Blood Eagle: A Viking Torture of UNSPEAKABLE Horror... Artwork

Medieval Madness

An armored knight on a lumbering steed, toiling serfs, tied to the lands of their lord, cloistered monks and nuns, lost in prayer, and don’t forget the scenery: high-walled castles, great gothic churches, farms, farms, and more farms. We all know the kind of things we’d find during the Medieval Age. But what actually was the Medieval Age? Join us here at MedievalMadness to find out...

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Medieval Madness

Blood Eagle: A Viking Torture of UNSPEAKABLE Horror...

March 15, 2026 • Hit The Lights

0:00 | 7:30

Vikings, eh? Bloodthirsty, vicious barbarians, well-known for their willingness to loot monasteries and murder their enemies in a variety of gruesome ways.

Including perhaps the grisliest end you could imagine – the blóðǫrn, or more commonly known as the ‘blood eagle’. Reserved only for the worst of the worst in Viking eyes – people who had lost their honour through acts of cowardice or who had killed one of their family members – it was a horrifying torture method that struck fear into the hearts of anybody listening to the Orkneyinga Saga, or the Tale of Ragnar’s Sons, or any of the other tales told around the fire on a cold winter’s evening. While this would make for a delightfully grim way to confirm that Vikings were all bearded terrifying mercenaries who’d kill you as soon as look at you, as always with history, the truth is far more nuanced and that’s what we want to explore in this video.