Among the wild tribes of ancient Europe, some warriors became terrors of the night, cloaking themselves in shadow and ritual until their enemies believed they faced demons rather than men. The Harii warrior painted himself black and struck under the cover of darkness, turning the battlefield into a waking nightmare. The ulfhedinn, the wolf-warrior of Scandinavia, fought in a trance-like fury, howling like a beast to shatter his foes’ courage. Both sought to unmake the enemy’s will to resist before the gruesome end, but in a head-to-head battle, which of these masters of psychological warfare is superior? Who is DEADLIEST?
Harii Warrior[]
| “ | They choose dark nights for battle, and, by the dread and gloomy aspect of their death-like host, strike terror into the foe, who can never confront their strange and almost infernal appearance.
— The Germania by Tacitus
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A Harii warrior was a soldier of the Harii, a Germanic people that existed in the 1st century. Virtually all existing knowledge about the Harii them derives from a brief passage in The Germania, a treatise by the Roman historian Tacitus that examines the geographic and cultural composition of the Germanic world. According to Tacitus, the Harii were infamous for their ferocity, even when compared to other Germanic tribes, whom the Romans considered to be barbaric and savage. What distinguished a Harius from any other Germanic warrior was his practice of conducting raids under the cover of night, a tactic enhanced by their use of black dye. By coloring both their shields and bodies black, the Harii could blend into the darkness, allowing them to covertly ambush their foes. This tactic also had a psychological component: their ghost-like appearance was intended to instill terror in the hearts of their enemies.
- Throwing Axe: Germanic infantry carried several missile weapons to use before close combat began. In eastern Germania, the axe was the most popular missile. Even if the axe did not land blade-first, it could still cause injury through the iron axehead's mass alone. Harii fighters likely did not throw all their axes in one volley, instead retaining some to use in melee.
- Framea: The type of spear used by the Germanic warrior was known as a framea. Frameae were characterized by their narrow iron spearheads, shorter than other contemporary examples, but just as sharp. According to Tacitus, the framea could function effectively both for thrusting and for throwing, which suggests that its total length did not exceed approximately two meters.
- Eastern Germanic Shield: Most Germanic warriors protected themselves with only a shield. The tribes of eastern Germania, including the Harii, used round shields, probably about one meter in diameter, with iron bosses prominent enough to use as a striking weapon. These shields were of simple construction, made out of wooden planks without leather or iron reinforcements.
Ulfhedinn[]
| “ | His men rushed forwards without armor, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild oxen, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon them.
— The Ynglinga Saga by Snorri Sturluson
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An ulfhedinn was a type of berserker, a Viking said to enter a trance-like state in battle. While berserkers were commonly associated with bears, the ulfhednar were instead linked with wolves. In combat, Ulfhednar are described as shaking violently and being seized by a furious rage, granting them the ferocity of the wolf. They were believed to acquire unnatural strength and to be impervious to weapons. Such displays had a psychological effect on opponents, making the ulfhednar, like other berserkers, highly valued as shock troops. Some medieval Icelandic sagas claim that Harald Fairhair, a possibly apocryphal Norwegian king, employed ulfhednar as his naval vanguard during the Battle of Hafrsfjord in the late 9th century. The precise nature of the ulfhednar remains uncertain. It is not known how they induced their battle-trance; proposed explanations range from bouts of religious ecstasy, to the use of narcotics, to a form of self-induced hysteria.
- Viking Sword: As high-status warriors given a place of pride at the vanguard, ulfhednar could likely afford swords, prized possessions in Viking culture. Swords of the early Viking Age were one-handed, double-edged weapons roughly a meter in length, forged from pattern-welded steel. They typically featured a broad fuller and a minimal crossguard.
- Winged Spear: Viking spears were made of shafts of ash between two and three meters long, topped with elongated, leaf-shaped iron heads ranging from twenty to sixty centimeters long. Many spearheads had a pair of lugs affixed to the socket; these "wings" could be used to parry blows or to hook and pull an opponent’s weapon or shield. These spears could also be thrown if necessary.
