Tre kroner-Grydehøj. The völva in her grave. Reconstructed by Mirosław Kuźma.

... this point archaeological facts, circumstantial ev- idence and comparative examples have been present- ed claiming that grave A 505 contained a Viking Age seeress and sorceress, i. e. a völva (Fig. 10). The facts are an extraordinary complex burial ritual including some re-entries into the grave, two presumably decapitat- ed women and half the skeleton of a man, several sac- rificed animals all covered with large boulders and a carpet of stones of granite, chalk and flint. Admittedly, complex burials with more individuals, animals, ...

Reconstruction of the female weapon grave from Nordre Kjølen, Hedmark, Norway. Illustration by Miroslaw Kuzma

Grave FII is usually interpreted as a grave of a master and a slave who was sacrificed to accompany his master in the afterlife.

https://aventurasnahistoria.uol.com.br/noticias/vitrine/tesouros-a-enterro-curioso-5-descobertas-impressionantes-sobre-vikings.phtml

lunes, 23 de mayo de 2016

Towton 1461 England's bloodiest battle

Fauconberg’s Yorkist archers loose off their last arrows as the men-at-arms advance through them to meet the oncoming Lancastrians. The experienced Fauconberg had goaded the Lancastrian archers, blinded by the snow blowing into their faces, into squandering their arrows in ineffective volleys. His Yorkist archers then advanced and poured perhaps upwards of 300,000 shafts into the Lancastrian ranks, returning many of the Lancastrian arrows against their owners for good measure. Unwilling to suffer this deadly bombardment impassively, the Lancastrians advanced off their ridge towards the Yorkist lines opposite.