Why it lasts
- 5.3 oz/yd² US cotton, preshrunk jersey
- Quarter-turned — no crease down the centre
- Tear-away label — nothing to cut out
- Shoulder-to-shoulder tape holds the shape
Between the two fits at size S
The classic and the washed are cut differently — check the chart before you pick. Every size is measured in the size chart further down this page — inches, chest as a full circumference.
Blackwork · Viking Age — named in verse c. 900
Berserker Bear Crest tee
The berserkers went into battle wearing bear skins. That is where the word comes from — ber-serkr, bear-shirt. Snorri Sturluson wrote that they fought without mail, bit their shields, and were as strong as bears. Whatever was actually going on, the Norse themselves found it frightening enough to write down.
Fabric — Classic tee
Classic tee
from $26.95
Washed tee
from $32.95
- 5.3 oz/yd² (180 gsm) US cotton, preshrunk
- Unisex cut, straight through the body — S to 5XL
- Taped neck and shoulders, tear-away label
- Made to order and dispatched within two business days
We ship worldwide.
What this motif is
Blackwork
A front-facing bear's head ringed with Norse knotwork, cut entirely in line — no solid fills, so the shape is carried by the strokes the way a woodblock carries it. Bears run through Norse ornament and Norse nicknames alike. This particular crest is our own drawing, not a copy of a surviving object.
- Period
- Viking Age — named in verse c. 900
- Named after
- ber-serkr — Old Norse, usually read as "bear-shirt"
- Drawn from
- Our own drawing — not a copy of a museum piece
- Historical claim
- Berserkir are named in Old Norse sources from about 900 (Haraldskvæði, on the battle of Hafrsfjord) and described at length by Snorri Sturluson in Ynglinga saga, c. 1225. The "bear-shirt" etymology is the usual reading but is not settled — "bare-shirt", meaning fighting without mail, is also argued. No period image of a bear crest like this one survives; the drawing is ours.
The blank, not the print
Built to be worn out
A flat, even surface
Preshrunk cotton jersey with a dry, crisp hand — the flattest surface we print on. Fine interlace holds its line instead of filling in.
Taped shoulders
Tape runs shoulder to shoulder so the neck keeps its shape through the wash, and the label tears away clean — nothing to cut out.
5.3oz, quarter-turned
180gsm cotton, turned a quarter before cutting so there is no crease running down the centre.
Made in Arcadia
Printed and finished in California, dispatched within two business days.
Fabric & fit
5.3 oz/yd² (180 gsm), 100% cotton, preshrunk jersey knit. Unisex cut — classic, slightly boxy, straight through the body. True to size. If you want it closer to the body, take one size down.
- Seamless double-needle collar
- Taped neck and shoulders
- Tear-away label
- Tubular body, no side seams
- Double-needle sleeve and bottom hems
- Quarter-turned to remove the centre crease
Crisp, dry hand. The flattest, most even surface we print on — line work stays sharp.
Size chart
| Size | Chest | Length | Shoulder | Sleeve |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 36.0 | 28.0 | 17.0 | 9.0 |
| M | 40.0 | 29.0 | 18.0 | 9.0 |
| L | 44.0 | 30.0 | 19.0 | 9.0 |
| XL | 48.0 | 31.0 | 20.0 | 9.0 |
| 2XL | 52.0 | 32.0 | 21.0 | 10.0 |
| 3XL | 56.0 | 33.0 | 22.0 | 10.0 |
| 4XL | 59.8 | 34.3 | 22.8 | 10.2 |
| 5XL | 63.8 | 35.0 | 23.6 | 10.2 |
Easiest way: copy a tee you already like. Lay it flat, smooth out the wrinkles, and take these four with a tape or a ruler.
- Chest — straight across, an inch below the armhole seam, then double it.
- Length — from the high point of the shoulder, beside the collar, straight down to the hem.
- Shoulder — seam to seam, across the top.
- Sleeve — from the shoulder seam down the outside edge to the sleeve hem.
They are not cut the same. The washed tee runs much wider and about an inch shorter — a washed S has a bigger chest than a classic M. If you know your classic size, take one size down on the washed.
Care
Shipping
Made in the USA. Printed and finished in the US.
Made to order. Printed and dispatched from the production facility nearest to your address.
Dispatched within 2 business days, then 3–5 days in transit — most orders land 5–7 business days after you order. Shipping is $6.00 for the first tee and $4.00 for each one after that — free on any order over $75.
Dispatched within 2 business days, then 7–15 days in transit depending on country. Shipping is charged on your order total, in USD: $8 up to $34.99, $14 up to $74.99, $20 up to $104.99, and $26 above that — shown in your own currency at checkout. Free shipping is available on US orders only. Duties and import VAT, where they apply, are collected at checkout.
Help & exchanges
A fault in the print, the wrong item, or a size that did not work out — email hello@nordenlux.com with your order number and a photo. A person reads it and comes back to you.
Same print, two fabrics
Classic or washed?
Every motif comes on both. Same drawing — the difference is what the cloth does to it.
| Attribute | Classic | Washed |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 180 gsm | 230 gsm |
| Feel | Crisp, dry, new | Soft, broken in |
| Surface | Flat and even | Mottled, faded |
| Fit | Classic, true to size | Relaxed, boxier |
| Print reads | Sharpest line | Softer, against a worn ground |
| Best if | You want the drawing crisp | You want it to look worn already |
Source on every page
Style, century, and the object it was drawn from.
Made in the USA
Printed and finished in California, then dispatched within two business days.
Made to order
Nothing is printed until you buy it — no warehouse, no dead stock.
A person on email
Write to hello@nordenlux.com and someone who knows the garments answers.
No symbols we can't stand behind
We publish what we won't print, and why.
Questions we actually get
Will the print crack or peel?
Both blanks are printed DTF — the design is transferred as its own thin layer of ink and adhesive, then heat-pressed into the cotton. Wash cold, inside out, and skip the tumble dryer and it will outlast the shirt getting stretched out of shape. We do not quote a wash count, because the honest answer depends on how you wash it.
Are these historically accurate?
The styles are. Every piece names the ornamental style, the century it belongs to and the surviving object it was drawn from. The drawing itself is ours — we say so rather than implying we traced a museum piece.
What alphabet are the runes in?
Younger Futhark, the 16-character alphabet actually in use during the Viking age, spelled phonetically. Elder Futhark had fallen out of use centuries earlier, which is why machine-translated 'rune' text is almost always wrong.
Do I have to be Scandinavian to wear this?
No. Interest is enough — the only thing we'd ask is that you know what's on your shirt, which is why every piece has a motif card on its page naming the style, the century and the object it was drawn from.