Either way, the rituals appearance in these texts is intended to send a message tied to honor and revenge. Frithiof's Sagamentions that the methodcould be called "Blood Owl," a term used by later antiquarians and authors who wrote about the Vikings. "For the slayer by a cruel death of their captive father, Ragnar's sons act the blood-eagle on Ella, and salt his flesh.". (The correct answer is: All of the above.). "Such a weapon might even be depicted on a stone monument found on the Swedish island of Gotland, where a scene carved into the stone depicts something that could have been a blood eagle or other execution.". Depends on who you ask. 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. 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. 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. Recent Events That Will Most Likely Make It Into History Books 50 Years From Now, 21 Historical Figures Who Would Dominate Social Media If They Were Alive Today. 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. 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. | 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. The victim had become a slimy, bloody bird. Others are more graphic, aligning with the extreme versions depicted in contemporary popular culture. "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. 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. "It is clear that a victim undergoing a 'full' blood eagle would have died long before their ribs could have been formed into the shape of wings and their lungs externalized.". That last 'fluttering' would not have happened.". carved on the back Cookie Policy Some precision is called for here, since they're supposed to be removed one at a time. Instead,"We suspect that a particular type of Viking spearhead could have been used as a makeshift tool to 'unzip' the rib cage quickly from the back," the authors wrote in an accompanying essay for The Conversation. 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). 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). Find Blood Eagle stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. The History Channel series Vikings is a fictional account of legendary Norse hero Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), who was born a farmer and became a Scandinavian king. This, in turn, led to a more nuanced discussion of not only what could have happened, but how and why. Dreamstime is the world`s largest stock photography community. Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter. The execution methods recurring appearances in medieval texts, often without extensive explanation, suggests a common understanding among Viking-age readers and listeners, many of whom would have learned the tales through oral tradition. 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. 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. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 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 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. DOI: Speculum, 2021. 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. 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. | READ MORE. 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. 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. Hdlfddn's death inThe Orkneyinga Sagawas as much an act of revenge as an offering to Odin, thoughwriters lateromittedthe reference to the Norse god. s er fold rr, 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. In captivity, they may live over 50 years due to fewer hazards and veterinary care. Per the authors, "holding a sharpened blade parallel to the underlying muscle layer, while making long cutting incisions just superficial to the muscles" would have made it possible to remove the outer skin and muscle. 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. 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. She was also a contributor for FanSided's BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Next, take an axe there's nothing about sharpening it first and use the axe to hew the victim's ribs from the spine. Such a knife could have been used to cut and peel back the skin and muscle layers for the first part of the blood eagle ritual. York, cut. 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. The Earl made a blood eagle be cut on his back with the sword, and had his ribs severed from the back-bone, and his lungs pulled out.". Study co-authorsMonte GatesandHeidi Fuller, both medical scientists at Keele University in England, were spurred to investigate the blood eagle by the Vikings series. 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. Nec vulnus impressisse contenti, laceratam salivere carnem. 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. 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.. Matthew Gabriele is a professor of medieval studies and chair of the Department of Religion & Culture at Virginia Tech. Related: Fierce fighters: 7 secrets of Viking seamen. But wait: there's more. 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). She compared the lurid details of the blood eagle to Christian martyrdom tracts, such as that relating the tortures of Saint Sebastian, shot so full of arrows that his ribs and internal organs were exposed. 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]. But What is it, Really. Borg distracted Ragnar with the supposed real Yggdrasil (the tree of life) while he manipulated Ragnars brother, Rollo (Clive Standen), into betraying him. Matthew Gabriele is a professor of medieval studies and chair of the Department of Religion & Culture at Virginia Tech. Victims likely lost consciousness early in the process as flesh was removed from their backs; the quantity of blood loss and subsequent lung collapse would have killed them long before the grisly ordeal was finished, and "much of the procedure would have been performed on a corpse," the scientists reported. 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. In the numerous sagas that mention the Blood Eagle practice, revenge and pure disdain often preceded its usage. 