Berserk

This is coolbert:

The mind benders! To war with drugs. And they work!

Thanks to the Daily Mail English tabloid and the tip from Mike devoted readers are strongly encouraged to read the entire article.

"Rampaging Vikings were fuelled by hallucinogenic herbal tea that made them feel less pain and become 'highly aggressive' say scientists"

   * Berserkers.
   * Rampaging elite.
   * Mind-bending.
   * Stinking henbane.

"ber•serk:  Destructively or frenetically violent. Mentally or emotionally upset; deranged. Unrestrained, as with enthusiasm or appetite; wild."

Viking commando units from the times of the Middle Ages warriors drugged with substances to create a frenzied and uncontrollable rage during periods of battle. Fighting men best described in modern terms as shock troops Almost impossible to stop in combat, relatively impervious to pain and injury, deadly to the opponent in the extreme

The use of "substances" to create an enhanced combat ability hardly confined to the Viking of the Middle Ages. The Zulu also had advanced and very sophisticated pharmacology useful during a time of war and battle. Commando units of the Zulu also making liberal usage of "substances" to enhance battlefield performance.

"Shooting Up: A History of Drugs in Warfare" by Lukasz Kamie'nski

"Members of the special commandoes [Zulu], whose task was to breach the enemy lines to enable the regular troops to flow and carry out a rapid encircling maneuver called 'the horns of the bull', received a special drug that both  sharpened their senses particularly sight and hearing and enhanced concentration and alertness. They were probably given, though here we can only speculate, Amanita muscaria because the fungus occurs in Africa . . . the shaman doctors [inyanga] also had at their disposal a special remedy for the wounded . . . a potent painkiller and hallucinogenic"

"The Zulus fought with fanaticism, dedication, and fury. Armed by and fortified by their shaman doctors [inyanga] with potent intoxicants, they were into battle utterly without fear . . . Even when injured they did not stop fighting because their bodies were rendered insensitive to pain the through the use of powerful anesthetizing plant remedies."

One pill makes you happy. One pill makes you small. And the one the inyanga gives you does make you feel as if you are ten feet tall!

coolbert.