Speaking as a person with a degree in medical anthropology, I can confidently say that humans love doing funny things to their brains. 😄

As an old lady I assure you, all my plants are for fiber and my tasty liquor is medical. Now run along Sonny, Granny needs her medicine.

Now I'm picturing Vikings hanging out by a fire, getting high and reciting poetry like a bunch of dark age hippies. :)

Didn't expect this week's history lesson to make me sad about berserkers with PTSD, but then again I never know what to expect.

In some native cultures, including mine, we use peyote and sweat lodges for vision ceremonies. I had mine when I was 15

As an 80s and 90s kid in the US we had D.A.R.E. which told us not to do drugs most of us had never heard of until they told us about them.

archaeology student here: Delphi is built on top of a natural source of ethylene. simply put, the oracle was huffing glue

PTSD paired with spontaneous analgesia, AKA battlefield bravery, ,a condition were people feel no pain for sometime after suffering an injury, would make a Berserker formidable enough without the need for any drugs. Having experienced spontaneous analgesia on more than one occasion I can say it would be bl**dy useful in a battle.

So we’re not talking about a magical future seeing vulva? No just me who understands it every time as vulva? Okay cool 😂

Thought from an old broad: the old broad with the staff might have wanted cannabis seeds for her old joints.

I think my favourite anti-drugs slogan was South Dakota's 'Meth: We're On It'. It just... It just.

As Detritus says: "Slab: Jus' say 'AarrghaarrghpleeassennononoUGH'"

I was always told the berserkers used liberty cap as their drug of choice, they obviously knew the fly agaric would give a bad trip ... Your theory of PTSD and henbane is more realistic - as it should be! You are the historian here ;)

Trippy old lady who gets high by the fire. Ok, got my retirement plans ready!

Jimmy: “Henbane makes you see things.” *camera goes out of focus and starts zooming in* Jimmy: “So was she taking henbane?” Me: “dunno, but I think your camera might be.” 😜

Jimmy: *Goes on major Downer about very likely PTSD in veteran Vikings* ....ANYWHO HOW BOUT THEM DRUGS EH??

I have tried taking henbane for shamanistic/pagan ritual purposes, and in low amounts it has the potential to make you quite aggressive and reckless without causing significant impairment beyond minor far-sightedness/blurred vision. It can also raise blood temperature and greatly reduces sweating which could come in handy when fighting in blistering cold. Overall, I would recommend it as a potential performance enhancer in battle only, but I do not recommend fighting a battle anyway, lol. Peace.

Henbane sounds like a magic sword you use to slay chickens.

The stories of old ladies buried with hemp seed amuses me, mostly because I grew up in an area where a lot of old ladies spent their golden years feeding birds in their gardens with birdseed. A lot of these old ladies accidentally grow these lovely plants with pretty, palm-shaped leaves. The plants get tall and full very quickly, and, for some reason, local police occasionally get very curious about which garden center sold them non-industrial, female hemp plants. Maybe the volva were growing rope. Maybe they were growing their own weed. Maybe they were feeding birds. Ornithomancy is a thing.

Love your description of Viking warriors and specifically berserkers, so often people find interest in the romanticized Viking image and honestly I would like to see a truer representation of these professional soldiers. It would be so much more interesting, exploring a more human story of those Vikings. Great Video btw, enjoyed it very much

The next three videos I watched after this all had ads for Volvo and every time the emblem popped up I got an extra giggle. Thank you!

Wait, you mean there aren't giant ants in the desert that poop gold? My life is a lie...

Winners don't do drugs? But I wanted to establish my own Danelaw, here, in México, on drugs.

I love your seeking truth about Vikings and your thinking about PTSD as a real issue/ good stuff ❗️

If it's reasonable to think she might be taking hemp seeds into the next life in order to grow hemp for the fibre, maybe she was taking hemp seeds into the next life in order to grow them for ritual purposes.

Animorphs?! The one that turned into a falcon! Also - magic mushrooms? They get you moderately happy in a forest so I hear...

