Hamask

Meaning of Old Norse word "hamask"

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

hamask

að, dep. to rage, to be taken by a fit of fury in a fight, synonymous to ganga berserks-gang (see p. 6l): the word is derived from hamr, prob. owing to a belief that such persons were possessed by a strange spirit or demon; cp. hamr, hamstoli, hamramr, all of them words referring to a change of shape:—svá er sagt, at þá hamaðisk hann, ok fleiri vóru þeir föru-nautar hans er þá hömuðusk, Eg. 122; hamask þú nú, Skallagrímr, at syni þínum, 192; Þórir hljóp þá af baki, ok er svá sagt, at hann hamaðisk þá it fyrsta sinn, Gullþ. 30, Fas. iii. 343, Landn. 119; Fránmarr jarl hafði hamask í arnar líki, Sæm. 95: the word is still used, to work as hard as a giant.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚼᛅᛘᛅᛋᚴ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements