The Legendary “Blood Eagle” Ritual of Viking Warriors to Torture Their “Unforgiving” Enemies is described in gruesome epic tales involving the disembowelment of the back, the cutting of ribs, and the extraction of the enemy’s lungs, transforming them into bloody wings…
According to the Daily Mail, many historians today dismiss the epic tales or legends related to the practice of the “Blood Eagle” ritual by Viking warriors—who inhabited Scandinavia from the 8th to the 11th century—due to a lack of archaeological evidence and modern records.
The Blood Eagle ritual depicted in the TV series ‘Vikings’ by the History Channel. (Photo: Daily Mail).
However, a group of researchers from the University of Iceland argues that the “Blood Eagle” ritual—reserved for the Viking’s “unforgiving” enemies—could be real and performed with their well-known weapons.
The Blood Eagle ritual was exclusively for the Viking’s “unforgiving” enemies.
The researchers noted that any victim would likely not survive long under the horrific forms of torture in the “Blood Eagle” ritual—disemboweling the back, cutting the ribs, and extracting the enemy’s lungs so that they resembled a pair of bloody wings.
Contrary to the legends or epics, the researchers believe the victim would certainly die before their lungs were completely extracted.
The research team from the University of Iceland also stated that the ritual aligns with the Vikings’ brutal treatment of enemies and corpses, and could be linked to their sense of honor.
The Blood Eagle ritual has been depicted in both the TV series “Vikings” by the History Channel and the 2019 horror film from the U.S. and Sweden: Midsommar.
An execution – possibly the Blood Eagle ritual – depicted on a 7th-century stone slab on the island of Gotland, Sweden. (Photo: Daily Mail).
The study conducted by historian Luke John Murphy from the University of Iceland, along with a team of medical scientists from Keele University, suggests that the Blood Eagle ritual involves gouging the victim’s back and cutting the ribs to pull the lungs out through the wounds.
“The final tremor of the lungs emitted on the protruding ribs is thought to resemble the movement of a bird’s wings—hence the name Blood Eagle for this ritual,” the researchers wrote on Conversation.
In his study, Dr. Murphy chose to bypass the long-debated question of whether the Blood Eagle ritual truly existed, instead focusing on whether its execution was anatomically feasible.
“Our answer is clearly yes,” the researchers affirmed.
Dr. Murphy and his colleagues argued that the Viking’s barbed or hooked spears could indeed quickly cut through the rib cage from the back.
The Viking weapons we know could perform the legendary Blood Eagle ritual. (Photo: Daily Mail).
It would require cutting through various muscles to break and push the rib cage outward to form “wings.” However, contrary to the legends, the researchers admit that the victim would die very quickly from such a brutal execution. Therefore, the final tremor of the lungs on the ribs might not occur as described in the legends.
“Thus, any attempt to shape the ribs into ‘wings’ or extract the lungs would be performed on a corpse. Therefore, the final ‘tremor’ of the lungs is likely not to happen,” the researchers wrote.
According to the researchers, there is indeed archaeological and historical evidence suggesting that the Blood Eagle ritual was not unfamiliar to the brutal warriors of the Viking era.
“They were not at all hesitant about displaying the corpses of humans and animals in special rituals, including in divine executions,” the researchers stated.
