berserk的词源
英文词源
- berserk
- berserk: [19] Sir Walter Scott appears to be responsible for introducing this word to the English language. He mentions it in a footnote to his novel The pirate 1822, adopting it (in the form berserkar) from the Icelandic berserkr ‘frenzied Norse warrior’. Its etymology is not altogether clear. Its second syllable represents serkr ‘coat, shirt’ (a word English used to have, as sark: cutty sark meant ‘short shirt’), but the first is disputed.
Scott took it to mean ‘bare’ (which would have been Icelandic berr), and in fact the anglicized form baresark was quite commonly used in the mid 19th century; the plausible-sounding notion underlying this is that the original berserkr was so called because in his battle-crazed frenzy he tore off his armour and fought in his shirt-sleeves – ‘bare-shirted’. However, 20th-century etymologists have tended to prefer the theory that ber- is ‘bear’, representing Icelandic bern-, a by-form of bjorn ‘bear’.
The concept of warriors dressing themselves in animals’ skins is an ancient one, found in many mythologies. The modern use of the word as an adjective, meaning ‘in a violent frenzy’, appears to date from the third quarter of the 19th century.
- berserk (adj.)
- 1844, from berserk (n.) "Norse warrior," by 1835, an alternative form of berserker (1822), a word which was introduced by Sir Walter Scott, from Old Norse berserkr (n.) "raging warrior of superhuman strength;" probably from *ber- "bear" + serkr "shirt," thus literally "a warrior clothed in bearskin." Thus not from Old Norse berr "bare, naked."
Thorkelin, in the essay on the Berserkir, appended to his edition of the Krisini Saga, tells that an old name of the Berserk frenzy was hamremmi, i.e., strength acquired from another strange body, because it was anciently believed that the persons who were liable to this frenzy were mysteriously endowed, during its accesses, with a strange body of unearthly strength. If, however, the Berserk was called on by his own name, he lost his mysterious form, and his ordinary strength alone remained. ["Notes and Queries," Dec. 28, 1850]
The adjectival use probably is from such phrases as berserk frenzy, or as a title (Arngrim the Berserk).
中文词源
berserk（狂暴的）：北欧神话中的“熊皮战士”
在北欧神话中，有一种特别凶猛的战士，北欧语称作berserkr，由ber（bear，熊）+serkr（shirt，衬衫）构成，字面意思是“身披熊皮的人”。传说这些战士受到主神奥丁的庇佑，拥有熊的力量，出战前往往会饮用烈酒或致幻蘑菇，上战场后陷入极端兴奋的忘我状态，没有恐惧、疼痛之感，身上仅穿轻铠甲甚至赤裸上身，疯狂杀敌至力竭而亡。
英语单词berserk（狂暴的）和berserker（狂暴战士）就是从北欧语berserkr产生的。
berserk：[bə'zɜːk; -s-] adj.狂暴的，狂怒的adv.狂暴地，狂怒地
berserker： [bə'sɜːkə] n.狂暴战士adj.狂暴的
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：berserk 词源，berserk 含义。
ber, 同bear, 熊。serk, 同sartorial, 缝制。原指熊皮制成的衣服。
从中世纪前至中世纪，在北欧民间一直流传着人称berserkr的武士们的英雄故事。这些武士不穿传统的甲胄，只披熊皮外套。挪威语ber相当于英语bear（熊），serkr相当于coat（外套），故berserkr 一词即含“熊皮外套”之意。 19世纪初这些故事传人英国后，berserkr也同时借入英语，作berserker，汉译作“熊皮武士”。据认为，是英国苏格兰作家司各特（Sir Walter Scott，1771 - 1832）将该词引进英语的，首次见于他在1822年出版的小说《缚盗》（The Pirate）的一个脚注里。由于这些武士在作战前先喝烈性洒或吃致幻蘑菇，以使性情狂暴，并激发杀戮欲，因而无所畏惧，虽然不穿甲胄，不带武器，但总能置敌于死地。从berserker逆构而成的形容词berserk也因此被赋予了“狂暴的”、“狂怒的”、“发疯的”等义。berserker本身还往往转义为“狂暴的人”或“狂怒的人”。
