1. The blood eagle – a ritualized method of torture and execution allegedly practiced by the Norse Vikings – opened up the ribs of the victim to craft their lungs into wings.
A ritualized method of torture and execution, the Viking practice of the “blood eagle” stands among the most brutal and controversial of historical tortures. Appearing just twice in Norse literature, although popularized subsequently in European mythology, it remains a matter of historic debate whether the blood eagle was a literal procedure or rather a product of allegorical exaggeration not uncommon to the Sagas. Involving the severing of the ribs from the spin using a sharp implement, the victim’s lungs are subsequently pulled through the space created and draped over their shoulders to create the illusion of wings.
Both named victims of the blood eagle – Halfdan Long-Leg and Ælla of Northumbria – were of royal blood, lending credence to speculation the ritual was reserved for persons of special importance. The latter depicted in the popular television series Vikings, is recorded in the “Tale of Ragnar’s Sons”, describing the English king’s torture at the hands of Ivar the Boneless. After Ælla’s capture at York in 867, “they caused the bloody eagle to be carved on the back of Ælla, and they cut away all of the ribs from the spine, and then they ripped out his lungs”. As both accounts were written many years after the events detailed, their veracity cannot be fully ascertained.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Japanese Torture Techniques”, BBC (August 8, 2005)
“The Rise of the Dutch Republic”, John Lothrop Motley, Bickers & Son (1883)
“The Pictorial History of England”, George Lillie Craik and Charles McFarlane, Nabu Press (2010)
“Judas Cradle: Torture Device”, Medievalist.com
“Crime and Punishment in England: An Introductory History”, John Briggs, Palgrave Macmillan (1996)
“The Tudor Law of Treason”, John Bellamy, Routledge & Kegan Paul (1979)
“Execution: A Guide to the Ultimate Penalty”, Geoffrey Abbott, Summersdale Publishers (2005)
“The Instruments of Torture”, Michael Kerrigan, Lyons Press (2001)
“Torture and Democracy”, Darius Rejali, Princeton University Press (2007)
“The Lives They Lived: The Prisoner”, Jonathan Mahler, The New York Times (December 25, 2005)
The Brief History Of “The Brazen Bull”, John DeVore, Nov 19, 2016. Medium.com
“The Life of Artaxerxes 16”, Plutarch
“Rethinking Nero”, BYROBERT DRAPER. National Geographic Society (June 18, 2014)
“The Great Fire of Rome”, Stephen Dando-Collins, Da Capo Press (September 2010)
“Piracy in the Ancient World”, H.A. Ormerod, Dorset Press (1987)
“Vampires, Burial and Death: Folklore and Reality”, Paul Barber University Press (1988)
“Crucifixion in Antiquity: An Inquiry into the Background and Significance of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion”, Gunnar Samuelsson, Mohr Siebeck Publishing (2013)