Att rista blodörn : Blodörnsriten sedd som offer och ritualiserad våldspraktik i samband med maktskiften  i fornnordisk tradition

Discussion of the ritual known as the ‘blood-eagle’ in Old Norse religion has a long tradition behind it. In the disciplines of philology and literary history there has been much scepticism as to whether such a ritual ever actually existed. Orkneyinga saga, ch. 8, describes the carving of a blood-eagle on the back of an enemy, presenting this as a sacrifice to Óðinn following the celebrant’s victory in battle. The description has parallels in other sources, including a skaldic verse by Sigvatr Þórðarson, but the question of their authenticity is problematic. The Orkneyinga saga episode shows several important similarities to other accounts of human sacrifices in Old Norse sources. The overall picture seems to stengthen the supposition that the ritual known as the blood-eagle was a genuine Old Norse religious practice, albeit an exceptional one, and was perhaps bound up with the overthrowing of a ruling personage