Beginning in the sixth century C.E., Scandinavia went through many cultural and societal changes. Although some of these changes became permanent, one peaked in the eleventh century and disappeared by the fifteenth century. This was the warrior class, and in Scandinavia it was known as the Hirth. The rise and fall was unique due to the time frame being so relatively short. What were the factors the brought this call into being and why did it decline?

Prior to the Viking Age, Scandinavia was a land mass containing a multitude of small kingdoms. The rulers were elected by a free citizenry, including women, and the protection of the kingdom was the responsibility of everyone that could lift a weapon. Certain kingdoms later became to feel that they were stronger and better suited to rule their neighbors. Beginning with Svea in Sweden during the sixth century, these unifications continued with Denmark in the early seventh century, and Norway in the mid ninth century.

As these kings consolidated their power, they found that the tradition of filling the army with the freemen during times of need to be insufficient for maintaining national control. The kings found it necessary to have at their command a body of warriors which could be activated almost immediately. The best solution was to expand the role, and number of the Hirthmen. Originally, a Hirth was a small group of men who acted as advisors, retainers and probably as bodyguards to a king. Thus the Hirth would be comprised of the kings closest and most trusted friends. These new national royalties expanded the Hirth to a between two and three hundred men. To become a Hirthman, a candidate needed to meet certain requirements of bravery, loyalty, and great competency in the use of more than one type of weapon.

Hirthmen acted as both national defenders who, if necessary, could be supplemented by the freemen, and as personal protectors of the king. In many cases, however, the king put his personal ambitions above the welfare of the kingdom, and used the Hirth to carry out his desires. For example, in Egil's Saga, first king Harold Finehair, and then his son Eirik Bloodhand, used members of their Hirth to attack Egil and members of his household for revenge of supposed insults.

The Hirth could also be sent on raids against other kingdoms. Harold Hardrathi, king of Norway in the eleventh century, used his Hirth to harass Svein Ulfsson, king of Denmark, and in his attempt to conquer England. These members of the Hirth who went along with the king in these types of situations were promised extravagant gifts for accomplishing the king's will. Those who opposed the king, well....

The Hirth became a privileged body. In return for their services, the king would clothe, feed, house and pay them. Those that earned the king's special favor would also be given lands to govern in the king's name. Sometimes this favor included immunity from the effects of the law.

Scandinavia had a comprehensive set of codified laws that, in theory, governed everyone in the society. Unfortunately, there was no governmental branch to enforce the laws uniformly; it was the responsibility of the parties involved to see that the judgment was carried out. Some times the king would use the Hirth to enforce the laws, especially those involving trade. If, however, a judgment was against the king or a member of the Hirth, there was little hope of justice being served. This was particularly true when berserks were involved.

The berserks were a special division within the the Hirth, men who were dedicated to Odin, the God of war and death. Like the regular members of the Hirth, the berserk was brave, loyal, and exceptionally gifted with weapons. However, their bravery bordered on recklessness, and their loyalty could be likened to blind obedience. Under the frenzied state known as the berserkerganga, they were even stronger. According to the sagas, berserks were born with a nasty disposition, and chose violence as the solution to all problems.They had no fear of death or dying, as long as they died bravely.

Prior to battle, as part of the berserk's religious rituals, a potion would be imbibed. The potion would induce a state of frenzy in which the berserk would start howling, biting his shield, and throwing of his clothes, sometimes donning a bearskin. Rushing madly at the enemy, the berserk quite often had the effect of making the opposing army run in terror. The potion so numbed the berserk's nervous system that he was able to ignore blows from weapons, even the loss of a limb, and run through walls of flame. This, coupled with the above noted attributes, made the berserk exceedingly attractive to kings as shock troops and bodyguards. It is even speculated that the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII contained berserks.

The loaning of berserks, and other warriors with reputations as exceptional fighters, to other kings was a practice used to strengthen political ties. it also helped fill the treasury of the loaning king as he could collect fees for the loaning of Hirthmen. Customarily the loaned warrior demanded first choice of the plundered items which were usually turned over to their own king.

Unfortunately, the attributes so admired and desired by kings made the berserk feared by everyone else. The combination of temperament and lack of fear often led the berserk into a life of banditry when not directly under the king's employ.

Making matters worse for the peasantry, the kings own fear of his berserks habitually led to the berserks going unpunished for acts of banditry. Folklore also has it that the berserks could shape-shift into bears or wolves, enabling them to roam the country side killing at will. It is also probable that the potion drank by the berserks before battle had a cumulative effect, one of causing a type of flashback similar to that of LSD, as the main ingredient was a hallucinogenic mushroom.

To quell this fear in his subjects, the king prevented his hirthmen, especially berserks, from committing crimes by extracting oaths of good conduct from them. Once a warrior vowed to do, or in this case not do, something, nothing could entice him to break that oath. Oaths were sacred in Norse society, and the breaking of an oath dishonored oneself and one's family. To regain that honor, if the oath breaker refused to repent, the family would do anything to rectify the broken vow, including killing the offender. Since the hirth acted as a substitute family, it would make sure that all oaths were upheld. However, for the berserks this was generally unnecessary. A berserk would kill himself rather than break the oath. Oath breaking would keep a warrior out of Valhall, the warrior's heaven.

As noted earlier, hirthmen who gained special favor with the king were granted lands to maintain. These men were frequently able to make themselves wealthy through prudent management of the land and its resources. In turn, this wealth would allow the land holder to attract men and form his own hirth, By the eleventh century there were enough of these landed men, called jarls, to raise or depose kings. One such case was King Olaf Haraldson, known also as Saint Olaf. Though his forced conversion of Norway to Christianity after the year 1000 C.E., Olaf raised the ire of the jarls in Northern Norway. These jarls raised an army, which was mostly comprised of their own hirths, and rebelled against Olaf, killing him at the battle of Stiklestad. The jarls then put Svein Knutson of Denmark on the throne of Norway. However, Svein proved to be so unpopular and incompetent that these same jarls removed Svain and put Olaf's son Magnus on the throne. Magnus reigned for many years without trouble from the jarls or his hirth, A prudent king knew how to keep his jarls happy or at least how to play one against the other.

However, this power of the hirth was short lived. By the end of the eleventh century, Christianity had spread throughout Norden. Previously, Northlanders believed they had the power to influence their destinies. Christianity taught them that their fates were "in the hands of God", giving them an "if God wills..." attitude. The Church also taught that the kings ruled by divine right and that no one but God could make or break a king. Because of these teachings the attitude of the warriors changed. With the change in attitude came a loss of power. With the loss of power, the kings began to reduce the size of the hirths and began forming armies based on those found in the kingdoms on the European continent. In the thirteenth century the hirth was reduced to being a large kings guard, and the berserks had been outlawed. By the fifteenth century, the hirth was again comprised of nothing more than the king's closest advisors and retainers, and the berserk nothing more than a character in the sagas.

The warrior class had grown in an age of pervasive violence; an age when battles were fought between individuals and countries for the slightest provocation. During this time the Northlanders became the best at warfare. However, as the societies of Europe matured and the conventions of war became more "civilized", the need for the warrior class faded. In the end, warriors found positions in the new armies or became civilians, some even retained positions of nobility. The berserks became a literary figure and an entry in the dictionary.