However, the victim inevitably would have died from shock and blood loss very early on in the process, so the final fluttering of the lungs is likely poetic license. 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. I watched midsommar last night, and it is full of nordic tropes. The ritual was only known about from sagas until the University of Iceland team discovered that it 'could have' been performed with Viking weapons . Mindy Weisberger is a Live Science editor for the channels Animals and Planet Earth. Photos: 10th-century Viking tomb unearthed in Denmark, 1,200-year-old pagan temple to Thor and Odin unearthed. ("They caused the bloody eagle to be carved on the back oflla, and they cut away all of the ribs from the spine, and then they ripped out his lungs. 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. Gruesome Viking "blood eagle" ritual is anatomically possible, study finds But victims would have died long before the torturous execution concluded. That last 'fluttering' would not have happened.". Was the blood eagle a real torture method used by nordic peoples People are messy, and, by extension, history is, too. The Vikings do indeed loom large in the modern American popular imagination. The lungs would also likely have collapsed by this point into compact tissue about the size of a fist. Horik then told Ragnar to reestablish their alliance with Borg, and after the latter accepted the offer, Ragnar captured him and sentenced him to death by blood eagle (in season 2s episode appropriately titled Blood Eagle). 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." 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. Vikings told the story of legendary Norse figure Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his travels and raid alongside his Viking brothers, from the beginning of the Viking Age (marked by the Lindisfarne raid, as seen in season 1) onward. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of. But wait: there's more. If the Vikings did perform the blood eagle, does that mean the Middle Ages were as brutish, nasty and dark as stereotypes suggest? The give-and-take nature of the pairs collaboration withLuke John Murphy, a historian of religion at the University of Iceland, proved eminently fruitful, with the different perspectives of history and medicine pushing the scholars in unexpected ways. Ivar the Boneless: The truth behind the famous viking - History 101 A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages. Theres nothing about severing the ribs from the spine or pulling the lungs over the exposed ribsthose details would be piled on, one-by-one, over the coming years. Others note that the early references occurred centuries after Scandinavia had been Christianized and that the Blood Eagle was merely a propagandist myth used by Christians to make the pagan Vikings appear subhuman. (Warning: some graphic anatomical descriptions follow.). Saxo, who wrote duringthe late 12th and early 13thcenturies, recorded oral traditions and history as well as events from his own time. One would also need to sever the muscles attaching the ribs to the lower back. As this new article helps demonstrate, perhaps the pendulum needs to stop. Get the latest History stories in your inbox? The blood eagle scene was a real parallel to Athelstan's crucifixion. The Vikings rubbed salt on the wound to make things more painful and pulled the victim's lungs over their shoulders. 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 execution method shows up twice in the popular History Channel drama series Vikings as aritual reservedfor the protagonists worst enemies,Jarl BorgandKing lla, a fictionalized counterpart to the actualNorthumbrian ruler. 10.1086/717332 (About DOIs). The blood eagles prominence within Viking societyboth during the medieval era and as ascribed in the centuries sincestems from its emphasis on ritual and revenge. The 'Blood Eagle' Torture Method As Seen On The Show Some accounts also mention the pouring of salt on the victim's wounds. Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter. Study co-authorsMonte GatesandHeidi Fuller, both medical scientists at Keele University in England, were spurred to investigate the blood eagle by the Vikings series. Some precision is called for here, since . Cut with an eagle? Well, thats sort of vague, isnt it? 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. Blood-Eagle lines on Thy foe shall be flowing.". Blood eagle - Wikipedia They used anatomical modeling software to effectively recreate extreme versions of the blood eagle, simulating the effect of each step of the torture on the human body. 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". The show led them to medieval sagas, which opened up further questions and made them realize they needed to consult a historian. 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. 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. DOI: Speculum, 2021. Then we come to various rituals and rites that don't involve reciting sagas and drinking a lot. Gruesome Viking "blood eagle" ritual is anatomically possible, study After that, his exposed lungs would be pulled out of his body and spread over his wings, offering witnesses the sight of a final bird-like fluttering as he died. In Vikings, Jarl Borg endures the entire process in silence before expiring, thereby earning his place in Valhalla. Matthew Townend (ed.) "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 answer, according to an interdisciplinary team of medical doctors, anatomists and a historian, is a resounding yes. Ritual torture like the blood eagle dehumanized by literally transforming man into an animal. Seeing that fullness, that richness of our subjects in the past, allows us to not only better understand them but ourselvesas well. The sources are often vague, referencing legendary figures of dubious veracity or mixing up accepted historical chronology. After that, his ribs would be hacked from his spine with an ax, one by one, and the bones and skin on both sides pulled outward to create a pair of wings from the mans back. Some precision is called for here, since they're supposed to be removed one at a time. [16] Frank's paper sparked a "lively debate". "Class War" is Back in the Headlines. You know like an eagle. 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. [5], 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.[6]. Spectacular executions, displaying of dead bodies, and "deviant burials" did occursuch as the skeleton of a beheaded noblewoman buried with her head tucked under arm and her jawbone replaced by a pig's mandible. had Ella's back The blood eagle was an execution method done by the Vikings of Scandinavia. had Ellas back Vikings aimed to be as historically accurate as possible, which wasnt easy given the few historical records about the Viking Age, but theres one big mistake when it comes to the most brutal death in the series: the blood eagle, and heres what happened. In each of the extant nine accounts, the victim is captured in battle and has an eagle of some sort carved into their back. Ok Ellu bak, The gruesome 'Blood Eagle' method is a real nasty way to go that' As the story progressed, Vikings shifted its focus to Ragnars sons and their own journeys, with them taking over the series after Ragnars death in season 4. 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". 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. "They've provided a totally fresh perspective on some very old questions, and let us tackle the blood eagle in a new way," he said. 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. 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. Thorbjrn Harr played Jarl Borg of Gtaland in the first two seasons of the History Channel series. 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. Second, the mere act of opening the thoracic cavity from behind would likely weaken or sever several major arteries of the body, and probably deflate the lungs. Next: Vikings: Why Ragnar Doesn't Speak In The Season 2 Finale. Citing accounts from books published in 1799 and 1834, Smithsonian Magazine provides a much more elaborate (and nauseating) definition of the Blood Eagle torture method: First the intended victim would be restrained, face down; next, the shape of an eagle with outstretched wings would be cut into his back. Both were written several centuries after the events they depict, and exist in various versions known to have influenced each other.[4]. 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. Frithiof's Sagamentions that the methodcould be called "Blood Owl," a term used by later antiquarians and authors who wrote about the Vikings. 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. Historical evidence for the blood eagle is scant.
blood eagle real life photo