A Hersir was a local Viking military commander of a hundred (a county subdivision) of about 100 men and owed allegiance to a jarl or king. They were also aspiring landowners, and, like the middle class in many feudal societies, supported the kings in their centralization of power. Originally, the term Hersir referred to a wealthy farmer who owned land and had the status of a leader. Throughout the Viking Age, Hersir was eventually redefined as someone who organized and led raids. In the 10th century, the influence of Hersirs began to decrease due to the development of effective national monarchies in Scandinavia. Hersir was again redefined later on, to mean a local leader or representative. The independence of the Hersir as a military leader eventually vanished, to be replaced only by the title of a royal representative. The "Hávamál", which was the mythical advice of the supreme creator Odin to mankind, contains a number of verses emphasizing the virtue of cautious consideration and strategical attack. This theme, in its oral form, was one of the major influences on the mind of the Viking Hersir.
Beyond the invisible girdle of north
Lies the well-hidden castle of frost
And the paths to its towers, carved in ice.
Are guarded by wolves of ominous size.
Great are their numbers in winter's realm
And great is their strength by all the accounts
And nobody passes the borders unseen
By the fiery eyes of the servants of wild
Yet some of the evil spirits
Those most unobedient and vile
Have been cast out of the enchanted domain
And doomed to forever roam the land
When full-moon casts its evil beams
On silent forests and ice-clad streams
Unlucky travellers may then hear
A chilling howl of anger afar
There the downfallen children of snow
Each of the twelve expelled once
Have gathered a threatening army of wolves
To avenge upon mankind the curse laid on them
People of highlands, men of the north - folk of fierce courage, endurance and might - yet even
They fear the onslaughts of the phantoms at night, and above all their leaders, whom they
named wolfghosts - dreadful masters with white on their breast and bellow-like nostrils,
inclined for warm flesh
And when over the sinister mountains of north
Storms forth a raging blizzard of frost
Through the snowclouds may sometimes be seen
Foggy shades of rushing terrible beasts
Ahead of the flock leaps a tremendous wolf -
one of the twelve in hunger and wrath
Gnashing its fangs of iron and steel,
whilst leading the majestic legion of night
Pity to those forlorn who may ever perceive