Herodotus is 110% bulls**t Had me on the floor 😂

Thank you for yet again dispelling myths about these people. Your highlighting of the Berserkers probably just being professional soldiers hit home. I have met a few people from my time in the military that feel they are only at home while deployed, and feel that they have nothing to live for at "home". Great videos and wonderful educational content! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!

Phrase of the week reminds me of the Groucho Marx quote: Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read

70s era anti drug meme - “This is your brain on drugs” video clip of egg frying.

Jimmy: Don't use drugs. Me, tablet dispenser in hand, about to take my first round of medication: Um...

Gently high in a forest with sleipnir stories sounds delightful! Haha

I can't speak for ancient Scandinavians, but I do know that we've got incontrovertible evidence of me smoking a bowl whilst watching this. It seemed appropriate at the time.

My high school had these anti-drug posters kicking about that had ‘if you don’t know what it is, just take half” printed on them😂

Hey Jimmy, we have a very similar phrase here in Germany. We just say "dunkel wie in einer Kuh" (dark like in a cow) or "Kuhnacht" (cow night). The explanation I heard is that the whole thing is not about a cow, but about a Kau/ Koje (which is a old Germanic word for a prison).

Is it wrong, that I might be considering getting a völva staff and finding a way to have it snuck into my coffin, just to mess with future historians? "This is odd... These staffs seem to fall out of use for about a millenium, but then start showing up again in the 21st century. And they seem to have been much more widespread in the 21st century." I wonder if the teenage Vikings who knew people who used henbane would have tried to sneak some, while the user was too busy tripping balls/convening with the gods. Not that I've ever heard modern teenagers do something similar with modern intoxicants, nope....

Did you know the original Pilsner beers were brewed with dried henbane stalks, leaves and flowers? Also have you checked out the Experiences under the Henbane section on Erowid, because it's a fascinating collection of anecdotes about people trying to get high off of henbane and succeeding in some ways (it's surprisingly hit or miss with the seeds, compared to brewed drink with leaves added, be it an herbal tea or something more boozy). It's a pretty easy plant to germinate, but keeping it alive to get big enough to harvest a decent amount of leaf material takes some time; Due to freak weather situations, I've yet to grow plants quite big enough to harvest more than pretty flowers from, which I do not consume. I'll keep trying; I rather like them. But yeah don't consume the roots. Just don't. The rest of the plant can be cooked or brewed into non poisonousness.

It makes sense, as we know so many other cultures used various substances for religious or coming of age stuff. Also, another theory I have heard for the Delphi Oracle was actually gasses seeping in through cracks in the earth in her caves. Not sure if it has been debunked, but I always thought it was a cool idea.

Stinking henbane sounds like a Shakespearean insult. I love it. Great video!

good news about the scythians, we have archaeological evidence of hemp seeds for drug purposes. my favourite are the little personal hemp-burning kits some people have been buried with :)

So now I feel the need to ask: How much hen bane do you need to plead with 'Pissinia', goddess of sudden inconvenient showers of rain.

More fascinating information that I didn't know I needed. Once again, you entertain, enlighten and engage. Bravo, Jimmy.

"This is your brain" - image of an egg "This is your brain on drugs" - video of egg cracked into a hot pan and frying. Somehow, that one stuck with me. Thanks for another fun one, Jimmy. Take care.

Lol, coming from the famous Humboldt county, I always love a good historical drug discussion! The bit at the end about like. Viking lads getting a liddol high and telling fun stories really reminds me of some of the folks I went to high school with, getting just a liddol high and having funny arguments about memes or like whether lava is wet. Anyways, I don't like having them myself, but the history of drugs is just. Really fascinating. Also, for silly anti-drug phrases, you missed D.A.R.E.! I got handed so many random dare erasers in like 6th grade on bad field trips. And that was a very fun phrase of the week, I'll definitely be saying that in the future!

in iceland there are and have been a type of mushrooms growing that if dried and eaten/put in a tea it would cause hallucinations and an Adrenalin rush

Enjoyed this even more than usual! Thank you.

I love the fact that you keep showing that Volvo logo and crossing it over😂🤣

A great subject plus marvelous editing. 👍 I enjoyed it very much

As a kid in the 90s in Canada the anti drug slogan I remember is "Don't put it in your mouth." The advert use to scary me and well still kind a does.

