The lungs were then pulled out and over the ribs, mimicking the image of the wings of a spread eagle. But he likely would have died of shock, suffocation, and/or exsanguination within seconds of the blade being thrust into his back to cut the ribs. The Dirty, Deadly History of Depleted Uranium Munitions, The Comics Writer Who Became a Legend-and a Martyr of Argentina's Dirty War, Emily Meggett, Preserver of Gullah Geechee Foodways of the Coastal South, Dies at 90, Documents Confirm Direct Ancestors of King Charles III Involved in Slave Trade, Academic Freedom is Vital to Developing the Critical Abilities Society Needs. The blood eagle is a punishment where the person is strangled and stabbed with an ax by their tailbone and up towards the rib cage, separating every rib from the backbone. Frithiof's Sagamentions that the methodcould be called "Blood Owl," a term used by later antiquarians and authors who wrote about the Vikings. Haralds Saga, from the Orkney Islands, states that Viking Earl Torf-Einar had his enemys ribs cut from the spine with a sword and the lungs pulled out through the slits in his back. When she's not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs! A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages. The blood eagle is a method of execution detailed in late skaldic poetry. A BRUTAL Viking torture ritual rubbished by researchers may have actually been a thing, according to a new study. varr, with eagle, [11], Another possible oblique reference to the rite appears in Norna-Gests ttr. She suggests that these tales of martyrdom inspired further exaggeration of the misunderstood skaldic verses into a grandiose torture and death rite with no actual historic basis. Ragnar performs theblrn (blood eagle) on Borg, a gruesome process of ritualized torture and execution allegedly carried out during the Viking Age (c. 7501050). Study co-authorsMonte GatesandHeidi Fuller, both medical scientists at Keele University in England, were spurred to investigate the blood eagle by the Vikings series. Jrvk, skorit.[9]. Matthew Townend (ed.) Historians are divided as to whether the Blood Eagle was a real practice or simply a myth that originated from misinterpretation of ancient Nordic sagas. Most historians believe the ritual was real, and was performed more than once, usually on someone at least somewhat royal specifically lla, King of Northumbria, in 867, as well as King Maelgualai of Munster, Ireland, and Haldn, son of Harald Finehair, King of Norway. Jarl Borg was aleader from Gtaland who was introduced in Vikings season 1, and it was clear from the beginning that he was going to bring a lot of trouble to Ragnar and Kattegat. Founded in 2010, Thought Catalog is owned and operated by The Thought & Expression Company, Inc. For over a decade, we've been at the bleeding edge of media, pioneering an infrastructure for creatives to flourish both artistically and financially. Cut with an eagle? Well, thats sort of vague, isnt it? | Select from premium Blood Eagle of the highest quality. It consists of having the ribs severed from the spine and the lungs pulled through the opening to simulate a pair of wings. In each of the extant nine accounts, the victim is captured in battle and has an eagle of some sort carved into their back. According to Saxo Grammaticus'sGesta Danorum, after the previously detailed mutilation, the flesh was rubbed with salt. who rule land This worked doubly well for the Victorians as a means of demonstrating the superiority of the native English over the Viking invaders. In line with the studys interdisciplinary bent, the authors paired this analysis with historical and archaeological data about the specialized tools available within Viking society. The victim, it is said, would still be alive at this point to experience the agony ofsaline stimulanthaving salt rubbed, quite literally, into his vast wound. Cookie Settings, The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, What We're Still Learning About Rosalind Franklins Unheralded Brilliance. The blood eagle purportedly involved carving open the victim's back, cutting the ribs away from the spine, and then pulling out the lungs through the opening to display them on the outspread ribs. The theory is backed by the fact that Ivar was famous for his massive size and that the skeleton was reported to be about nine feet tall. The [ritual], as it exists in popular culture today, owes a lot to the attitudes of Victorian scholars who were keen to exaggerate its role.. Some references to the torture are terse. What I've been wanting to know is if anyone has information about the torture method known as the blood eagle. "There is no possibility that a victim would have remained alive throughout the procedure," the researchers wrote. But in the nine known written accounts of the blood eagle ritual, the people who ordered the torture and their victims were men of elevated social status, and most of them were royal, according to the study. kinsmen of kings, Heimskringla/Harald Harfager's Saga#Halfdan Haleg's Death. "It was physically possible, in line with broader social habits regarding execution and the treatment of corpses, and reflected a cultural obsession with demonstrating your honor and prestige. The execution method shows up twice in the popular History Channel drama series Vikings as a ritual reserved for the protagonists worst enemies, Jarl Borg and King lla, a fictionalized counterpart to the actual Northumbrian ruler. She was also a contributor for FanSided's BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. bana Sigmundar Finally, for the final stage of removing the lungs through the cuts along the spine, one would need to fold the ribs outward to create wings. The debate among historians about whether or not the Blood Eagle actually occurred continues. So it probably comes as no surprise that the group known as the Vikings gets a new veneer every few years or so. The blood eagle seems to have been a more extreme case of this sort of behaviour conducted only in exceptional circumstances: on a captured prisoner of war who had earlier subjected the. No exact date is attached to its origins, nor is therea specific legal prohibition as to its use, but popular culture depictions keep it alive and well. A posterior view of the thorax illustrating the results of detaching or cutting the ribs. NY 10036. The bones and skin are then peeled back, to sort of kind of make them look like wings. It wouldnt be until the early 1200smore than 300 years after the alleged participants had diedthat a very detailed and graphic description of the method