Viking Berserker vs Japanese Samurai - Who Would Win?
it's a battle that's long set the
internet ablaze
the viking berserker versus the fabled
samurai
rage and brute strength versus
disciplined skill
which ancient warrior would have really
come out on top if these two near
mythical characters had ever actually
met
in battle vikings have earned themselves
a fierce reputation
thanks to the terror they sowed across
christian lands during the early middle
ages
yet even amongst the fierce norse there
was one group of elite warriors whose
exploits would become the stuff of
legend
the mere existence of berserkers and
their abilities
have long been debated by historians but
archaeological evidence proves that
berserkers and their deeds in combat
were more than just fables it's believed
that berserkers practiced a form of
shamanism that worshipped great animal
spirits
the most prominent of which were the
wild boar the wolf and the bear
the greatest of these was the bear cult
with its devotees foregoing the
traditional chainmaille of a norse
warrior and instead cladding themselves
in thick bear fur
often a bear hood was worn as well
giving the impression that the berserker
was more beast than man
and if looks weren't enough to fool an
observer then the behavior of a
berserker certainly could
those fearsome warriors were often
deployed as shock troops and at the very
front of a fighting formation
because in the heat of battle they would
often not distinguish between
friend and foe this state of frenzy
known as berserker gong turned the
berserker into a fearless rage-filled
primal force of nature
and it was said that while berserking
these warriors were unkillable
berserkers were almost certainly
killable while in their frenzy state but
it turns out that there might be a lot
of truth to the tales of greatly
increased physical strength
and resistance to pain studies of modern
soldiers in combat discovered some
individuals entering a berserker-like
state and some scientists believe that
this self-induced rage
might have been a form of ptsd
archaeologists have also discovered in
the graves of well-known berserkers the
seeds of a plant known to be poisonous
which in the right doses can inflict a
psychological state on the sufferer very
similar to mindless rage a berserker was
said to have experienced
now historians may believe that
berserkers might have reached these
states of rage fueled hysteria
through a combination of drugs
meditation and ritual
preparing themselves for the battle to
come and becoming instinct-driven
killing machines
accounts of berserker rage is legendary
and even the byzantine emperor
constantine vii
makes mention of norse warriors entering
these frenzied rage states and achieving
feats of strength
no ordinary man could match scandinavian
kings have left us plenty of records of
their use of berserkers as shock troops
and there is documented evidence of a
single norse warrior
believed to be a raging berserker
holding up an entire
english army during the battle of
stamford bridge slaying countless
soldiers until finally killed
a common attribute of berserkers that's
repeated enough time to give historians
reason to suspect it was based on truth
rather than mere legend
as the berserker's near immunity to
bladed weapons and fire
one account tells of a berserker who
entered a frenzied state
and devoured fiery coals rushed through
fires and then at last turned on his own
men
the swords of the warriors he faced were
said to have little effect
and it wasn't until a crushing blow
landed by a hammer that the berserker
was at last slain
as the accounts of their near immunity
to bladed weapons and fire are repeated
over and over again
one has to wonder if there isn't some
truth to the tale eventually berserkers
would meet their end as the norse
converted to christianity
and berserkers whom had long been seen
as being lawless with no
loyalty and sex offenders were made
illegal at around the same time that
berserkers came onto the scene on the
other side of the world
a warrior cast known as samurai began
making their own rise to fame
the early samurai arose from the private
armies of wealthy landowners and the
samurai gradually evolved into a very
similar role as that of a european
knight
an elite warrior who served the rich and
powerful while modern romanticism has
painted the samurai as wise and
honorable warriors the truth is
that samurai were often no more noble
than their european knight counterparts
fighting for whoever held the most coin
eventually the samurai would come to be
civic leaders of sorts under the
tokugawa shogunate
when japan experienced the longest
stretch of peace 250 years without
internal conflict
samurai were encouraged to be more civil
and embrace principles of confucianism
with its emphasis on loyalty and duty
during the peace of the tokugawa
shogunate samurais became less the power
and money-hungry brutes of the past
and something closer to our modern idea
of what a samurai was
with a focus on discipline and the
development of the bushido code which
called for frugality
kindness honesty and care for one's
family as japan opened its borders to
the modern world the samurai class at
last came to an end
used to being paid by the government for
their services as warriors as japan
moved toward creating a modern national
army and abolished feudalism
the samurai were reduced to receiving a
government stipend of greatly reduced
value
this prompted several samurai rebellions
all of which were quickly put down
no matter what tom cruise's last samurai
wants you to believe
the truth is that the samurai rebellions
were in the end about their own best
financial interests
and not about keeping some noble and
largely fictional lifestyle alive
despite their checkered past though
samurai were known to be skilled
warriors
just like their european knight
counterparts samurai were often the most
skilled of available warriors
and made a name for themselves in battle
so that they could be hired by local
lords
a samurai's training focused on the
spear the bow the katana
and hand-to-hand combat and their strict
warrior code focused on never showing
fear in the face of an enemy there's
little doubt that amongst the ranks of
ancient warriors the samurai were a
fearsome foe for any opponent
so how do our two combatants a berserker
and a samurai really match up against
each other
and who would have won in combat first
let's start by comparing the two
warriors physically
armor measurements from the 16th century
show that samurai armor was typically
sized for men around five foot three to
five foot
