Related: Vikings: Jarl Borg Created A Major Location Mistake In The Show. 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. She also reports on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology, and space. Next, take an axe there's nothing about sharpening it first and use the axe to hew the victim's ribs from the spine. Heimskringla/Harald Harfager's Saga#Halfdan Haleg's Death. In captivity, they may live over 50 years due to fewer hazards and veterinary care. During the 1980s, Murphy says, the prevailing attitude in scholarship [was] that the Vikings had been unfairly maligned as bloodthirsty barbarians, and that they were really savvy [and rational] economic actors. The pendulum had swung the other way. Advertising Notice Historical evidence for the blood eagle is scant. 2010 The Thought & Expression Company, Inc. 10 Methods Of Execution For Utah That Are Way More Fun Than FiringSquads. The second account comes from Norse poet and historian Snorri Sturluson: "Afterwards, Earl Einarr went up to Halfdan and cut the 'blood eagle' on his back, in this fashion that he thrust his sword into his chest by the backbone and severed all the ribs down to the loins, and then pulled out the lungs; and that was Halfdan's death.". Answer (1 of 6): The jury is still out on this one. In other words, rituals like the blood eagle had meaning because they were a wayin practice or on the pageof drawing lines between groups of people and warning outsiders of the dangers of crossing that boundary. The show led them to medieval sagas, which opened up further questions and made them realize they needed to consult a historian. Then, the person seeking vengeance stabbed the victim by his tailbone and up towards the rib cage. Answers must be in-depth and comprehensive, or they will be removed. The torturer would then complete the ritual by pulling out the victim's intact lungs and laying them over the extended ribs (by this point, the victim was certainly deceased, the researchers wrote). I'll 'vengeThee well; Some precision is called for here, since they're supposed to be removed one at a time. However, ribs could potentially be "unzipped" from the spine with a small, barbed spearhead, and such weapons have also been recovered from Viking burials, the researchers reported. 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". An Anatomy of the Blood Eagle: The Practicalities of Viking Torture It wouldn't be possible to cut each of them and detach the ribs quickly with a serrated blade while the victim was still alive. 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. Blood Eagle Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images However, when it comes to the depictions of blood eagle, Murphy pointed out one crucial aspect regarding the perception of Vikings in the 21st century. Thorbjrn Harr played Jarl Borg of Gtaland in the first two seasons of the History Channel series. Work on the anatomical limits of the ritual spurred me to consider the wider social and cultural limits within which any historical blood eagle would have had to have taken place, Murphy says. who dwelt at York, Gillis observation builds on the earlier work of scholar Valentin Groebner, who wrote in 2004 that terror tends to disorient. Violence (and how that violence was portrayed) in the European Middle Ages was a way of making meaning, of rendering visible important ideas that had previously remained unseen. [7], Afterwards, Earl Einarr went up to Halfdan and cut the "blood eagle" on his back, in this fashion that he thrust his sword into his chest by the backbone and severed all the ribs down to the loins, and then pulled out the lungs; and that was Halfdan's death.[8]. A brutal, ritualized method of torture and execution that was allegedly practiced by Nordic people during the Viking Age was so gruesome that some scholars questioned whether it was even possible to perform on a human body. Terms of Use | READ MORE. Single-edged "fighting knives" with rigid handles have been found in elite Viking burials, and some resemble large knives that are used in modern autopsies, according to the study. 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. 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. In the numerous sagas that mention the Blood Eagle practice, revenge and pure disdain often preceded its usage. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Two separate episodes of the hit History Channel show Vikings depict an unimaginably grisly and horrific torture method that is known as the Blood Eagle. In the first, the villain Karl Borg is murdered through the extremely cruel and brutal method; in the second, the corrupt King Ella is tortured to death using the Blood Eagle method. They further concluded that, were it performed in the most extreme versions depicted in the sagas and the subject of the torture still lived at that point, death would have followed the severing of the ribs from the spine within seconds, due either to exsanguination or asphyxiation. "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. He dedicated the victim to Odin as a victory offering.. As this new article helps demonstrate, perhaps the pendulum needs to stop. Vikings: The Blood Eagle Death Explained (& What It Gets Wrong) For instance, there is an account in the "Tale of Ragnar's Sons" of Ivar the Boneless performing the blood eagle on Kinglla of Northumbria because the latter killed his father, Ragnar. This was included in the show, as Aelle was killed through this ritual, though he didnt go through it as Jarl Borg did, who didnt make a sound and thus earned his place in Valhalla. Jennifer Ouellette - 1/10/2022, 11:22 AM. 