a possible dance of the Berserkers.


Watching the processional Bear Dance in Comănești, Bacău County, Romania, doesn't strike one as just a winter parade to drive out evil spirits. The men & women dressed in actual bear pelts adorned with oversized red tassels dance to shamanistic skin drums, wood flutes & whistles, pausing at certain intervals to make a mysterious trilling noise, lead by a masked old man, and subject to a call/response chant, has all the earmarks of a ritual. With the Indo-European lingual taboo on the actual word for bear, the migrant Roma who inspired this tradition first using real bears, and the serious to fierce demeanor of the dancers, recalls the idea that the Berserker may have been a formal entranced dance that lead to a legendary invulnerability in battle, and that perhaps this dance could be a remnant of the Berserkergang state at work.
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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

Comments

  1. Guillermo the IVthNovember 20, 2017 at 2:25 PM

    comanesti bacau: Do you know of a translation of this parade's chant?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guillermo the IVthNovember 20, 2017 at 2:32 PM

    Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi: Read your article on this, and wondered if you or a contact in the bear club has a translation of their chant?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Guillermo the IVthJuly 26, 2018 at 7:52 PM

    Kara Lynn: And an amazing survival of a Bear Cult procession. I would so do this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kara LynnJuly 26, 2018 at 8:33 PM

    Guillermo the IVth this looks so fun!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Guillermo the IVthSeptember 24, 2018 at 12:57 PM

    Kara Lynn: Then I recalled your red tassel earrings ... .

    ReplyDelete

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