A grisly Viking ritual in which a victim’s back was cut open and their ribs and lungs pulled out of the hole to resemble wings was anatomically possible, a study found.
The ‘Blood Eagle’ is said to have been reserved for only the most hated enemies of the notorious Scandinavian raiders who lived from the 8th to the 11th centuries.
With no physical archaeological evidence nor contemporary written records, the ritual is known only from transcriptions of poetry and sagas made centuries later.
Accordingly, the outlandishly grotesque practice has long been dismissed by historians as being nothing but a misunderstanding of complex poetry.
(Or, some have suggested, a consequence of an wilful desire on the part of Christian writers to portray their Nordic foes as barbaric heathens.)
However, a multi-disciplinary team led from the University of Iceland have determined that it could have been performed using known Viking weapons.
Any victim would not have lasted long, the researchers said — and they would, contrary to the legends, certainly be dead before their lungs were fully exposed.
The team also said that the ritual was consistent with the Viking’s habitual treatment of enemies and corpses, and may have been tied to the defence of their honour.
The Blood Eagle ritual has been depicted in both the History Channel drama ‘Vikings’ as well as the 2019 US–Swedish folk horror film ‘Midsommar’.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Anatomically, it is possible for a Viking victim to be cut in half and have their ribs or lungs removed. This was done to make them look like wings. A study has shown this. Pictured: a depiction of an execution — possibly a Blood Eagle ritual — on a 7th century stone monument from the Swedish island of Gotland
It is believed that the “Blood Eagle”, which was known to be reserved for those most opposed to Scandinavian raiders, who lived in the 8th through the 11th centuries. Pictured: actors performing a re-enactment of a Viking raid
The ritual has been transcribed from poetry and sagas centuries after the fact, but there is no evidence of its existence in either archaeological or contemporary writing records. Pictured: a barbed Viking spear of the kind that historian Luke John Murphy and colleagues believe would have been capable of performing the Blood Eagle ritual to open a person’s back
History has dismissed this outlandish and grotesque act as a misinterpretation of complex poetry. Pictured: a Blood Eagle ritual sacrifice as depicted in the conclusion of the 2019 US–Swedish folk horror film ‘Midsommar’
In their study, Dr Murphy decided to eschew the long-debated question of whether or not the Blood Eagle ever actually took place — and focussed instead on whether performing the ritual would actually be anatomically feasible in the first place. They stated that their answer was a clear “yes”.
The study was undertaken by historian Luke John Murphy of the University of Iceland in tandem with a team of medical scientists from Keele University.
The researchers stated that they had seen the ritual involve cutting open the victim’s stomach and removing their spine. After this, the lung were removed through the wounds.
‘The final fluttering of the lungs splayed out on the outspread ribs would supposedly resemble the movement of a bird’s wings — hence the eagle in the name.’
Existing scholarship on the blood eagle, the team explained, has typically focussed on the medieval tests describing the ritual — leading to disagreements over the exact terms used to describe the ‘cutting’ or ‘carving’ of the victim’s back.
In their study, Dr Murphy decided to eschew the long-debated question of whether or not the Blood Eagle ever actually took place — and focussed instead on whether performing the ritual would actually be anatomically feasible in the first place.
The researchers stated that “our answer is a clear no.”
The team combined nine medieval stories of the ritual and modern anatomy and physiology in order to reach their conclusion.
Dr Murphy and colleagues propose that barbed or lugged Viking spearheads would have been able to ‘unzip’ the rib cage quickly from the back — and that while the procedure would have certainly been difficult, it would not have been impossible.
These men suggested that such an execution weapon could be found on the 7th Century ‘Stora Hammars” stone monuments of Gotland. It depicts what appears to be Blood Eagles or some other type of execution.
Various muscles would be needed to be cut in order to fracture and articulate the rib cage outwards to form ‘wings’ — including the trapezius, rhomboids and diaphragm.
Researchers acknowledged that they realized, however, that the victim could have been killed even if it was performed with care.
Any attempts to shape the ribs into wings or remove the lung would have to be done on a corpse. This last “fluttering”, however, would never have occurred.
Dr Murphy and colleagues propose that barbed or lugged Viking spearheads would have been able to ‘unzip’ the rib cage quickly from the back — and that while the procedure would have been difficult, it would not have been impossible. Pictured: barbed Viking spearheads
In fact, they suggested, such a weapon may be depicted on one of the 7th century ‘Stora Hammars’ monuments (pictured — the relevant panel is third from the top) from the Swedish island of Gotland, which depicts a scene that could be a Blood Eagle or other form of execution
The researchers believe that although the Blood Eagle ritual is unusual in its execution, it was likely to have been performed by the Viking-age elite of warrior-elites. Pictured: an enhanced close-up of the execution, possibly a Blood Eagle ritual, on the Stora Hammars monument
The researchers stated that the scientists were open to displaying dead animals during special rituals and even in spectacular executions. Pictured is a Blood Eagle ritual, as seen in History Channel’s drama “Vikings”.
Researchers claim that there are plenty of historical and archaeological evidence that suggests that the Blood Eagle ritual was not unusual for brutal Viking-age warriors.
The researchers stated that the scientists had no hesitation in displaying dead animals during special rituals and spectacular executions.
The team studied one so-called “deviant burial” and found the remains of Birka’s 10th-century noblewoman.
This poor woman was discovered with her head shaved off and her remains beneath her arm. Her missing jawbone — perhaps destroyed during the decapitation — had been replaced with one from a pig.
The team studied one so-called “deviant burial” and found the remains of Birka’s 10th-century noblewoman.
Poor woman was found by her head severed, and her remains under her arm. Her missing jawbone — perhaps destroyed during the decapitation — had been replaced with one from a pig. The original Birka grave drawing by an excavator, along with an artist reconstruction, are shown below.
These extreme treatments are understood to have been reserved for exceptional circumstances and typically tied to situations where reputation and honour — considered crucial by the Viking warriors — were seen to have been threatened.
According to the team, a possible trigger for such violence could be the capture or execution of a prisoner that had previously executed a Viking warrior’s father (or other male relatives) to shameful death.
Medieval tales show such victims being put in pits of serpents, burnt to death in a longhouse, or having their stomachs torn apart and then nailed to the wall.
The Blood Eagle may have been a more over-the-top case of this kind of revenge — with the sagas depicting it as a way for the practitioner to reclaim their lost honour.
The Medieval tales show victims being burned in longhouses, thrown into snake pits and even having their guts torn off to be nailed to a wall. Pictured: part of a baptismal font from Norum, held in the Historiska museet in Stockholm, which depicts Gunnarr Gjúkason, a 5th century king of Burgundy, having been thrown into a snake pit
‘The anatomical realities of the blood eagle make it clear that the procedure would be attention-grabbing,’ the researchers wrote in their paper.
This would have led to ‘blood and skin being removed from organs. [being] distributed over the immediate area, practitioners soaked in gore, and the victim’s screams — particularly during the highly painful removal of soft tissue from their back — likely audible over a significant distance.
‘If the blood eagle was ever performed, it appears that it would have conformed with the discourse of spectacular demonstrations of elite power in the Viking Age.’
The full findings of the study were published in The Journal of the Medieval Academy of America.