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. Bald Eagle Biology | American Eagle Foundation Jrvk, skorit.[9]. Some believed that the brutal rite resulted from . cut with [an] eagle.[1]. The debate among historians about whether or not the Blood Eagle actually occurred continues. 'Vikings' creator on frightening, spiritual death - Chicago Tribune For Ivarr the Boneless, the feared Viking portrayed in Assassins Creed: Valhalla, the Old Norse Kntsdrpa simply says, And varr, who ruled at York, had llas back cut with an eagle. (This succinct description has led some scholars to posit that an actual eagle was used to slice open the Northumbrian kings back.) 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". Skaldic verse, a common medium of Norse poets, was meant to be cryptic and allusive, and the idiomatic nature of Sighvatr's poem as a description of what has become known as the blood eagle is a matter of historical contention, particularly since in Norse imagery the eagle was strongly associated with blood and death. [17], Ronald Hutton's The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy states that "the hitherto notorious rite of the 'Blood Eagle,' the killing of a defeated warrior by pulling up his ribs and lungs through his back, has been shown to be almost certainly a Christian myth resulting from the misunderstanding of some older verse. A common element in the medieval sources, according to the authors of the new study, is that the aggressors perform the ritual on enemies who killed one of their family members. The conventional term for this ancient form of persecutionrefers to eagles, though it has also been historicallyassociated with owls. So it probably comes as no surprise that the group known as the Vikings gets a new veneer every few years or so. Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla contains an account of the same event described in Orkneyinga saga, with Einarr actually performing the deed himself: gkk Einarr jarl til Hlfdanar; hann reist rn baki honum me eima htti, at hann lagi sveri hol vi hrygginn ok reist rifin ll ofan alt lendar, dr ar t lungun; var at bani Hlfdanar. Alfred Smyth argues that it was a historical method of execution but bear in mind he is a specialist in medieval history of the British Isles, not Viking Age Scandinavia. "For the slayer by a cruel death of their captive father, Ragnar's sons act the blood-eagle on Ella, and salt his flesh.". Vikings didn't leave many written records behind and the blood eagel is one of those things that leaves no archeological traces. She was also a contributor for FanSided's BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Blood eagle? : r/NSFL__ - Reddit This would be sufficient if the ritual was merely the carving of an eagle into the victim's back, then folding back large flaps of skin and muscle to either side of the body to make "wings." However, researchers recently found that the act known as blorn, or "blood eagle," was in fact anatomically possible and could have been performed with known Viking weapons. You know like an eagle. What Is the 'Blood Eagle' Execution Method? - Smithsonian Magazine These representations take their cue from medieval sources written in both Old Norse and Latin. Blood Eagle Execution - Behind the Scenes Pictures "Vikings" Study co-authors Monte Gates and Heidi Fuller, both medical scientists at Keele University in England, were spurred to investigate the blood eagle by the Vikings series. Popular opinion ebbs and flows, especially regarding history. Approaching the question from a different angle allowed the researchers to dig through the scholarship, place the medieval sources within the proper context and draw on modern technology to examine what actually would have happened during the ritual. The account of lle, the king of Northumbria being thus treated by the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok in retaliation for Ragn. 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. 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. This horrific murder method was allegedly practiced not only on conquered soldiers, but on Viking men whod performed evil deeds and had thus lost all honor in the eyes of the community. It was great. at, lt, hinns sat, A Viking Blood Eagle is a graphic form of execution where an individual's back would be sliced open and the ribs, intestines, and lungs pulled out while the victim was still alive. 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. It consists of having the ribs severed from the spine and the lungs pulled through the opening to simulate a pair of wings. Mindy Weisberger is a Live Science editor for the channels Animals and Planet Earth. In 1984, historian Roberta Frank published Viking atrocity and Skaldic verse: the rite of the Blood Eagle, in which she suggests that the earliest references may have only meant that Vikings would allow birds to peck away at the backs of people that theyd already murdered: The blood-eagling procedure varies from text to text, becoming more lurid, pagan, and time-consuming with each passing century. In his personal blog, Howard M. R. Williams, professor in Medieval archeology, explained (via Looper) that the blood eagle execution, as legendary as it is, has no historical or archeological correlate, and enduring it in silence is truly implausible". ok hugin gladdi.