- Viking Shield: Although berserkers were famed for fighting without armor, like most Vikings, they used round shields. A typical shield was made of fir or poplar, relatively lightweight woods, and measured just under a meter across. At its center was an iron or steel boss over the handgrip. Shields were often reinforced with leather facings or an iron band around the rim.
X-Factors[]
Experience
As it was for most Germanic tribes in the 1st century, warfare for the Harii was a regular, culturally ingrained practice. Neighboring tribes fought each other for plunder, glory, or vengeance so routinely that every able-bodied Harii man bore arms, ready at any time to join a raid or repel one. Raids were typically brief affairs; attackers sought to end things quickly with one decisive battle. These conflicts were rarely large in scale, however, as the Harii lived far from the massive armies of the expanding Roman Empire. Even so, a Harii man would spend a substantial portion of his life in combat, becoming a seasoned veteran ready to instruct his sons in the art of war.
Before Harald Fairhair unified the realm, Norway consisted of numerous petty kingdoms locked in a constant struggle for dominance. Kings raided each other to seize land and thralls or simply assert their power. At the same time, Viking expeditions pushed across the North Sea and beyond, extending their influence through raids and conquest. Whether fighting fellow Norwegians at home or joining far-flung Viking expeditions, the ulfhednar and other berserkers became some of the most battle-hardened warriors of the age. As they served primarily as shock troops in the vanguard, they were routinely thrown into the most chaotic parts of every engagement.
Tactics
Germanic tribes close to the Rhine were forced to adapt their tactics in response to Rome's expansion, but the Harii lived far from the Roman frontier, and their tactics remained generally unsophisticated. They typically fought in close formations, covering each other with overlapping shields as the men with the best equipment and most experience led the charge. The men behind added weight to the charge and offered support with missiles. Most famously, the Harii coated their equipment and their bodies in black dye before attacking at night, alloweing them to blend into the dark and hide their movements while unnerving enemies with their ghostly appearance.
Ulfhednar were usually employed as shock troops, positioned at the vanguard of Viking war bands so they could lead the charge into the enemy lines. Their role was to harness their aggression to shatter opposing formations both physically and psychologically. While in a state of berserkergang, ulfhednar were said to possess superhuman strength and an uncanny resistance to pain. These claims are certainly exaggerated, and the berserkers were as human as any other warrior, and their famed rages were most likely the result of adrenaline heightened and focused through ritual. Even so, these stories speak to the intimidating intensity with which berserkers fought.
Training
The Harii, like most Germanic peoples, were part-time warriors and thus likely did not undergo any formal training. As children, they learned combat skills through mentorship from older male relatives and participation in communal sports and games like running, wrestling, and throwing axes and spears. These activities familiarized young Harii with weapons while also fostering teamwork. The regular labor of farming and hunting kept them physically strong and used to hardship. On his first campaign, a young Harius would stand at the rear close to his family, observing and imitating their actions. Once ready for the front lines, lived experience became his teacher.
Before the unification of Norway, the Vikings of the region were organized into clans. Within each clan, warriors imparted their skills to younger males, often starting in their early teens or even younger, through a mix of oral tradition and formal exercises. Clans also engaged in regular semi-martial games, both internally and against neighboring groups, which served to further accustom youths to the handling of weapons. The phenomenon of berserkergang was believed to be hereditary, and the sons of ulfhednar would likely be taught by their fathers in techniques for cultivating the state of adrenaline and religious ecstasy that brought about their notorious frenzies.
Notes[]
- The Harii warrior is from the 1st century while the ulfhedinn is from Norway in the 9th century.
- The battle takes place at nighttime on the outskirts of a Norwegian village. During a Harii raid, a vanguard of twelve ulfhednar unite to retaliate, finding themselves in combat against twelve isolated Harii.