Blóð-örn

Meaning of Old Norse word "blóð-örn" (or blóð-ǫrn)

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

blóð-örn (blóð-ǫrn)

m. ‘blood eagle,’ in the phrase ‘rísta b.,’ to cut a blood eagle, a cruel method of putting to death in the heathen times, practised, as it seems, only on the slayer of one’s father if taken alive in a battle: the ribs were cut in the shape of an eagle and the lungs pulled through the opening, a sort of vivisection described in Orkn. ch. 8, FaS. i. 293, 354 (Ragn. S.): so king Ella was put to death by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok, FmS. iii. 225: it is called a sacrifice to Odin of the victim, cp. the phrase, ok gaf hann Óðni til sigrs sér, Orkn. l. c.; the old rite ‘marka geirsoddi,’ q. v., is analogous, not identical; cp. also upon the subject Grimm D. R. A., and Hm. 139.

Orthography: The Cleasby & Vigfusson book used letter ö to represent the original Old Norse vowel ǫ. Therefore, blóð-örn may be more accurately written as blóð-ǫrn.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛒᛚᚢᚦ-ᚢᚱᚾ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements