Brutal Blood Eagle Ritual from Viking Legends Is Anatomically Possible, Result to Immediate Death

A Viking ritual, known as 'blood eagle' was possibly true based on the historical records. A new study claims that the grisly ritual could be performed precisely if a specific set of surgical methods were conducted on the human anatomy. According to a report by The Conversation, the blood eagle execution is anatomically possible.

What is the Blood Eagle Ritual?

The blood eagle is a special ritual reserved for individuals of a Viking community that had committed crimes and or simply served as enemies of the governing structures at the time. The gory ritual involves carving the victim's back open and cutting the ribs from the spine before pulling out the lungs. The final fluttering of the lungs resembles the movement of the bird's wings that's why it's called "blood eagle."

Records of the blood eagle ritual were discovered to have been executed between the 8th century and 11th century across the regions of Scandinavia.

Although ancient transcriptions of the Norse saga showed how the ritual is exhibited in the northern countries, the physical evidence that supports the practice is scarce. Many archaeological studies have attempted to excavate clues of how the blood eagle is being commenced but lead to little to no avail.

(Photo : Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Circa 900 AD, Viking ships invading England.

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 misunderstandings of complex poetry and Christian writers' using the analogy to portray their Nordic attackers as barbaric heathens.

Due to the debate over the Scandanavian ritual, experts led by the University of Iceland and Keele University attempted to assemble the puzzle. The new study found that the blood eagle was indeed possible, even with the primal weapons that the Norsemen wielded at that time.

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Blood Eagle Can Be Performed Anatomically, Would Result to Immediate Death

According to the research authors, any person would naturally fail to survive the ritual. The findings also suggest that not long after a few minutes of operating a blood eagle, an individual with exposed lungs would die: an idea contrary to the Viking legends. Moreover, the ritual was found to have been accustomed in Scandanavia, regarding it as the most virtuous way to end the life of criminals and enemies of an earldom.

Blood eagle was depicted in written novels and pop culture. Portrayals of the ritual were also presented in recent series such as the 2019 movie 'Midsommar' and the History Channel series 'Vikings.'

University of Iceland's ancient Christian Europe expert and author of the study Luke John Murphy said in a DailyMail report that the blood eagle ritual is anatomically feasible. Instead of finding physical evidence and locations where the ceremonies took place, their team examined how the ritual is operated to the human body.

The most referenced record of the blood eagle was from the Orkneyinga saga, where the ritual is considered a sacrificial approach. The saga included the execution of Torf-Einarr Jarl to Norway's Hálfdan háleggr, son of King Haraldr hárfagri, over the dispute of Orkney lands.

Among the debated assumptions over the blood eagle ritual was if the back of the torso was 'carved' or 'cut.' The authors analyzed the problem through compiling records of Medieval punishments and combined the most plausible approaches to the modern-day physiology methodologies.

The experts concluded that a Viking spearhead is enough to 'unzip' a person's rib cage through the back of the body. Although the surgical ceremony is challenging to execute, the authors implied that it is not impossible. According to the experts, the weapon used in the rituals resembles the stone monuments on Gotland, Sweden, known as the Stora Hammars.

The study suggests that a blood eagle requires several muscles to be cut to reach the rib cage and bring it along with the rhomboids, trapezius, and diaphragm outward the body for the 'wing' expansion. The researchers noted that external exposures of any of these parts would result in immediate death.

The full coverage of the investigation was published in The Journal of the Medieval Academy of America, titled "An Anatomy of the Blood Eagle: The Practicalities of Viking Torture."