Anybody who thinks berserkers took amanita before a battle has clearly never taken amanita. Amanita, as you said can cause stomach cramps, especially if fresh, less so if dried, but it also makes you lethargic and uncoordinated. Vomiting, sleepy and clumsy is really not how you want to go into battle if you want to have a chance of surviving that battle. Uh, don't ask how I know amanita makes you lethargic and uncoordinated.

Great video Jimmy!

Being experienced, psychedelics are absolutely a lovely way to hang out with the gods 😂

This has funny editing and an interesting subject matter! Great job on this video!

Another amazing video!

The henbane bit I can agree with 100% but as someone who's taken different species of psychedelic mushrooms multiple times, I can tell you from experience your mindset can change so quickly and your senses can too, like for example your sense of touch. Not only are amanitas not as trippy as what people make them out to be, especially when compared to other mushrooms like liberty caps for example but you can also still move the same as you would when you're sober, it mainly just changes your perception of reality in the sense of it being mainly a mental high so if you think you're the biggest baddest guy on the planet and you've got people around you encouraging you to convince yourself of that then you will genuinely think that while you're tripping, and if you're a raging religious fanatic(by modern standards) like the berserkir and ulfheðnar were, who were part of a Pagan sect or cult dedicated to Óðinn then yeah I can see how amanitas may have been used by berserkir and ulfheðnar. Plus as far as toxicity goes there's been multiple cases around the world of people finding was of making amanitas less toxic so people can consume them, from drinking urine of a person or animal that has already consumed amanitas to brewing them with alcohol. Also not all psychedelic experiences are like what you see in anti-drug propaganda and in pop culture films.

The Animorphs graphic made me grin like a loon :D ("he's only human when he wants to be") I love the thought that the use of hallucinatory plants may have contributed to the mythology they (Viking culture) created.

In my ancient greek magic and religion class last year I learned theres also a theory that the fissures in the ground around the temple of apollo with the oracle of delphi that release natural gasses were altering her perception in high doses

This was so interesting and fun! Thank you

the "getting slightly high and telling tales of Sleipner" made me laugh because yup. some people getting high and talking about magical horse sounds 100% like a human thing.

I recall seeing a history channel show (before it turned to aliens and WWII as it's entire focus) and one of the archeologists was theorizing about the Delphi Oracle chamber being over a natural vent of gas. It was quite a few years ago but I believe they said it was ethelyne or ether... They also mentioned with that theory the reason the Oracle stopped was an earthquake caused the vent to close up

I really love how you explain things, specially haw much you avoid absolutes. Not even when one is certain about something one can't be absolute, there are always exceptions and human beings love to be exceptions, that's how we progress.

All I can think of now is the RiffTrax of Drugs are Like That which has lived rent-free in my head for many years. (Drugs are also like weasels, celery, and the presidency of Millard Filmore.)

Thank you for sharing

So glad you went with the car picture!

I need a volva staff for reasons o.o

Berserkers probably got pumped up the same way footballers do today, except in an old way, which has a bit more ritual and a bit more rhythm/henbane smoke/chanting/etc. You can put yourself into an altered state using physical activity, or rhythmic music like drums, or a certain kind of rhythmic breathing. And it would’ve been old tradition by that point, related to culture, and religion.

I remember a theory I heard years ago about the Oracle at Delphi also being that, since it's around a cave system, that it could be volcanic gases, CO2, and/or CO venting out through the cave that could have contributed to the visions. There's nothing quite like toeing the line of death and drugs to make the gods speak to you haha

Stinking henbane would be a great heavy metal band name. Tobias was my favourite Animorph

PTSD, and other effects of historical battle are very fascinating to me! It's so easy to imagine that this started with shell-shock and modern warfare. But why would it? Most historical battlefields maybe weren’t the hellhole we imagine WWI to habe been. But for some people or some times when it went from: The two shield-walls, a few javelins, some close up scary fighting. Some of your friends getting seriously hurt but mostly making it, and then you or the enemy running off. The event you expected, that you knew how to handle and talk about. Into something else, something people wouldn't speak of or spin into verse, that must have have had the same effect on people then as now. Interpreting Berserkers as experienced warriors who sometimes did incredible acts of bravery, but also were haunted and shaped by their horrible experiences makes a lot of sense. And it is interesting how the sagas portray berserkers as a frightening thing, not only in battle, but also in civilian life. But we somehow imagine them as some sort of super-heroes, transforming themselves into victoria-cross/medal-of-honour level "good crazy" on command, and ask ourselves, how could they do that? Did they take drugs?

