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. 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. at, had, the one who dwelt, Fr var fremri, No contemporary accounts of the rite exist, and the scant references in the sagas are several hundred years after the Christianization of Scandinavia. Others are more graphic, aligning with the extreme versions depicted in contemporary popular culture. Blood-Eagle lines on Thy foe shall be flowing.". In each of the extant nine accounts, the victim is captured in battle and has an eagle of some sort carved into their back. Lots of people become victims of other people's press, and more than a few have tripped over their own feet and created image problems forever after. If the Vikings did perform the blood eagle, does that mean the Middle Ages were as brutish, nasty and dark as stereotypes suggest? It consists of having the ribs severed from the spine and the lungs pulled through the opening to simulate a pair of wings. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post and How It Works Magazine. (The correct answer is: All of the above.). with a broad sword 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. Sign in BLOOD. Ergo, "even if the ritual was carefully performed the victim would have died very quickly," the authors wrote. 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 sources are often vague, referencing legendary figures of dubious veracity or mixing up accepted historical chronology. 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". In the new study, the researchers evaluated the blood eagle practice by first analyzing human anatomy, breaking down the sequence of the torture step by step and approximating how it might have been accomplished in a public ritual. The vertebral column would still present an obstacle to removing the lungs, and the primary bronchi and pulmonary veins and arteries aren't long enough to allow the lungs to be removed while they are still attached. According to descriptions of the blood eagle in poems and prose dating from the 11th century to the 13th century, victims were typically captured in battle. 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. 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. There has been continuing debate about whether the rite was a literary invention, a mistranslation of the original texts, or an authentic historical practice.[1][2][3]. Captors would cut and open large flaps of skin and muscle from their living victim's back and then sever the ribs from the spine, opening the ribs out to the sides to form "wings." 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. (The word translated "raven" is not hrafn but hugin, the personal name of one of Odin's ravens.). Carved on the back. 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. 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. who dwelt at York, Human anatomy is complex, and the authors noted three distinct anatomical challenges to performing the ritualparticularly if the goal was to keep the victim alive for the entire process. Other sources detail the practice more fully. breium hjrvi 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. 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. had Ellas back 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. The historian community believes that the blood eagle ritual is a piece of complex poetic misunderstanding due to the lack of information. Oral tradition can screw up details, especially when theres a 200-year lapse between the alleged event and the description. 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. In Vikings, Jarl Borg endures the entire process in silence before expiring, thereby earning his place in Valhalla. 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). 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). The sources are often vague, referencing legendary figures of dubious veracity or mixing up accepted historical chronology. Some precision is called for here, since . Many historians suggest that even the earliest literary references to the Blood Eagle were in poems rather than in historical accounts, which may mean they were merely intended for entertainment and not to be taken literally. [16] Frank's paper sparked a "lively debate". Experts have long debated whether the blood eagle was a literary trope or an actual punishment. Download Blood Eagle stock photos. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Answers must be in-depth and comprehensive, or they will be removed. 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. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. There was a time when George Custer was a genuine American hero; now, not so much. 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. He characterized St. Dunstan's description of lla's killing as an "accurate account of a body subjected to the ritual of the blood eagle". While dissecting a living human body in this way was within the realm of possibility, surviving such torture was not. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. Supposedly, this was reserved for the worst of the worst criminals, like someone who murdered his parents , but there is some question as to whether or not the . According to sometranslations of the Viking saga, a less invasive Blood Eagle could be performed by simply carving an eagle with outstretched wings on the victim's naked body; however,for added cruelty, the eviscerating method could be performed from the front. 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.". 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. Orkneyinga Saga envisages the tearing out of ribs and lungs and provides the information that the rite was intended as a sacrifice to Oinn. Viking historian Luke John Murphy of the University of Iceland decided to enlist the aid of actual anatomical specialists to assess whether performing the blood eagle would even be feasible. Frithiof's Sagamentions that the methodcould be called "Blood Owl," a term used by later antiquarians and authors who wrote about the Vikings. Vikings, like many medieval people, could be spectacularly violent, but perhaps not more so than other groups across a range of time periods. Next, take an axe there's nothing about sharpening it first and use the axe to hew the victim's ribs from the spine. the late ttr af Ragnars sonum gives a full, sensational report of the event by the beginning of the 19th century, the various sagas motifseagle sketch, rib division, lung surgery, and saline stimulantwere combined in inventive sequences designed for maximum horror. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings. The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Some believed that the brutal rite resulted from . They were intrepid, fearless oceangoing explorers who beat Columbus to North America by, well, a lot, and according to the National Museum of Denmark, they had no actual horns on the actual helmets, which ruins a lot of optics but you have to admit it makes absolute sense. Real Executions Downplayed in Film and TV, Execution and Infamy in 18th Century Britain, Details About The Blood Eagle, One Of History's Most Nightmarish Torture Methods. Thousands of new, high-quality pictures added every day. 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Before we get into the details, remember that this one specialized in keeping the subject alive throughout the proceedings. 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. A Note to our Readers 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". 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. "For the slayer by a cruel death of their captive father, Ragnar's sons act the blood-eagle on Ella, and salt his flesh.". 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. Either way, the rituals appearance in these texts is intended to send a message tied to honor and revenge. In some cases, the texts suggested that a designated official was on hand to perform the blood eagle act, perhaps because it required highly specialized knowledge of anatomy and butchering. It would have been very difficult to separate the ribs from the vertebrae, since the joints are stabilized by very strong ligaments. The victim was offered up as a ritual sacrifice to Odin, the Nordic god of war. Some accounts also mention the pouring of salt on the victim's wounds. Ok Ellu bak, What I've been wanting to know is if anyone has information about the torture method known as the blood eagle. A typical Iron Age fighting knife would have been ideal for this purpose. See more at profgabriele.com. NY 10036. 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 use of salt was later adopted by writers; they described the process as a "saline stimulant" intended to inflict additional pain and suffering, usually applied before the lungs were spread.

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