Vikings has blessed viewers twice with perhaps the most graphic and painful way to die in the history of humankind, the blood eagle, and boy did they ever show it.

The blood eagle was a ritualized method of execution employed by the Vikings at least twice according to the Sagas. It seems to have been a ritual reserved for special victims, as both recorded occurrences were nobleman. One being Halfdan Haaleg, a prince, and the other, King Ælla of Northumbria, the man who killed Ragnar Lodbrok (spoiler).

In the series, the original blood eagle sacrifice is Jarl Borg, the second is the obese villain, King Ælla. Both are fairly graphic considering it’s the History Channel, not HBO.

Historically the sacrifice involved a series of ax or sword blows to the victim’s back, followed by the separation of all ribs from the spinal cord. Next the lungs are removed and mounted for display, while the ribs and skin are splayed out in a fashion that resembles an eagle in flight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PD6zXrPKdo

Here’s the Jarl Borg blood eagle scene, which is little more dramatic and slightly less graphic than the later sacrifice of King Ælla.

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