As a person who has instructed soldiers for a few decades, I can imagine Beserkers would be an absolute pain to use in a shield wall. What do you do with the psychopath who wants to kill but can't stand in a shield wall? Maybe generate a group of shock troops with a large amount of prestige and mysticism and launch them into your opponent's shield wall to create a gap that your shield wall can exploit? Maybe give them some drugs as a bonus? There's always more psychopaths. :)

My grandparents used to have a refrigerator magnet that said "Say nope to dope". In hind sight, it seemed kind of random, but whatever. LOVE the Volva cartoon, by the way! Totally the sort of seer I would've been!

A well researched "maybe" is always better than a sensational but fake "conclusion". So I'm happy to see you conclude "maybe" :)

Great Video, ❤

"Yo kid, come here. Wanna see some gods?"

I'm glad you're not sensationalizing things and focusing too much on the possibilities of the more glamorous berserkers being high, pointing out how that would be kind of silly, and demystifying and deromanticizing the berserkers- the role of hallucinogenics in oracles and diviners is much more interesting to talk about, anyways. (As is the actual possible psychology behind the berserkers) Oh, and- 10:00 Gotta go with Tobias. Related to him too much when I was a kid

It is possible that you are right that the vulva used this in Denmark. In Norway you will not find traces of this until the 12th century. The first finds of the plant in seed form are in the excavation. During the archaeological excavations of the Old Town in Oslo, three seeds of the plant were found between soil layers from 1150 and 1175. Medieval monks and nuns cultivated it in the monastery gardens, and it is among the medicinal herbs found on Hovedøya. We had contact with the Persians and it is not unlikely that the seeds found in Osbergskipet originated from Persia. There are no other finds like this outside the osberg ship. In the same way as we find silk in the ship, it does not originate from Norway. There are no silkworms in Scandinavia. Very often foreigners think that berserkers were a separate race, but in Norwegian it is still called "going berserk". berserk is something you do not something you are. To go berserk is to be completely clear in your head, know what you are doing but lose all empathy. You can not be high during a fight because then you do not see the difference between a friend and a fo. A warrior must trust his neighbor. Plain fungus (Psilocybe semilanceata, in norwegian Fleinsopp), on the other hand, grows in Norway and is something we have used for ages. The substance can cause visual and mental hallucinations, intense feelings of happiness and exhilaration, spiritual experiences and a disturbed perception of time and the environment. On the negative side, the drug can give you nausea and anxiety attacks

Am wondering about your take on the whole hallucinogenic seaweed theory? So pleased to see more people coming around to the idea of berserkr state being bit more like PTSD - you should have heard some of the responses to my paper on the topic at Kalamazoo in 2007. On a side note concerning historical PTSD, you should look into the one-man play “Cry Havoc”. I got to view it on Vimeo about a month ago as part of a Shakespeare and disability conference from Emory and the Folger Library. It is a truly thought provoking performance and had me thinking about some updates to my former research.

"Like a cow's stomach" is a fantastic phrase.

I’m under the impression that poppy seeds in themselves aren’t psychoactive, although the pods are. The claim is still passed around quite regularly. Thanks for the great video!

‘Trip buddy’ sounds so wholesome!

We had some of the artefacts from the Peel Castle 'Pagan Lady' on display in Jorvik a few years ago, including what appeared to be a small pestle and mortar. Maybe she was doing the same thing? (She was also found with what is believed to be a metal staff). But as a more important question; what type of whale is depicted on the wall behind you?

How's the training going for the 5k? Just hope that you're well enough to do it safely. Will you make a video of it or, even better, a livestream?