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. This ritual appears in two instances in Norse literature and they coincide in the victims being noblemen, just like Jarl Borg, though in these cases the executions were in retaliation for the murder of a father. The execution method shows up twice in the popular History Channel drama series Vikings as a ritual reserved for the protagonists worst enemies, Jarl Borg and King lla, a fictionalized counterpart to the actual Northumbrian ruler. It was allegedly performed throughout all of Scandinavia and also in conquered Viking lands that now comprise modern England and Ireland. 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. Was Wyatt Earp a brave, courageous, bold lawman, or a pimp? Vikings didn't leave many written records behind and the blood eagel is one of those things that leaves no archeological traces. Privacy Statement with a broad sword 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. Thorbjrn Harr played Jarl Borg of Gtaland in the first two seasons of the History Channel series. 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. The blood eagle purportedly involved carving open the victim's back, cutting the ribs away from the spine, and then pulling out the lungs through the opening to display them on the outspread ribs. The account of lle, the king of Northumbria being thus treated by the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok in retaliation for Ragn. 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 conventional interpretation of the Blood Eagle stipulates that the shape of an eagle was carved onto the victim's back, after which the skin was pulled back and the ribs were detached from the spine. 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. 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. Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. 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. by 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. 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." Certain types of Viking knives, swords and spears may have been wielded for different parts of the blood eagle ritual, and prior archaeological discoveries include examples of weapons that would have been well-suited for this gruesome practice. Vikings, like many medieval people, could be spectacularly violent, but perhaps not more so than other groups across a range of time periods. Some accounts also mention the pouring of salt on the victim's wounds. The blood eagle was a method of ritually executing a chosen member as detailed in late skaldic poetry. 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. 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. Not satisfied with impressing a wound on him, they salted the mangled flesh. 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. This, in turn, led to a more nuanced discussion of not only what could have happened, but how and why. In line with the studys interdisciplinary bent, the authors paired this analysis with historical and archaeological data about the specialized tools available within Viking society. 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. 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. And maybe it simply refers to letting the rotting corpse be torn apart and eaten by an actual eagle. lla and Edmund were both victims of Ivar the Boneless. The Dirty, Deadly History of Depleted Uranium Munitions, The Comics Writer Who Became a Legend-and a Martyr of Argentina's Dirty War, Emily Meggett, Preserver of Gullah Geechee Foodways of the Coastal South, Dies at 90, Documents Confirm Direct Ancestors of King Charles III Involved in Slave Trade, Academic Freedom is Vital to Developing the Critical Abilities Society Needs. The answer is complex. In popular lore, few images are as synonymous with Viking brutality as the " blood eagle ," a practice that allegedly found torturers separating the victim's ribs from their spine, pulling. "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 Blood Eagle is one of the most graphic, cruel, and lengthytorture methodsever described. 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. Use them in commercial designs under lifetime, perpetual & worldwide rights. 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 'Blood Eagle' ritual was allegedly practiced from the 8th to the 11th centuries by Scandinavian sea raiders. and gladden the raven. Around 1300 AD in the saga Norna-Gests, another reference appears, but it, too, is vague: Now the blood eagle A typical Iron Age fighting knife would have been ideal for this purpose. While dissecting a living human body in this way was within the realm of possibility, surviving such torture was not. The longest that any Bald Eagle has been known to live in the wild is 39 years. 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. at, had, the one who dwelt, A posterior view of the thorax, illustrating some deeper structures encountered while exposing the ribs. Heres how it works. The historian community believes that the blood eagle ritual is a piece of complex poetic misunderstanding due to the lack of information. Some believed that the brutal rite resulted from . Their findings indicate, for instance, that torturers may have used spears with shallow hooks to unzip the ribs from the spinea conclusion that could explain the presence of a spear inone of the few(possible) medieval visual depictions of the ritual. "[18], While taking no view on the historical authenticity of the ritual, the authors of a 2022 study concluded that the ritual as described was not inconsistent either with physiology or the tools available within the sociocultural context of the Viking era. 2010 The Thought & Expression Company, Inc. 10 Methods Of Execution For Utah That Are Way More Fun Than FiringSquads. 10.1086/717332 (About DOIs). Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. 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. 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. She suggests that these tales of martyrdom inspired further exaggeration of the misunderstood skaldic verses into a grandiose torture and death rite with no actual historic basis. I'll 'vengeThee well; That's especially the case with the blood eagle ritual, which has long been dismissed as mere legendwhether because of repeated misunderstandings during translations of the poems or perhaps a desire by Christian scholars to portray the pagan Vikings as barbaric. 