The Three Viking Philosophies That Made Them So Frightening
The Fate of the Norms; Hellheim; Valhalla
The Vikings were, to say the least, a frightening group of people. From using magic mushrooms to invoke a berserker state in their skirmishes, to settling disputes through personal duels, to infanticide where those born with deformities or disabilities were left in the unforgiving conditions of the wild to die, the viking life was one that was harsh and full of bloodshed.
Perhaps the epitome of how their frightfulness was manifested would be their infamous execution ritual — the Blood Eagle.
The Blood Eagle had multiple stages to it, starting with the victim being tied face down. The shape of an eagle with outstretched wings would be carved into the victim’s back, before the victim’s ribs were hacked from the spine one by one using an ax.
All done while keeping the victim alive, the skin would then be pulled back to make the victim’s back look like wings and salt was rubbed into these horrendous wounds. To end it off, the executioner would pull the victim’s lungs out through the back, spreading them over the wings made from flesh and bone. The crowd could thus witness the lungs exhale their last breaths, making it look like the wings were fluttering for the final time.
