Germanic

It seems that human sacrifice amongst the Germanic tribes was less common in general. They saved it for special occasions like wars and famines, basically times of real desperation. There was, however, a report of Goths sacrificing prisoners of war to Mars and hanging their severed limbs in trees.

There is also evidence of retainer sacrifices from AD 921 where slave women would party for 10 days before a funeral then get stabbed to death by an old woman called a Völva or “Angel of Death”. The victim and the corpse would then be burned together in a boat to spend eternity together in Valhalla. Romantic really.

So that was just a snap shot of human sacrifice across the world. Killing humans and offering them to the gods is pretty much frowned upon everywhere these days, but that doesn’t mean it has completely disappeared I’m afraid. So next time I will bring you tales of some chillingly recent sacrificial occurences showing humanity’s less than civilised side. Disturbing stuff I promise.

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