blood eagle

blood eagle, method of ritual execution employed by Viking cultures described in Norse literature. The ritual’s place in Viking lore is probably overemphasized in modern literature and history because of its incredible level of brutality. When performing the blood eagle, executioners separate the victim’s ribs from his spine before cutting flaps of skin and muscle off the back to be splayed out on the victim’s sides. The lungs are then cut out of the chest cavity to form a pair of external “wings.” Generally, the blood eagle is tied to vengeance, especially between nobles. In all four accounts of the ritual killing in Norse literature, it is used to avenge the killing of a family member.

One description of the blood eagle appears in Harald Fairhair’s Saga, a chronicle recounting the life and times of the Norwegian king Harald I. It is likely from the 13th century. The same event appears in the Orkneyinga Saga from roughly the same time period.

Both Harald Fairhair’s Saga and the Orkneyinga Saga tell the story of the execution of Halfdan Long-Leg, the son of Harald, by Torf-Einar, an earl of Orkney in the 9th century. In the latter saga, upon defeating his enemy in combat, Torf-Einar executes Halfdan “by laying his sword in the hollow at the backbone and hacking all his ribs from the backbone down to the loins, and drawing out the lungs.” He then presents his enemy’s mutilated corpse as an offering to Odin. It is impossible to confirm whether foes truly executed one another in this manner. In fact, many examples of Viking brutality may be the product of skaldic embellishment; poets were well known to aggrandize the achievements of their subjects.

The foremost modern academic text addressing the historicity of the blood eagle was written in 1984 by scholar Roberta Frank. She examined all instances of the blood eagle’s appearance in medieval literature, even those whose imagery is only loosely associated with the act. She pointed out how the blood eagle ritual’s description changed over time throughout the Middle Ages and concluded that the description is more a matter of creative interpretation than a historically accurate account of a practice (even though scientists have concluded that the ritual was anatomically possible). Nevertheless, the blood eagle maintains a grip on the imaginations of storytellers.

In the early 21st century, films and television shows about Vikings, loosely based on skaldic poetry, proliferated. This fascination with Viking culture came in no small part from the public’s fixation on the more grotesque elements present in Norse stories. A pair of notable examples in the media occurred on the History Channel in the fictional TV drama Vikings (2013–20). Two of the show’s major antagonists—Jarl Borg and King Aella—are subjected to the blood eagle ritual. In the video game Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, a character based on Ivar the Boneless executes his enemies in the same fashion. The blood eagle also features in the terrifying conclusion of Ari Aster’s folk horror film Midsommar (2019).