ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2024-10-26 12:14 am

The Well-Man

A medieval saga told of a man thrown in a well. Scientists found him.

A team of researchers found the remains of the "Well-man" from an 800-year-old Norse saga and used ancient DNA analysis to reconstruct who he was.
[---8<---]
To be clear, the dead guy in the well was not a major figure in the annals of medieval Norwegian history. He gets a single line: "They cast a dead man into a well, and then filled it up with stones."



A historic form of germ warfare, in case you're curious, dropping a dead body (usually animal) into a water supply to contaminate it. Closely related to lobbing bodies of plague victims over the castle walls. In both cases, it makes the territory essentially unlivable.

cmcmck: (Default)

[personal profile] cmcmck 2024-10-26 09:04 am (UTC)(link)
They found an early medieval well in the city of Norwich in Norfolk some years back full of bodies.

It was the result of an anti semitic pogrom.

People were, it seems, stupid enough to destroy their own water supply in the name of hatred so we maybe shouldn't be so surprised at some of what goes on today!
greghousesgf: (Hugh Smile)

[personal profile] greghousesgf 2024-10-26 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
the dead cow flung over the castle wall in Monty Python and the Holy Grail was actually historically accurate.

[personal profile] see_also_friend 2024-10-29 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
The article said it was unusual for an army to use one of their own as a 'weapon' in such a way, which is odd, since he would seem to have been one of the besiegers... If he wasn't a spy, I wonder if he was the saga-version of that annoying coworker no-one really likes?

Re: Yes ...

[personal profile] see_also_friend 2024-10-29 05:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Fair enough...

I do still wonder what the year 1200's version of 'that jerk who steals everybody's lunches' would be.