[12]. Matthew Gabriele is a professor of medieval studies and chair of the Department of Religion & Culture at Virginia Tech. This they did at the appointed time; and when they had captured him, they ordered the figure of an eagle to be cut in his back, rejoicing to crush their most ruthless foe by marking him with the cruellest of birds. The blood eagle might be nothing more than fiction, but it was definitely one of the most brutal killing methods in the series. Early in the series, a rival leader named Jarl Borg (Thorbjrn Harr) of nearby Gtaland leads an attack on Ragnar's men and even convinces Ragnar's brother to betray him. Unless archaeologists find a corpse bearing clear evidence of the torture, well likely never know. BLOOD EAGLE EXECUTION OF KING AELLE - BEHIND THE SCENES PICTURES - VIKINGS - YouTube 0:00 / 1:54 Sign in to confirm your age This video may be inappropriate for some users. DOI: Speculum, 2021. Find Blood Eagle stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. The Blood Eagle - Worst Punishments in the History of Mankind The Infographics Show 12.9M subscribers Join Subscribe 104K Share Save 4.7M views 3 years ago We're back with another worst. Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter. According to 12th and 13th century authors, the Blood Eagle had a long tradition in Scandinavia, often being associated with Vikings, and was used against the most heinous enemies. In ttr af Ragnars sonum (the "Tale of Ragnar's sons"), Ivar the Boneless has captured king lla of Northumbria, who had killed Ivar's father Ragnar Lobrk. 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. Please read the rules before participating, as we remove all comments which break the rules. In his book The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy, Ronald Hutton tends to agree with Franks analysis: The hitherto notorious rite of the Blood Eagle, the killing of a defeated warrior by pulling up his ribs and lungs through his back, has been shown to be almost certainly a Christian myth resulting from the misunderstanding of some older verse. of the killer of Sigmund. However, many historians believe the blood eagle wasnt real, and thus Vikings got those two deaths wrong, even if the sagas described one of them (and the sagas are considered fiction by many, with Ragnars existence also being debated). So, the Vikings were ocean-going, artistic, sadistic, and consistent. The Icelandic ritual is the most commonly used in television and film, seeing as it is recognized as being the most painful. This method is mentioned in The Tale of Ragnars sons, in which Ivar the Boneless captured King Aelle and sentenced him to die by blood eagle as he was responsible for Ragnars death. In this case, we're talking about a nifty little procedure called the blood eagle execution. In the 1970s Alfred Smyth supported the historicity of the rite, stating that it is clearly human sacrifice to the Norse god Odin. Blood eagle - Wikipedia The lungs were then pulled out and over the ribs, mimicking the image of the wings of a spread eagle. Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. The blood eagle is described as a sacrifice to the Norse god Odin, who is referenced throughout the Vikings series. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. 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. The primary versions share certain commonalities: the victims are both noblemen (Halfdan Haaleg or "Long-leg" was a prince; lla of Northumbria a king), and both of the executions were in retaliation for the murder of a father. Oral tradition can screw up details, especially when theres a 200-year lapse between the alleged event and the description. Find Blood Eagle stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock photos, illustrations and vectors in the Shutterstock collection. Then we come to various rituals and rites that don't involve reciting sagas and drinking a lot. A posterior view of the thorax, illustrating some deeper structures encountered while exposing the ribs. It would have been very difficult to separate the ribs from the vertebrae, since the joints are stabilized by very strong ligaments. at, had, the one who dwelt, Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round. But wait: there's more. 