appeared in the Orkeyinga Saga: Einarr made them carve an eagle on his back with a sword, and cut the ribs all from the backbone, and draw the lungs there out, and gave him to Odin for the victory he had won. The life span of eagles in the wild is generally around 30 years. Behind the scenes pictures of blood eagle execution of king Aelle from the TV series VIKINGSMusic by: Bensound.com Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. | READ MORE. Performative displays of social standing and ritualized executions that included "conspicuous mutilation" were common practices in elite circles of Viking society; this suggests that written accounts of the blood eagle ritual were describing events that actually happened and were socially significant for leaders celebrating victory over a powerful enemy, the researchers said. The authors also re-assessed archaeological and historical data and concluded that the blood ritual was in keeping with the behavior of the Viking Age warrior elite. The History Channel series Vikings is a fictional account of legendary Norse hero Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), who was born a farmer and became a Scandinavian king. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Experts have long debated whether the blood eagle was a literary trope or an actual punishment. "The victims hands and legs were tied to prevent escape or sudden movements. who dwelt at York, Matthew Gillis, a historian at the University of Tennessee and the author of an upcoming book on medieval horror, describes medieval Christian authors as horror experts. He says that textual vignettes like the ones featured in the new study were intended to teach a lesson, such as frighten[ing] their audiences into returning to God. Though some of the Old Norse sources detailing the practice predate Christianitys rise in the region, they were read and retold for centuries after their creation. at, had, the one who dwelt, Others are more graphic, aligning with the extreme versions depicted in contemporary popular culture. Some precision is called for here, since they're supposed to be removed one at a time. Some precision is called for here, since . Gruesome Viking "blood eagle" ritual is anatomically possible, study finds But victims would have died long before the torturous execution concluded. Other sources detail the practice more fully. . Review: AP Program Undermines Humanities, Devalues College, and Cheats Students of Learning, SCOTUS's Stay of Mifepristone Ruling a Win for Abortion Rights, but Shows Dangerous Power of "Shadow Docket", How the Reagan Administration Used "A Nation at Risk" to Push for School Privatization, Ned Blackhawk Unmakes the American Origin Story. The Icelandic ritual is the most commonly used in television and film, seeing as it is recognized as being the most painful. She compared the lurid details of the blood eagle to Christian martyrdom tracts, such as that relating the tortures of Saint Sebastian, shot so full of arrows that his ribs and internal organs were exposed. (The word translated "raven" is not hrafn but hugin, the personal name of one of Odin's ravens.). The blood eagle was a method of ritually executing a chosen member as detailed in late skaldic poetry.According to the two instances mentioned in the Sagas, the victims (in both cases members of royal families) were placed in a prone position, their ribs severed from the spine with a sharp tool, and their lungs pulled through the opening to create a pair of "wings". [16] Frank's paper sparked a "lively debate". The Oxford English Dictionary provides a very brief description of the method: A Viking method of killing someone, usually the slayer of a mans father, by cutting out the ribs in the shape of an eagle. breium hjrvi As Murphy explains, The blood eagle plays a prominent role in our early 21st-century constructions of Vikings, which generally favor an [understanding that] violence was commonplace in the Iron Age Nordic region. Thats been the case for quite a while, he adds: The [ritual], as it exists in popular culture today, owes a lot to the attitudes of Victorian scholars who were keen to exaggerate its role in order to emphasize the barbarity of the past and civilized nature of their own time. David M. Perry If the Vikings did perform the blood eagle, does that mean the Middle Ages were as brutish, nasty and dark as stereotypes suggest? In this case, we're talking about a nifty little procedure called the blood eagle execution. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Saxo, who wrote duringthe late 12th and early 13thcenturies, recorded oral traditions and history as well as events from his own time. His co-authors conducted several simulations using modern anatomy software, while Murphy re-assessed the stories, archaeological evidence, and historical accounts in light of their findings. Thus, the blood eagle was manifested in all its gory glory. Such a knife could have been used to cut and peel back the skin and muscle layers for the first part of the blood eagle ritual. The blood-eagle ritual-killing rite appears in just two instances in Norse literature, plus oblique references some have interpreted as referring to the same practice. According to Saxo, the term eagle was used by men who rejoiced in "[crushing] their most ruthless foe by marking him with the cruellest of birds.". Please read the rules before participating, as we remove all comments which break the rules. had Ella's back Seemingly 'empty' burial mound is hiding a 1,200-year-old Viking ship, Rare, 1,000-year-old Viking Age iron hoard found in basement in Norway, Extremely rare white killer whale spotted off California coast. As such, the scholars conclude, the blood eagle could have formed an extreme, but not implausible, outlier to the idea of the bad death within wider Viking society: a way to avenge an earlier deviant, dishonorable or otherwise culturally condemned death. This was an act that had meaning. The execution methods recurring appearances in medieval texts, often without extensive explanation, suggests a common understanding among Viking-age readers and listeners, many of whom would have learned the tales through oral tradition. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round. Regardless of whether it is fact or legend, performing such a ritual, while challenging, would have been anatomically possible with the tools available at the time, according to the authors ofa recent paper published in the journal Speculum, and would be in keeping with the Vikings' cultural mores.

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