Like before watching, as always

Not helpful, I know, but my first thought when I saw that statuette at the beginning was that the things on her head look like antennae. But yes, they do look like poppy seed heads when it is pointed out.

Kind of weird that you have to include that alcohol is a drug too. But you are correct and are right to add it.

I never thought in a million years I would ever hear you say vulva, and I’m here for it!

Ngl, I forgot that Jimmy was a nickname for James, and I was very confused when her referred to himself in third person; Also, I love the Lee Majors helmet in the thumbnail

Lindybeige did a really interesting video on the topic of berserkers as well, well worth checking out 😊

As usual VERY cool and interesting video,. I would think that most primitive cultures that used hemp to make cloth would also knew of its medical properties ( pain relief ,anti- anxiety and hallucinogenic ) , so one of the women on the boat could have been a healer ??? Just a thought .

"Don't do druugs, druugs are baad", councilor Mackey from South Park.

Not only the Völva could had blazing on henebane. In Portuguese,Spanish, and German a common name for this plant is beleño, velenho, Bilsen-kraut. Some linguists draw a reference to Belenos. Noric god of light, wells, and medicine. Even medieval brewers adulterated beer with small dosages of henebane or bog-myrtle (When you get dehydrated you need more hydration, more beer! ). Until the common regulation on brewing, and ingredients had emerged.

If I may Jimmy. You forgot another application possibility of Henbane... topical... Henbane has a historical use as an analgesic, a medicine that provides relief from pain and it's side effects do match a lot of the described characteristics of berserkers such as the agitation, the flushed and swollen face, and it's use in pain relief would also explain the pain tolerance characteristic of berserkers. It was ingested in witches brews and probably smoked as you've mentioned but if you ground it up into a paste or extracted the oil from the plant you could possibly create some sort of salve, ointment, or cream that would produce the effects of a violent and unnaturally resilient warrior. This could also account for the "bare chested" image they're famous for. Now I am not an archaeologist but my field of study is nursing and plenty of patients who have histories of drug use have a not uncommon reaction where they are compulsively undressing. When they're under the influence or in periods of withdrawal they start feeling incredibly warm so they start stripping off their clothes to cool off and breathing fast and hard to evaporate off all that heat. Breathing incredibly fast also blows off CO2 so they start becoming alkalotic which further contributes to their agitation.

Whoa an animorph reference. Haven’t seen those books in years

me about to look up henbane: Jimmy: don't ingest henbane!!! me closing out of the tab: aww

Love the cow's stomach ! It's definitely making its way into my various languages, translated literally :p My favourite French equivalent has got to be "On y voit comme à travers une pelle", which I think is rather self-explanatory. Is it known if the hemp seeds found on the Osburg ship were from a particularly THC-high variety of hemp, or at least higher than regular textile hemp ? Can that even be tested ?

Great advice Jimmy. Don't do drugs. Great definitive answer, it is really great and fun to think about

Was not expecting to be posting this on two of your videos in as many weeks but... teacher friends tell me "Na gabh dragh, na gabh drugaichean!" is a classic in Gaelic medium education haha

Speaking of Animorphs and vikings, there's nobody more viking than Toby the Seer (Hey! A seer!) “The Yeerks must not be allowed to think that they can use hostages against us." "Aren't you kind of missing the point?" Cassie said quietly. "I thought the point was to save Bek." "No," Toby said. "The point is to defeat the Yeerks. We must be strong. Once we free a Hork-Bajir, he must never be taken again." "Do you think the Yeerks will respect you? They won't. They'll come after you harder," Cassie pointed out. Toby nodded. "That is true. But the Hork-Bajir will respect themselves. A fool is strong so that others will see. A wise person is strong for himself. The Hork-Bajir will be strong for the Hork-Bajir. That way, when the Yeerks are all gone, we will still be strong.”

James Me, living in the California desert: "Damn those mountains look familiar..."

I really enjoyed this video! I do remember way back when there was an advertisement on TV re: using drugs. They showed an egg and said, “this is your brain”. The egg was dropped and splatted into a greasy frying pan. They voice over then said, “this is your brain on drugs” and left you staring at the bubbling, splattered egg.