts an ''ulfheðinn'' (wolf warrior), as pre-Christian Central Europe was part of the same tradition as the Norse.{{sfn|Price|2019|p=308}}

Other animal headed figures have been found, such as an antlered figure on the [[Gundestrup cauldron]], found on northern Jutland, Denmark, in 1891, which has been dated from 200 BC to 300 AD.

<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align:left" heights="150">
File:Gallehus horns, animal head characters.jpg|Animal headed warriors on the [[Golden Horns of Gallehus|Gallehus horns]].{{sfn|Price|2019|p=308}}
File:Torslundaplåtarna 1995 (618349 HST).jpg|An animal headed warrior and a one eyed character on one of the [[Torslunda plates]].
File:Wolfskrieger (cropped).jpg|A wolf headed warrior on the {{Interlanguage link|Gutenstein scabbard|de|Schwertscheide von Gutenstein}}.
File:Gundestrupkedlen- 00054 (cropped).jpg|An antlered figure on the [[Gundestrup cauldron]].
</gallery>