Gruesome Viking “blood eagle” ritual is anatomically possible, study finds

Enlarge / Thorbjorn Harr played Jarl Borg of Gotaland in the first two seasons of the History Channel series Vikings. Spoiler alert: He met with a gruesome death via the legendary "blood eagle" ritual. The ritual may have been a myth, but a new study shows it is anatomically possible. (credit: History Channel)

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. Early in the series, a rival leader named Jarl Borg (Thorbjorn Harr) of nearby Gotaland leads an attack on Ragnar's men and even convinces Ragnar's brother to betray him. Borg doesn't get an easy death when his schemes ultimately fail and he is captured. Ragnar performs the blorn (blood eagle") on Borg, a gruesome process of ritualized torture and execution allegedly carried out during the Viking Age (c. 750-1050).

The series prides itself on being as historically accurate as possible, which is a challenge, given that much of what we know about the Viking Age comes from epic poems telling of their achievements in spoken form, finally written down centuries later. That's especially the case with the blood eagle ritual, which has long been dismissed as mere legend-whether because of repeated misunderstandings during translations of the poems or perhaps a desire by Christian scholars to portray the pagan Vikings as barbaric.

(Warning: some graphic anatomical descriptions follow.)

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