Random Unusual Viking Rituals That Might Surprise You (10 items)

(#6) Berserkers Raided Towns Like Beasts

Berserkers were warrior shamans, but they had to undergo a symbolic death and rebirth to unlock their powers. To achieve this, they were put in dangerous situations in the wild and were expected to live as their totem animal would in the wilderness. Whether bear or wolf, they’d have to hunt and raid nearby towns as a beast would.

They purposely stripped themselves of all humanity and morale to become savages on a physical and emotional level. They went berserk as beasts did on the battlefield with no fear nor armor.
(#10) Viking Men Dyed Their Hair Blonde

Every culture has its own standard of beauty and these rulers of the sea were no different. Apparently, Viking men preferred blonde hair so strongly that they’d use harsh soaps with a high lye content to strip the hair of its natural color, effectively bleaching it. They would also dye their beards to match.

These soaps also killed off head lice, so they accomplished two different hair treatments with one product.
(#7) Vikings Painted Their Teeth

Findings suggest Vikings practiced decorative tooth modification.

About two dozen skeletal remains from the Viking era have been discovered with horizontal grooves purposely filed into the surfaces of the front teeth. It’s believed they used various dyes to color in the grooves.
(#3) The Blood Eagle Was A Gruesome Execution Method

In Norse literature, the Blood Eagle is described as a ritualized form of execution, a sacrifice to the god Odin. Historians are uncertain whether this execution method was actually performed or if it was spread as a story to strike fear into enemies. What is known is that scholars of the age described the ritual in such great detail that it's hard to believe it didn't happen. Such torturous deaths were typically reserved to punish individuals without honor or to exact vengeance on a mortal enemy.

The ritual began with restraint of the victim face down as the shape of an eagle with its wings outstretched was cut into his back. Each rib was then meticulously separated from the spine with a sharp instrument. Once all ribs were detached, they were pulled outward to create the illusion of protruding wings. While still alive and in agony, the victim’s lungs were then pulled from the gaping hole and set over his “wings.” This gave the illusion that his wings “fluttered” as he took his final breaths and died.
(#1) Every Nine Years, 81 People Were Sacrificed During Yule

Every ninth year, during Yule, it was customary for Swedish Kings to sacrifice men at the Temple at Uppsala.

Nine heads would be offered to the gods, with the bodies hanging out in the temple’s sacred grove. This would go on for nine days, totaling 81 sacrifices that would be accompanied by feasts and Yule festivities.
(#8) Vikings Repurposed Their Urine

Vikings discovered a way to turn their urine into fire. This was done by boiling a tree bark fungus, called touchwood, in a pot of urine for days. It was then pounded into a strip of “felt-like” material.

Because of the sodium nitrate in urine, these "fungus bombs" smoldered rather than burned, enabling Vikings to take fire with them wherever they went.