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. Here's your blood eagle how-to, as related by Smithsonian Magazine: First, fasten the victim, face-down, and carve the image of an eagle, wings outstretched, on the victim's back. s er fold rr, hilmis nefi, In the video game Assassins Creed: Valhalla,Ivarr the Boneless, a character based on the Viking chieftain who invaded the British Isles in the ninth century C.E., performs theblood eagleon his nemesis, King Rhodri. In popular lore, few images are as synonymous with Viking brutality as the blood eagle, a practice that allegedly found torturers separating the victims ribs from their spine, pulling their bones and skin outward to form a set of wings, and removing their lungs from their chest cavity. According to 12th and 13th century authors, the Blood Eagle had a long tradition in Scandinavia, often being associated with Vikings,and was used against the most heinous enemies. In the Orkneyinga saga, the blood eagle is described as a sacrifice to Odin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br-eCy6wG14 The Ritual Behind The Blood Eagle King Aella was not the last royal to face the blood eagle. I watched midsommar last night, and it is full of nordic tropes. Unless performed very carefully, the victim would have died quickly from suffocation or blood loss; even if the ritual was conducted with care, the subject wouldve almost certainly died before the full blood eagle could be completed. The Disturbing Truth About The Vikings' Blood Eagle Execution. Unless performed very carefully, the victim would have died quickly from suffocation or blood loss; even if the ritual was conducted with care, the subject wouldve almost certainly died before the full blood eagle could be completed. And varr, the one Others are more graphic, aligning with the extreme versions depicted in contemporary popular culture. kinsmen of kings, Ragnars legacy and presence could still be felt until the end of the series, and he left behind various memorable moments, both good and violent, and falling into the latter category is the death of Jarl Borg (Thorbjrn Harr). "), There are also two accounts of Torf-Einarr's execution of Halfdan Haaleg. Perception may or may not be reality, and if you tend to see the Vikings as cruel, sadistic, muscle-bound axe-lovers, here's evidence to back it up. 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. The work of scholars is to understand how this violence fit into a complex societyand a new study does just that. Seeing that fullness, that richness of our subjects in the past, allows us to not only better understand them but ourselvesas well. The blood eagle is referred to by the 11th-century poet Sigvatr rarson, who, some time between 1020 and 1038, wrote a skaldic verse named Kntsdrpa[9] that recounts and establishes Ivar the Boneless as having killed lla and subsequently cutting his back. 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. The Heimskringla Saga from 1230 describes the same alleged incident: Gruesome Viking "blood eagle" ritual is anatomically possible, study The killing of lla, after a battle for control of York, is described thus: They caused the bloody eagle to be carved on the back of lla, and they cut away all of the ribs from the spine, and then they ripped out his lungs. Blood-Eagle lines on Thy foe shall be flowing.". Vikings explained: Who was Jarl Borg? What happened to him? - Express Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. In one version, an eagle is carved on Halfdan's back with a sword, all the ribs cut from the backbone, and the lungs drawn out. Vikings' 'blood eagle' torture was horrific - Live Science According to the books of history, the Blood Eagle was a religious rite dedicated to the god Odin with the objective of imparting fear to the enemies of the Viking's. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Real Life / Cruel And Unusual Death - TV Tropes Borgs involvement in Vikings was through his conflict with King Horik, as they both wanted control over mineral-rich lands and Horik sent Ragnar as his emissary. David M. Perry is the co-author ofThe Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe. Borg later attacked Kattegat when Horik excluded him from their raids and battled Ragnar and his men. The gruesome 'Blood Eagle' method is a real nasty way to go that' 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. 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. Performing such a horrific act would have been "anatomically challenging" for the torturer but it would not have been impossible, scientists reported in the January 2022 issue of Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies. Now is the bloody eagle Related: Fierce fighters: 7 secrets of Viking seamen. If the Vikings did perform the blood eagle, does that mean the Middle Ages were as brutish, nasty and dark as stereotypes suggest? It's described as a sacrifice to Odin in thanks for Einarr's victory. 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. Matthew Gabriele 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. cut with [an] eagle. The Vikings may have performed the "Blood Eagle" or "Butterfly Cut" cracking the victim's ribs from the back and pulling out his lungs, and spreading them out like wings behind him. People are messy, and, by extension, history is, too. Here's your blood eagle how-to, as related by Smithsonian Magazine: First, fasten the victim, face-down, and carve the image of an eagle, wings outstretched, on the victim's back. Watch my SCP Explained - Story \u0026 Animation channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8JfkMtNAp44vmzdtnL4wow SUBSCRIBE TO THE INFOGRAPHICS SHOW https://www.youtube.com/c/theinfographicsshowOFFICIAL?sub_confirmation=1 MY SOCIAL PAGESDISCORD https://discord.gg/theinfoshowFacebook https://www.facebook.com/TheInfographicsShowTwitter https://twitter.com/TheInfoShow SUGGEST A TOPIChttps://www.theinfographicsshow.com SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/2dLH275ZAll videos are based on publicly available information unless otherwise noted.
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