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. Severing the ribs was a trickier task particularly if the lungs needed to remain undamaged, as hacking at them with a sword or sawing with a serrated knife would have likely torn or punctured the lung tissue. 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. Some scholars believe that the Blood Eagle was connected to earlier human sacrifices made to Odin, although whether or not those sacrifices every took placeremains controversial. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Unless archaeologists find a corpse bearing clear evidence of the torture, well likely never know. All of that exposed tissue then gets salt rubbed into it, which certainly puts "lemon juice on a paper cut" into perspective, doesn't it? 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. 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. It was great. So, the Vikings were ocean-going, artistic, sadistic, and consistent. 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 blood eagle was an execution method done by the Vikings of Scandinavia. The answer, according to an interdisciplinary team of medical doctors, anatomists and a historian, is a resounding yes. The sources are often vague, referencing legendary figures of dubious veracity or mixing up accepted historical chronology. All of those things can be, and are, true. 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. The Portal for Public History. Finally, it would be extremely challenging to reposition the ribs in the shape of an eagle's wings, and then pull the lungs through the opening. See more at profgabriele.com. 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. The victim was offered up as a ritual sacrifice to Odin, the Nordic god of war. 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. Both were written several centuries after the events they depict, and exist in various versions known to have influenced each other.[4]. People are messy, and, by extension, history is, too. When she's not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs! cut with [an] eagle.[1]. Popular opinion ebbs and flows, especially regarding history. who rule land He dedicated the victim to Odin as a victory offering.. 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. Lists about punishments, penalties, systemic harm, and execution methods used then, now, here, and all around the world. 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. In TheOrkneyingaSaga, Hdlfddn(Halfdan) underwent the Blood Eagle after he was defeated in battle: "Next morning they found Hdlfddn Hdlegg on Kinar's Hill. The Vikings do indeed loom large in the modern American popular imagination. 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. bana Sigmundar Now is the bloody eagle 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. 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. Either way, the rituals appearance in these texts is intended to send a message tied to honor and revenge. Each rib was then meticulously separated from the backbone with an ax, which left the victims internal organs on full display.". Ragnar performs theblrn (blood eagle) on Borg, a gruesome process of ritualized torture and execution allegedly carried out during the Viking Age (c. 7501050). 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". Who's Really to Blame for America's Lousy Transit Systems? The value of this new scholarship lies in its imagination, in the way it manages to take something conceptual and make it more concrete. - Jan 10, 2022 7:22 pm UTC. Jarl Borg's character was one of the most popular in the series as he was. "Class War" is Back in the Headlines. The Vikings rubbed salt on the wound to make things more painful and pulled the victim's lungs over their shoulders. Next: Vikings: Why Ragnar Doesn't Speak In The Season 2 Finale. Blood-Eagle lines on Thy foe shall be flowing.". 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. Updated June 19, 2019 567.2k views5 items The Blood Eagle is one of the most graphic, cruel, and lengthy torture methods ever described. Always loved the ending of Midsommar for the Blood Eagle. "), There are also two accounts of Torf-Einarr's execution of Halfdan Haaleg. The debate among historians about whether or not the Blood Eagle actually occurred continues. The life span of eagles in the wild is generally around 30 years. The tallest guy in recent history was a man named Robert Wadlow, who stood at 8 11 and did indeed need braces to stand due to his enormous height. A Note to our Readers 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. 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 sources are often vague, referencing legendary figures of dubious veracity or mixing up accepted historical chronology. Free or royalty-free photos and images. 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. In the Orkneyinga saga, the blood eagle is described as a sacrifice to Odin. Answer (1 of 6): The jury is still out on this one. 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. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings. The lungs were then pulled out and over the ribs, mimicking the image of the wings of a spread eagle. David M. Perry The ritual was only known about from sagas until the University of Iceland team discovered that it 'could have' been performed with Viking weapons . [14], Roberta Frank reviewed the historical evidence for the rite in her "Viking Atrocity and Skaldic Verse: The Rite of the Blood-Eagle", where she writes: "By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the various saga motifseagle sketch, rib division, lung surgery, and 'saline stimulant'were combined in inventive sequences designed for maximum horror. [19][20], Ragnar Lodbrok's sons and King lla of Northumbria. Saxo, who wrote duringthe late 12th and early 13thcenturies, recorded oral traditions and history as well as events from his own time. Borg later attacked Kattegat when Horik excluded him from their raids and battled Ragnar and his men. 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. Some references to the torture are terse. Historical evidence for the blood eagle is scant. 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. A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages.
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