Northmen

Northmen, known to themselves as the Bareni, sometimes disparagingly called Wildmen or the Wanderers, are the Men who chose to break away from mainstream human culture during the earliest days of mankind's settlement of Verrin. Mostly migrating northwards into sparsely populated Giant lands, these Men preferred a simple life among the forests and mountains. Their language is only partly mutually intelligible due to their insular nature.
The Feón are a famous band of Northmen, though they exist separately to Northmen society.
Despite the prejudices held against them by the other races, and especially other Men, the Northmen are not at all 'wild'. They live in a more primitive way than their forebears and subsist mainly by hunting, fishing and raiding. Their tools are of iron rather than steel, but this does not stop them being skilled craftsmen, particularly famed for their wood carvings and stone totems. The society of the Northmen is tribal, with multiple tribes often coming together in a great confederation when their way of life is threatened. They have been a thorn in the side of the Giant kingdoms for many years. Despite this, the Northmen are not usually migratory unless forced to be by some external threat. Their villages and towns, consisting of rudimentary wooden longhouses, can grow to surprising sizes. Each village has a chief, who guides his tribe in matters of war and peace. Sometimes, a High King unites the tribes and clans, usually because of a grave threat to their way of life. Most tribes value their independence, so such Kingships rarely endure for long.
At war, the Northmen are famed for their extreme brutality. Though usually disorganised and horde-like, an army of Northmen can trample even a well-disciplined force due to its sheer bloodlust. Particularly dangerous are the so-called berserkers- tattoo covered warriors who fight with an absolute disregard for their own lives. Their violence borders on delirium, such is their savage prowess. Having learned the art of taming mammoths from Giants, the Northmen are also able to field war mammoths. Such creatures are able to crush enemy formations with ease, while archers fire out of great towers attached to their backs.
When warriors fall in battle or during a raid, they aren't buried. Their corpses are instead arranged in great patterns, such as spirals or glyphs, which are thought to attract the attention of the gods. The largest of such patterns, created after decisive battles, can sometimes reach a mile in diameter!
Their religion is also unique. Although the Northmen venerate the Alwealda, they devote most of their prayers and offerings to spirits and the natural world, which they see as a much more imminent threat than the distant gods. Nature is personified in this religion as the Tree-Mother, who is worshipped as one of the gods. Some groves and glens are sacred to the Northmen, as those who trespass soon discover.