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Wellman from Norse Mythology identified as skeleton found in castle by scientists

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For 800 years, he was the stuff of Norse legend.

Scientists have now revealed that skeletal remains discovered in a well at Norway’s Sverresborg Castle belong to a mysterious figure from medieval stories.

New findings using advanced DNA analysis and Published in iScience magazine On Friday, they will connect the body’s identity to a passage from a centuries-old Norse document called the Sveris Saga. It compiles various sources describing internal political struggles, or civil wars, in medieval Norway from 1130 to 1217.

Named after King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway, the tale depicts the political conflict between the king and his arch-enemy, Eystein Erlensson, Archbishop of Nidaros.

According to this story, during a military attack in 1197 aimed at poisoning the local population’s main water source, the dead bodies, later known as the “Well Man,” were tossed into the well.

Little else is mentioned about the well man or his identity in the story.

Research project leader Mike Martin, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, told NBC News that historians are often skeptical of the historical accuracy of events described in such stories.

“This story is a blend of historical fact, narrative, political propaganda, and Old Norse religion,” he stated in an email Monday.

However, Stephen Brink, from the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Nordic, and Celtic Studies at the University of Cambridge, noted that the Sveris Saga is considered one of the most reliable historical sources because it was written during and immediately after a period of political unrest. This led to better understanding in England. He was not part of the study.

Human bones belonging to ‘Wellman’ have been sorted and cataloged.
via iScience

Human bones were initially found in the castle’s well during renovation work in 1938, but due to the outbreak of World War II at the time, researchers could only carry out visual examinations.

The remains stayed in the well for another 80 years until excavations began in 2014, led by Anna Petersen of the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage in Oslo.

By 2016, a complete skeleton was retrieved from the Sverresborg well in Trondheim, central Norway.

Recent scientific advancements have provided various advanced techniques to analyze human remains in more detail, including genetic sequencing and radiocarbon dating.

The human genome is about 99.6% similar. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), genetic variation accounts for only 0.4%.

The research team determined the genomic variation by extracting DNA from Wellman’s teeth, mandible, and maxilla.

“We had access to teeth during the COVID-19 pandemic, and research really picked up speed,” Professor Martin remarked. It took approximately six years in total to complete.

“Wellman” teeth.
via iScience

Experts suggest that this genetic research could offer insights into the remains discovered in previous archaeological excavations.

“This project demonstrates the significance of scientific archaeology, and the collaboration between archaeology and history, in today’s research, often resulting in remarkable findings like this one,” Brink remarked.

Excavation work at the site where 800-year-old ruins were discovered.
via iScience

Advancements in technology have allowed human bones to be linked to characters from Norse mythology, blurring the line between legendary myth and historical reality.

This is not the first instance where the skeletal remains of a character from a story have been uncovered.

Elizabeth Lowe, a professor of Scandinavian history at the University of Cambridge in the UK, highlights that Research published by Jesse L. Byock in 1995 presents a compelling argument for identifying the remains of the 10th-century Icelandic poet Egil Skallagrimsson, whose tale is recounted in the 13th-century Egil Saga.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

DNA analysis confirms the identity of ‘Wellman’ skeleton with an 800-year-old Norwegian tale

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Complete skeletal remains of “Wellman”

Eiji Hojem, NTNU University Museum

Researchers now believe they have identified the remains of a Norwegian story written more than 800 years ago that depicts a dead man being thrown into a castle well.

The Sverris Saga is a 182-section Old Norse document that records the exploits of King Sverre Sigurdsson, who came to power in the late 12th century. In one section, it is said that rival clans who attacked Sveresborg Castle near Trondheim, Norway, “took the dead, threw them into a well, and buried them with stones.”

The well was located within the castle walls and was the only permanent source of water for the area. It has been speculated that the man thrown into the well in this story may have been suffering from a disease, and that throwing him into the well may have been an early act of biological warfare.

In 1938, part of a medieval well in the ruins of Sveresborg Castle was drained, and a skeleton was discovered beneath the rubble and rocks at the bottom. The skeleton, known as “Wellman,” was widely believed to be the remains of the person mentioned in the story, but it was impossible to confirm that at the time.

now, Anna Petersen Researchers at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage in Oslo used radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis of the remains' teeth to show that the range of dates in which the man was alive is consistent with the castle raid. . Although it's not conclusive proof that the man is the person mentioned in the story, “circumstantial evidence is consistent with this conclusion,” Pellersen said.

The Well Man's skeleton was discovered in 1938

Riksantikvaren (Norwegian Directorate General for Cultural Heritage)

Additionally, the team was able to further enrich the story. “The investigation we conducted uncovered many details about both the incident and the person that were not mentioned in the story episode,” Petersen said.

For example, DNA suggests he likely had blue eyes and blonde or light brown hair. Researchers also believe, based on comparisons with modern and ancient Norwegian DNA,
that his ancestors came from Vest Agder County, in what is now the southernmost tip of Norway.

What they couldn't find was any evidence that the men were thrown into the well because they were sick or to make drinking water unavailable, but no evidence to the contrary. can't be found, and the question remains unanswered.

michael martin The researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim say their approach of matching historical documents with DNA evidence will help them build family trees of long-deceased royal families and “physically reveal life stories such as movements.” He states that it may also be applicable to “describing and drawing schematically.” Anonymous people whose remains were recovered from archaeological excavations across geographic regions. ”

Researchers collected DNA from one of the skeleton's teeth

Norwegian Institute of Cultural Heritage (NIKU)

“To my knowledge, this is the earliest instance in which genomic information has been recovered from a specific person, or even a specific person, described in an ancient text,” Martin said.

He says generating genomic information from ancient skeletons can provide new details about a person. “These details are not included in the original text, so genetic data enriches the story and provides a way to separate fact from fiction,” Martin says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com