Remains of 800-year-old hero of famous historical saga found in Norway
Scientists have confirmed that the skeletal remains found in the well of Norway's Sverresborg Castle belong to a medieval warrior described in a saga created more than 800 years ago.
The Sverrir Saga, which tells the story of the life of the real-life king Sverre Sigurdsson, describes a military attack on central Norway in 1197, during which the attackers threw a body into a well to poison the water. This person later became known as the "Well Man". However, the identity of the deceased is no longer mentioned in the saga. This is stated in a study published in the journal iScience, CNN reports.
The bones in the castle well were first discovered in 1938, but then their study was limited to visual analysis. Now, thanks to modern technologies, including genetic sequencing and radiocarbon dating, researchers have obtained much more data.
"This is the first time that the person described in these ancient texts has actually been found. There are many medieval remains in Europe, and they are increasingly being analyzed using genomic methods," said study co-author Michael D. Martin, a professor at the University Museum of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
According to the text of the saga, the attackers took the body of a dead man, threw it into the well and covered it with stones.
Research conducted along with later excavations showed that the remains belonged to a man aged approximately 30-40 years. He was probably killed by a blunt force trauma to the back of the head and had two lacerations on his skull.
The lead researcher, Dr. Martin Ellegaard from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, used a tooth sample for a more detailed analysis. This revealed that the victim had blond or light brown hair, blue eyes and a medium skin tone.
A surprise was that the "Well Man" was not of local origin, but had roots in southern Norway, which may indicate that one of the siege soldiers was thrown into the well, not a local resident.
The saga also describes the events of the power struggle after the death of King Sigurd Moon. King Sverrir, who declared himself the son of Sigurd, led an army of Birkebeiners, poor warriors who wore birch bark shoes, and opposed the Bagglers, who supported the Catholic Church.
As a reminder, archaeologists have found a square dating back to the era of Ancient Rome in Spain.
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