five or about 1.6 meters while europeans
of the same time period ranged in height
between six feet and six foot five
inches
or about 1.9 meters this already gives
both the height and weight advantage to
the berserker and with a significantly
greater height than a samurai a
berserker would have also had
significantly greater weapon reach
a critical advantage in hand-to-hand
melee combat japanese samurai trained
extensively in the art of combat and in
later ages split their training between
religious rituals and martial arts
the title and practice of a berserker
was often handed down along family lines
with entire clans of berserkers fighting
together caught up in their rage however
even training could be lethal for a
berserker while samurai conducted far
safer and more civilized training
sessions
in battle a berserker and samurai of
similar repute
would have both been hardened combat
veterans men whose entire lives were
dedicated to warfare
and the category of training were not
declaring a winner but a tie
berserkers used many of the most widely
available weapons in europe at the time
making use of swords axes lances and
spears
due to an abundance of iron in europe
berserkers enjoyed the benefit of
extremely well made and durable weapons
however their battle rages encourage
them to get up close and personal with
an enemy eschewing weapons such as
slings and bows
a battle mad berserker might have rushed
an enemy and opened an attack with a
thrown lance
then closed the distance to deliver
brutal blows utilizing a heavy axe
for defense a berserker made use of the
large and heavy kite shield
a triangular shield that offered great
protection from the front
though took a very strong man to wield
effectively while often being depicted
as fighting naked a berserker was often
in fact clad in thick animal skins but
for went the use of traditional viking
chainmail
despite being most famously known for
the katana a samurai sword was in fact
his last ditch weapon
instead samurai preferred to fight with
bow and arrow and spears
and were greatly skilled with either the
yumi great bow was one of the greatest
bows ever crafted
and offered far greater penetration
power than those european longbows at
greater ranges
a samurai's katana despite the many
myths and legends surrounding the
weapons was actually a far inferior
weapon to most
european swords due to the scarcity of
iron in japan
katanas were not just expensive and thus
rare but created to be much shorter than
the average european longsword
at 25 inches katana suffered from a
serious lack of reach
and unlike european weapons which were
double-edged katanas only had a single
cutting edge
their short length and curved
construction also made them very poorly
designed for stabbing
and a samurai would only resort to his
katana if all other weapons had failed
him
for defense the samurai wore what is
without a doubt some of the most
fashionable armor
ever created to protect the chest a dew
made up of either iron or leather plate
was worn
kusazuri hanging on iron or leather
plates protected the lower body and
upper legs
so the large rectangular plates
protected the soldiers
cote or armored sleeves protected the
hands and often extended all the way up
to the shoulder
the kabuto made of iron or leather
plates protected the head
with mungu or leather facial armor
helping to keep the top heavy kabuto
firmly
attached on the samurai's head lastly
haidate and sunayate protected the
thighs and shins
in all the samurai was extremely well
protected from attack
in terms of weapons and defense these
two warriors come equipped with vastly
different capabilities
while both men used the spear it would
have been the primary weapon for a
samurai who would fall back onto his
katana only as a last resort
however long before coming into spear
range a berserker would have to face off
against the powerful yumibo
a daunting proposition indeed once in
close quarters however the samurai's
armor becomes more of a hindrance than a
benefit
while the lightly armored berserker
remains far more agile and better
retains their stamina
with samurai armor weighing up to a
staggering 55 pounds
if the battle doesn't end soon the
physically smaller and weaker samurai
would quickly be overwhelmed by his far
larger stronger and lightly armored
opponent while both warriors would have
the use of the spear the berserker has
the advantage here thanks to the greater
reach and his large size
once spears are discarded the samurai is
at an even greater disadvantage due to
his exceptionally short katana
further adding to the reach advantage
enjoyed by the berserker the katana
would also fare extremely poorly against
the berserker
while katanas were indeed exceptionally
sharp that keen edge was also
extremely delicate which is the main
reason why samurai were not trained to
use their sword for parrying enemy
attack
as the repeated blows would dull the
blade then there's the repeated claims
that berserkers were immune to bladed
weapons
and only brought down by crushing blows
such as mesas hammers and the like
this is very likely due to the thick
animal skins they wore with thick
leather doing an
impressive job of protecting from edged
weapons while the samurai could not
afford to destroy his weapon's single
bladed edge by blocking the berserker's
blows
the berserker would freely be able to
use his to overpower the relatively
weaker katana
having a second sharpened edge on his
sword to attack with the samurai would
also have to contend with the large kite
shield a berserker would wield a
formidable barrier for such a short
weapon to get past
so which warrior would win if the
samurai could begin his attack at range
and utilize the powerful yumibo
there's a chance he could be able to
kill the berserker before the fight came
down to hand-to-hand combat
however the samurai would still have to
contend with the berserker's large
shield
not an easy feat even for a skilled
marksman once in hand-to-hand combat
however all the advantages are on the
berserker's side
the physical ability to resist pain only
adds to the advantages that the
berserker already enjoys
with his greater physical reach greater
maneuverability over his heavily armed
opponent
large shield that a samurai must get
past and better designed
and greater quality hand-to-hand weapons
in this case brute's strength overcomes
skill
easily though the berserker still
remains critically vulnerable at range
due to his own lack of arranged weapon
a samurai's best bet would be to simply
flee and use his bow as often as
possible
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