The blood eagle , or the Blood Eagle in English, is a morbid tradition in Scandinavia, associated with the Vikings . Practiced against the worst enemies, the torture ritual was used for revenge , in the name of the god Odin . The Blood Eagle is one of the most terrifying and painful tortures in Viking history.
Blood eagle, what is it?
The ritual of execution appears in accounts around the year 1000 AD. Considered the cruellest of all abuses , the Blood Eagle is a method of torture used for revenge and as an offering to the god Odin.
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To achieve this, the Vikings tied hands and feet of their victim still alive. The executioner, in search of revenge, then stabbed the martyr at the level of the coccyx, before directing the blade towards the rib cage. The ribs were then separated from the vertebral column . The lungs, placed outside the victim, were then reminiscent of the spread wings of an eagle.
It is said that the Vikings rubbed salt, at the end of the ritual, in the wound of the victim. And this to increase his suffering, even if it is complicated to think that someone can survive such a torture...
In some accounts, the Viking torture ritual is described as less terrifying. Not mentioning the extraction of ribs and lungs. In some writings it is simply said that an eagle is cut on the back of the victim. The Gesta Danorum , the work of a medieval historian around the year 1200, nevertheless specifies that the wounds are salted to accentuate the pain of the victim .
The four victims of the blood eagle
Four well-known personalities are said to have undergone the Blood Eagle method of torture . Two historical characters and two legendary characters.
The first victim would be King Ella (or also known as Aelle) of Northumbria . Legend has it that the Anglo-Saxon king took the Viking Ragnar Lothbrok prisoner and locked him alive in a dungeon filled with snakes. He perishes there. To avenge their father, the sons of Ragnar would have executed Ella by the Blood Eagle method. His terrible death is discussed in the Knutsdrapa, a source from the Viking period. It is written there:
“In Jorvik sat
Ivarr who made
Carve an eagle
Behind Ella's back. »
Halfdan Haleggr , son of King Haraldr Harfagri of Norway, is said to be the Blood Eagle's second victim. Torf-Einarr, Jarl of Orkney, would have used this torture to avenge the death of his father .
Lyngvi, murderer of Sigmundr , is also a victim of the Blood Eagle. As well as the giant Brusi , after killing Asbjörn, brother of Ormr.
Meaning of Blood Eagle
The Blood Eagle's method of torture is an Odinic sacrifice . A sacrifice for the god of war, Odin. But this torture is also carried out by simple revenge. Revenge for the father, mainly.
The blood eagle is also and above all a means for the Vikings to sow terror in the hearts of their enemies . This method of torture is a true symbol of the cruelty of the Vikings, known as the Barbarians of the North.
Authenticity of Viking Torture Ritual (True or False)
There is ultimately no evidence that the Blood Eagle ritual actually existed. In some accounts, it is also finally said that King Ella and Halfdan were both killed in battle.
It seems that the popularization of this torture was mainly aimed at demonizing the Vikings . Stories of the atrocious method of torture reached villages by word of mouth , which were then completely deserted even before the Vikings arrived.
The Blood Eagle in the Modern World
The Blood Eagle method is well known in works of fiction. Morbid fascination of the modern world, we find this torture in the work of Robert E. Howard, Conan the Barbarian . Then in the song Blood Eagle by Swedish metal band Amon Amarth .
The method of torture is alluded to in the series Vikings . First in episode 7 of season 2 , then in season 4 , for the death of King Ella (also called "King Aelle " in the Vikings series.
1 comment
J’adore les viking,je sait pas dans quel pays vivait ils ,mais je les aimes